Larry Young (musician)

Larry Young
Background information
Also known as	Khalid Yasin
Born	(1940-10-07)October 7, 1940 Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	March 30, 1978(1978-03-30) (aged 37) New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres	Jazz soul jazz jazz-funk modal jazz jazz fusion
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Organ
Labels	Blue Note

Larry Young (also known as Khalid Yasin [Abdul Aziz]; October 7, 1940 – March 30, 1978)^[1] was an American jazz organist and occasional pianist. Young's early work was strongly influenced by the soul jazz of Jimmy Smith, but he later pioneered a more experimental, modal approach to the Hammond B-3.^[2]

Biography

Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, United States, Young attended Newark Arts High School, where he began performing with a vocal group and a jazz band.^[3] He was also the cousin of the drummer Jimmie Smith.^[4]

Young played with various R&B bands in the 1950s, before gaining jazz experience with Jimmy Forrest, Lou Donaldson, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley and Tommy Turrentine.^[1] Recording as a leader for Prestige from 1960, Young made a number of soul jazz discs, Testifying, Young Blues and Groove Street.^[1] When Young signed with Blue Note around 1964, his music began to show the marked influence of John Coltrane.^[1] In this period, he produced his most enduring work. He recorded several times as part of a trio with guitarist Grant Green and drummer Elvin Jones,^[1] who were occasionally augmented by additional players. Most of these albums were released under Green's name, though Into Somethin' (with Sam Rivers on saxophone) became Young's Blue Note debut.^[1] Unity, recorded in 1965, remains his best-known album; it features a front line of Joe Henderson and the young Woody Shaw.^[1] Subsequent albums for Blue Note (Contrasts, Of Love and Peace, Heaven On Earth, Mother Ship) also drew on elements of the 1960s avant-garde and utilised local musicians from Young's hometown of Newark. Young then became a part of some of the earliest fusion groups: first on Emergency! with the Tony Williams Lifetime (with Tony Williams and John McLaughlin) and also on Miles Davis's Bitches Brew.^[1] His sound with Lifetime was made distinctive by his often very percussive approach and regular heavy use of guitar and synthesizer-like effects. He is also known for a jam he recorded with rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix, which was released after Hendrix's death on the album, Nine to the Universe.

In March 1978, he checked into a hospital for stomach pains.^[5] He died there on March 30, 1978, while being treated for what is said to be pneumonia.^[6] However, the actual cause of his death is unclear.^[2][7]

Discography

As leader

• Testifying (New Jazz, 1960)
• Young Blues (New Jazz, 1960)
• Groove Street (Prestige, 1962)
• Into Somethin' (Blue Note, 1965) – rec. 1964
• Unity (Blue Note, 1966) – rec. 1965
• Of Love and Peace (Blue Note, 1967) – rec. 1966
• Contrasts (Blue Note, 1968) – rec. 1967
• Heaven on Earth (Blue Note, 1969) – rec. 1968
• Lawrence of Newark (Perception, 1975) – rec. 1973
• Fuel (Arista, 1975)
• Spaceball (Arista, 1976)
• The Magician (Acanta/Bellaphon, 1977)
• Mother Ship (Blue Note, 1980) – rec. 1969. LT series.
• Larry Young in Paris: The ORTF Sessions (Resonance, 2016) - rec. 1964–65 for French radio^[8]

As sideman

References

Further reading

• Lass, Don (February 10, 1974). "Record Previews: Lawrence of Newark". Asbury Park Press.
• News staff (September 10, 1975). "A Bright New Jazz Organist Emerges". New York Amsterdam News.

External links

• Larry Young discography at Discogs
• 'Unity: Larry Young and Black Music, from Soul Jazz to Free to Fusion' at Point of Departure

This page was last edited on 28 February 2024, at 06:39