Jim Hall (musician) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jim Hall
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Jim Hall in 2010
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | James Stanley Hall |
| Born | December 4, 1930 Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Origin | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Died | December 10, 2013 (aged 83) New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, cool jazz, post-bop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, arranger |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1955–2013 |
| Labels | CTI, Concord, Telarc, ArtistShare, Pacific Jazz |
| Associated acts | Chico Hamilton Quintet, Jimmy Giuffre Three, Art Farmer Quartet, Sonny Rollins, Paul Desmond, Bill Evans |
James Stanley Hall (born December 4, 1930 – died December 10, 2013) was an American jazz guitarist. He was also a talented composer (someone who writes music) and an arranger (someone who adapts music for different instruments or voices). Jim Hall was known for his unique and thoughtful style of playing jazz guitar.
Contents
Jim Hall's Life and Music Journey
Early Life and Musical Start
Jim Hall was born in Buffalo, New York. When he was a child, his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Music was a big part of his family. His mother played the piano, his grandfather played the violin, and his uncle played the guitar.
Jim started playing the guitar at age 10. His mother gave him a guitar as a Christmas present. When he was 13, he heard the famous jazz guitarist Charlie Christian on a Benny Goodman record. Jim called this his "spiritual awakening" because it inspired him so much. As a teenager, he played music professionally in Cleveland. He also learned to play the double bass.
Some of Jim Hall's biggest musical heroes were saxophone players like Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. Even though he copied guitar solos from other guitarists, he learned a lot from horn players. In 1955, Jim went to the Cleveland Institute of Music. He studied how to compose music there. He also learned piano and bass, along with music theory.
Starting His Professional Career
In 1956, Jim Hall moved to Los Angeles. There, he studied classical guitar with Vicente Gómez. From 1955 to 1956, Jim played in Chico Hamilton's quintet. This group was known for its "cool jazz" style. Jim's guitar playing started to get noticed by music critics and other musicians.
Jim later joined another cool jazz group called the Jimmy Giuffre Three. He worked with Jimmy Giuffre off and on from 1957 to 1960. Jim recorded his first solo album in 1957. However, it didn't become very popular. He didn't record another solo album until 1969.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Jim Hall liked to play music that had "challenging arrangements." This meant the music was complex and interesting. He also enjoyed "interactive improvisation" in duos and trios. This is when musicians listen closely and respond to each other while making up music on the spot. He taught at the Lenox School of Jazz in 1959. Jim also toured with "Jazz at the Philharmonic" and played with Ben Webster. In 1959, he recorded the first of six albums with Paul Desmond. In 1960, Jim also toured and recorded in Europe with the famous singer Ella Fitzgerald.
Jim Hall moved to New York City around 1960. He started playing with many band leaders. These included Lee Konitz, Sonny Rollins, and Art Farmer. During this time, he also worked closely with pianist Bill Evans. They recorded four albums together between 1962 and 1966. Jim also worked as a studio guitarist, playing on many commercial recordings. He played on albums for singers like Johnny Hartman and June Christy. He also played on orchestral pop and jazz albums by Quincy Jones and Lalo Schifrin.
In the 1960s, Jim's freelance jazz work covered many styles. He played on cool jazz, bossa nova, and "third stream" albums. He also recorded bebop and hard bop sessions. In 1962, he led a trio with pianist Tommy Flanagan and bassist Ron Carter. Starting in 1963, Jim played in the studio orchestra for The Merv Griffin Show, a TV show.
In the late 1960s, Jim Hall decided to leave his TV job. He wanted to focus more on his solo career. He recorded and performed in Germany and Japan. In 1969, the German MPS label recorded his second solo album, It's Nice to Be With You. In 1971, he started recording for Milestone Records. While with Milestone, Jim recorded three duet albums with Ron Carter. Later, with CTI Records, Jim made the 1975 album Concierto. This album featured Paul Desmond and Chet Baker. It became very popular and successful.
Jim Hall was known for being a great arranger and composer, not just a performer. He was good at developing musical ideas and using blues sounds. You can hear these skills on his 1975 album Jim Hall Live!. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Jim recorded with pianist George Shearing and classical violinist Itzhak Perlman. He also continued recording duos with Red Mitchell and Ron Carter until 1985.
Later Life and Achievements
Jim Hall continued to record music steadily from the 1970s until 2010. He released albums on many different record labels. During these years, he also toured all over the world. His band members included drummers like Bill Stewart and bass players like Scott Colley. Sometimes, saxophonists Chris Potter and Greg Osby also played in his groups.
In 1995, Jim Hall received an honorary doctorate degree in music from Berklee College of Music. In 1997, he won the New York Jazz Critics Award for Best Jazz Composer/Arranger. His original composition, "Quartet Plus Four," was a piece for jazz quartet and string quartet. It was first performed in Denmark, where he won the Jazzpar Prize.
His last orchestral composition was a concerto for guitar and orchestra. This piece was commissioned by Towson University in Maryland. It was first performed in June 2004 with the Baltimore Symphony. In January 2004, he received an NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship award. This is a very high honor for jazz musicians in the U.S. Jim Hall was one of the first artists to join ArtistShare, a fan-funded label. He released Magic Meeting in 2005 through them.
In 2006, the French Minister of Culture honored Jim Hall. He was given the title of Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres. This means "Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters." This award recognized his contributions to music and his ongoing musical experiments. In November 2008, the double album Hemispheres was released through ArtistShare. It featured fellow guitarist Bill Frisell, who was once Jim's student.
Jim Hall also participated in "The Live Project." Through this, he shared how he made music and gave interviews with other musicians. In 2010, Jim Hall and Joey Baron recorded a duo album called Conversations. In 2012, at 81 years old, Jim Hall still performed at the Blue Note in New York City. He also played at jazz festivals in the U.S. and Europe.
Personal Life
Jim Hall married Jane Herbert on September 9, 1965. Jane was a psychoanalyst. She also sometimes composed music and sang. Jim recorded several of her songs, including "O Gato" and "It's Nice to Be with You".
Jim Hall passed away peacefully in his sleep from heart failure. He died in his apartment in Manhattan, New York, on December 10, 2013. This was just six days after his 83rd birthday.
Jim Hall's Musical Style
Jim Hall's musical style changed and grew with every new album and collaboration. He saw music as a way to break down barriers. He also wanted to share his musical discoveries with others. For Jim, music was a way to bring peace. He aimed to connect with people through his music. He taught seminars around the world. He was always looking for new ways to express himself musically.
Jim Hall believed that musicians should really listen when they improvise. He said, "Players should force themselves to hear something and then play it." He tried to make his playing sound fresh by not using the same patterns all the time.
People described Jim Hall's guitar sound as mellow, warm, gentle, and rich. It was also lightly amplified. Unlike some musicians known for a specific riff, Jim's work was recognized by how expressive he was. As an arranger, his solos were well-built. They considered harmony, melody, and rhythm. His solos were made with both feeling and skill, always aiming for clarity.
Jim Hall was part of several groups that had unusual instruments for jazz. In Chico Hamilton's group, Jim played with a cellist, and there was no piano. His next group, the Jimmy Giuffre 3, was even more unique. It had no drummer or piano. Sometimes, it didn't even have a bass player. Jim later played on two albums with classical violinist Itzhak Perlman. He was always open to new sounds and what other musicians were playing, even the guitar synthesizer.
Silence was just as important as sound in Jim Hall's music. He would "carefully choose a few notes instead, one after another." He placed them with great care. Even though Jim was usually the leader, he was an excellent listener. He would help other musicians with harmony when needed. He also knew when to stay silent. Jim believed everyone in his groups was equal. He said, "each one of these guys is a creative, growing musician, and I treat them that way."
A great example of his style is his collaboration with guitarist Pat Metheny in 1999. They had met 30 years before. Jim Hall influenced many other guitarists. These included Bill Frisell, Mick Goodrick, John Scofield, and John Abercrombie.
Jim Hall loved playing live because he liked spontaneity and communicating with other musicians.
Awards and Honors
Jim Hall was often named "Best Jazz Guitarist" by both critics and readers in the annual Downbeat Magazine Polls. His long career earned him many awards from around the world:
- Danish Jazzpar Prize (1998): This is an important international award, sometimes called "The Oscar of Jazz."
- National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Fellowship (2004)
- Choc de l'année Award (from Jazzman magazine in France) for his albums Magic Meeting (2005) and Free Association (2006).
- Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters): This was given by the French Minister of Culture and Communication in January 2006.
- Downbeat Hall of Fame (2014) (from Downbeat magazine)
Musical Instruments and Gear
Jim Hall always kept his approach to instruments very simple. When he first played with Chico Hamilton, he used a Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar. Soon after, he switched to the hollow-body electric Gibson ES-175 guitar. He used this guitar for many years with its original P-90 pickup and a Gibson GA50 amplifier.
By the early 1970s, Jim was using a Guild-brand humbucker pickup in his guitar. In the mid-to-late 1970s, a guitar maker called luthier Jimmy D'Aquisto made two archtop guitars for Jim. One was fully acoustic, and the other had an electric pickup. Jim started using these professionally. Also in the 1970s, Jim began using solid-state amplifiers.
Jim Hall started working with luthier Roger Sadowsky in 1982. Roger first did repair work for Jim. Eventually, they worked together to create the Sadowsky Jim Hall Model guitar. This guitar is available for others to buy and is based on Jim's original D'Aquisto guitar.
Jim Hall used flatwound strings. These strings have a smooth feel. He used different thicknesses of picks depending on what he was playing. He would use medium picks for melodies, thin picks for rhythmic parts, and heavy picks for slow songs (ballads).
Sometimes, Jim used a Boss Chorus pedal and a Digitech whammy pedal. When asked if he ever played solid-body guitars again, he said: "solid bodies are strange to me, I need to feel the body resonating." This means he liked to feel the guitar's body vibrate when he played.
Compositions
Discography
See also
In Spanish: Jim Hall para niños
