Robert Irving III facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Robert Irving III
Background information
Born	(1953-10-27) October 27, 1953 (age 71)
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, R&B, contemporary gospel
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Keyboards
Years active	1979–present
Labels	Verve Forecast

Robert Irving III (born October 27, 1953) is a talented American musician. He is known as a pianist, a composer who writes music, an arranger who organizes music, and a music teacher.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Robert Irving III was part of a group of young musicians. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, they became the main members of jazz legend Miles Davis's bands. Irving left Davis's band in 1989. Since then, he has had a busy career. He tours as a musician, writes and arranges music, produces albums, teaches, and creates art in different ways. He started releasing music under his own name again in 2007 with New Momentum. More recently, he released "Our Space In Time" with a group called Robert Irving III Generations. This group features students he has helped through a special jazz program.

Early Musical Journey

Robert Irving III's first instrument was the bugle. After that, he played many other brass instruments. These included the cornet, French horn, and valve trombone. Even though he played brass, he also studied piano. This helped him learn more about music theory, which is how music is put together.

In 1969, Irving's family moved to North Carolina. They stayed there until 1978. During this time, he kept studying music theory. He played trombone in concert bands and keyboards for pop, funk, and fusion bands. He also played organ and piano for gospel music groups. The Hammond organ and other keyboards soon became his main instruments.

After returning to Chicago in 1978, Irving met other young musicians. These included Vince Wilburn Jr. and Darryl Jones. They would later join him in the Miles Davis band. These musicians formed several bands, like Data and AL7. In 1979, the band AL7 was asked to record some demo tapes. This was for Maurice White, a famous musician from the band Earth, Wind, & Fire.

Connecting with Miles Davis

In 1980, a song written by Irving called Space was played for Wilburn's uncle, Miles Davis. Miles Davis was very interested in Space. This led to Irving, Wilburn, and their band being invited to New York. They joined Davis for his first recording sessions in several years.

The music from these sessions was released on the 1981 album, The Man with the Horn. This was the first album Davis had released in six years. Robert Irving III helped write and arrange the main song, The Man With the Horn. He also helped write and arrange another song called Shout.

After this, Irving went back to Chicago. He continued writing, arranging, and producing music. He worked on albums for famous artists like Ramsey Lewis in 1981 and 1982, and Randy Hall.

In 1982, Irving also became the music director and pianist for a play called The Little Dreamer… a Nite in the Life of Bessie Smith. He learned a special piano style called stride-piano from the legendary musician Little Brother Montgomery, who wrote music for the show.

Then, in 1983, Miles Davis asked Irving to work with him again. This time, Irving would be a composer, arranger, and co-producer.

Working Together: Davis and Irving

The first time Miles Davis and Robert Irving III worked together again, they created the album Decoy. After this, Irving joined Davis's touring band. He stayed with the band for five years. During this time, he played keyboards and was the musical director.

As musical director, Irving had many important jobs. He was in charge of musical arrangements and rehearsals. Miles Davis never attended rehearsals, so Irving was the link between Davis and the other band members. The band included many top musicians of that time. Some of these were Al Foster, John Scofield, Bill Evans, Mike Stern, Gary Thomas, Bob Berg, Kenny Garrett, Hiram Bullock, Robben Ford, Joseph "Foley" McCreary, and Darryl Jones. Irving would listen to recordings of each night's performance with Davis. He would find spontaneous musical ideas that then became a permanent part of the group's arrangements. You can hear some of this work in The Complete Miles Davis at Montreux collection.

Irving also worked with Davis on the 1985 album You're Under Arrest. He was a composer, producer, and arranger for this album. The album included popular cover songs like “Time After Time” and “Human Nature”. These songs were even nominated for a Grammy Award.

While working on You're Under Arrest, Irving learned even more about arranging music. He studied with Gil Evans, a famous arranger who had worked with Miles Davis many years before.

Later, Irving used his musical skills for other projects. He composed the music for the movie Street Smart in 1985. This movie starred Morgan Freeman and Christopher Reeve, and Miles Davis was a featured musician in the score.

Irving stayed with the Miles Davis band until 1989. He remained close friends with Davis until Davis passed away in 1991.

Robert Irving III is also a painter. When he was in Miles Davis’ band, Davis encouraged him to start painting. Irving began painting regularly in 1997. His artwork has been shown in many art galleries.

A Busy Musical Career

Since leaving the Miles Davis band, Robert Irving III has lived in Chicago. He has continued to be very active in music. He has grown as a pianist, arranger, composer, and producer. He has performed as a band leader and with many other musicians. These include David Murray, Wallace Roney, Eddie Henderson, Lenny White, and other musicians who also played with Miles Davis, like Darryl Jones, Vince Wilburn Jr., and Al Foster. He has contributed to these groups by composing, arranging, and playing piano.

Irving released his first album as a solo artist in 1988, called Midnight Dream. This album featured talented musicians like John Scofield, Darryl Jones, Buddy Williams, André Lassalle, and Phil Perry.

He has also recorded as a leader and music director for bands like ESP and ESP2. He worked on several albums with David Murray and was a member of Khalil El Zabar's Juba Collective. He also recorded with Wallace Roney. Irving has produced albums for other artists, including Terri Lyne Carrington. In Chicago, Irving has taught and given talks at many schools and workshops. He also started the African Arts Ensemble, a large jazz group that plays African music.

Irving also wrote the music for George Tillman, Jr.'s 1995 movie, Scenes for the Soul. He also composed for the Miami Chamber Symphony. This included a piece called Mademoiselle Mandarin, which was a concerto for jazz harp and orchestra, featuring Swiss harpist Markus Klinko.

New Momentum (2006-2007)

In 2007, Robert Irving III released New Momentum under his own name. This album was co-produced by Terri Lyne Carrington. Billboard Magazine highly recommended the CD for its musical quality. A review in The Billboard Review on April 7, 2007, praised the album. It noted that Irving returned with a fresh and lively sound. The album mainly features acoustic piano trio music. It includes Irving's original songs and two tributes to Miles Davis's earlier music. The review highlighted his dynamic piano playing and imaginative improvisational style.

Sketches of Brazil

Robert Irving III led his "Sonic Portraits Orchestra" for the first time in a performance called “Sketches of Brazil.” This event drew a huge crowd of 12,500 people and received many standing ovations. The piece is a musical tribute to his mentors, Miles Davis and Gil Evans. It celebrated 50 years since they recorded their famous album, “Sketches of Spain.” The performance took place at Millennium Park in Chicago on August 13, 2009. It featured trumpeter Wallace Roney as the main soloist and classical guitarist Fareed Haque as a special guest. Brazilian percussionists Dede Sampaio and Felipe Fraga also performed. Miles Evans, Gil Evans's son, played trumpet in the orchestra. The group was a mix of 33 classical and jazz musicians. Irving conducted the orchestra, sometimes from the piano. A critic from the Chicago Tribune called Irving's work "Extraordinarily ambitious… a tour de force of orchestral writing."

Our Space In Time (2015)

This album is the third released under the name Robert Irving III Generations. It is a special group co-founded by Irving's wife, Lolo Irving, in 2014. The group features young musicians that Irving has mentored. The CD reached number 30 on the CMJ Chart and number 63 on the top 100 Jazz Week Chart. It includes 10 original songs written by Irving. Four of these songs came to him in dreams.

Recent Activities

As of December 2021, Irving tours with the Miles Electric Band. This band mostly includes musicians who played with Miles Davis. Irving is the music director, pianist, and keyboardist for this group.

The Robert Irving III Quintet performed for the first time at the historic Joe Segal's The Jazz Showcase in Chicago in September 2017. This Quintet included Wallace Roney Jr. (son of Geri Allen and Wallace Roney) on trumpet. It also featured Rajiv Halim on various saxophones and flute, bassist Emma Dayhuff, and 17-year-old drummer Jeremiah Collier. In 2021, Irving brought both a band and some of his paintings to Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. This was for a special show and concert with Jon Langford.

Discography

As leader

• Midnight Dream (Polygram, 1988)
• Morning Sunlight (Sonic Portraits, 1999)
• New Momentum (Sonic Portraits, 2006)
• Our Space In Time (Sonic Portraits, 2015)

As producer

• Holy Ghost Power (single) Clarkwise (Omnific Music, 2016)
• Our Space In Time (Sonic Portraits, 2015)
• Continuation Peter Lerner (Origin Records, 2014
• Circle Without End Frank Russell with Wallace Roney, Darryl Jones (Sonic Portraits, 2013)
• The Drive Jazz Links Ensemble (JICSAR, 2011)
• It's Time Kahil El Zabar’s Ethnic Featuring Nona Hendryx (Katalyst Entertainment, 2011)
• The Christ-Mas Song (single) Clarkwise (Omnific Music, 2010)
• Real Life Story (More To Know) Terri Lynn Carrington with Nancy Wilson, George Duke, Patrice Rushen (Koch, 2009)
• Miles From India Various Artist -Grammy Nominee (Times Square Records, 2008)
• Spring Thing Ken Chaney (ARR 2008)
• Rhapsody In Hughes 101 Val Gray Ward (Kumi Entertainment, 2005)
• Heru Em Medu Rey Kemet (Songs In The Language of Kemet) African Arts Ensemble Chicago-Commission from African Festival of the Arts (Sonic Portraits, 2003)
• Pieces Of Marlene Rosenberg, Robert Irving III Associate Producer-and creator of cover art (Bassline Ent. 2001)
• Flattering Secret Ron Friedman (Secret Jazz 1999)
• Full Circle Robert Irving III & Chris Murrell Live in Hamburg, Germany (Nagel Heyer Records GmbH, 1998)
• Ascension Yuuka Nobe (Pony Canyon, 1998)
• ESP ESP with Darryl Jones, Kirk Whalum, Toby Williams and Bobby Broom (Glass House-Pioneer LDC. Japan, 1994)
• Wabi Susan Osborn/NEC Avenue Ltd. (Nippon Music Award "Best Creative Concept") 1992
• Real Life Story Terri Lyne Carrington -Grammy Award Nominee (Verve Forecast-Polygram, 1989)
• Midnight Dream Robert Irving III -debut release(Verve Forecast-Polygram, 1988)
• You're Under Arrest Miles Davis -Grammy Award Nomination for single “Human Nature” (Columbia, 1984)
• Ransom Tony Ransom (Bill Board Magazine "Pick") Singles: “Turn To Me” and “Stay If You Wanna” (Expansion Records Ltd, 1985)
• Decoy Miles Davis -Downbeat Award for Album of the Year (Columbia, 1984)

As musician, composer, arranger

With Miles Davis

• The Man with the Horn (Columbia, 1981) - composer, arranger, keyboards
• Decoy (Columbia, 1984) - composer, keyboards
• Live Around The World (Warner, 1996) - keyboards
• The Complete Miles Davis at Montreux (Columbia, 2002) - composer, arranger, keyboards
• The Prince of Darkness - Live in Europe (Immortal, 2005) - DVD-Video. composer, arranger, keyboards.

With Ramsey Lewis

• Three Piece Suite (Columbia, 1981) - composer, arranger, keyboards
• Chance Encounter (Columbia, 1982) - composer, arranger, keyboards
• Live at the Savoy (Columbia, 1982) - composer, arranger, keyboards

With David Murray

• The Tip (DIW, 1995)
• Jug-A-Lug (DIW, 1995)
• Dark Star: The Music of the Grateful Dead (Astor Place, 1996)
• Fo Deuk Revue (Justin Time, 1997)

With Wallace Roney

• Village (Warner Bros., 1997)
• Jazz (Highnote, 2007)

Other recordings

• V.A. — Endless Miles: a tribute to Miles Davis (N2K Encoded Music, 1998)
• Juba Collective — Juba Collective (Premonition, 2002) — piano, organ, keyboards
• Corey Wilkes — Drop It (Delmark, 2008) — composer, arranger, keyboards
• Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnics featuring Nona Hendryx — It's Time (Katalyst, 2011) – composer, arranger, producer, keyboards

Awards

Robert Irving III received the Chicago Music Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.

Memoir

Parts of Robert Irving III's memoir, called "Harmonic Possibilities," were published in New York University's Black Renaissance Noire Magazine in Fall 2013. He is still working on finishing the memoir.

See also

In Spanish: Robert Irving III para niños