Bobby Few

Early life

Few was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in the Fairfax neighborhood of the city's East Side. Upon his mother's encouragement, he studied classical piano but later discovered jazz upon listening to his father's Jazz at the Philharmonic records. His father became his first booking agent and soon Few was gigging around the greater Cleveland area with other local musicians including Bill Hardman, Bob Cunningham, Cevera Jefferies and Frank Wright. He was exposed to Tadd Dameron and Benny Bailey as a youth and knew Albert Ayler, with whom he played in high school. As a young man, Few also gigged with local tenor legend Tony "Big T" Lovano - Joe Lovano's father.

Career

In the late 1950s Few relocated to New York, where he led a trio from 1958 to 1964; there, he met and began working with many world class musicians, including singer Brook Benton, and saxophonists Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson and Ayler. Few played on several of Ayler's albums and also recorded with Alan Silva, Noah Howard, Muhammad Ali, Booker Ervin, and Kali Fasteau. In 1969 he moved to France and rapidly integrated the expatriate jazz community, working frequently with Archie Shepp, Sunny Murray, Steve Lacy and Rasul Siddik. Since 2001, he has played regularly with American saxophonist Avram Fefer, with whom he recorded four critically acclaimed CDs.

Few has played extensively around Europe and continues to make regular trips back to the United States. Recently, he has played with saxophonist Charles Gayle and leads his own trio in Paris. He is currently working on a Booker Ervin tribute project called Few's Blues that features tenor player Tony Lakatos, bassist Reggie Johnson and drummer Doug Sides. Few was interviewed in a 2008 documentary, later released on DVD, on drummer Sunny Murray - "Sunny's Time Now".

Playing style

Some of Few's various playing styles were described by Kevin Whitehead: "He can play delicate single-note melodies, roll out lush romantic chords, rap out explicitly Monkish close-interval clanks - though he's a busier pianist than Monk - or roil around in classic free style, using a sustain pedal to shape the density of his sound".

Discography

Years in brackets refer to dates of recording.

As leader or co-leader

As sideman

With Albert Ayler

With Hans Dulfer

With Mike Ellis

With Booker Ervin

With Zusaan Kali Fasteau

With Ricky Ford

With Noah Howard

With Talib Kibwe

With Steve Lacy

With David Murray

With Sunny Murray

With Archie Shepp

With Alan Silva

With Marzette Watts

With Joe Lee Wilson

With Frank Wright