Bobby Few

Bobby Few, born October 21, 1935 and died January 6, 2021 was an American jazz singer and pianist. Few was born in Cleveland and grew up on the East Side’s Fairfax neighborhood. His mother encouraged him to study classical piano, but he discovered jazz after listening to his father’s Jazz at the Philharmonic records. His father was his first booking agent. Soon, Few was playing in the greater Cleveland area along with local musicians like Bill Hardman and Bob Cunningham. As a young man, he was exposed to Benny Bailey and Tadd Dameron. He also knew Albert Ayler who he played high school with. Few was also a local tenor legend Tony Lovano, Joe Lovano’s dad. Few moved to New York in the late 1950s to lead a trio that lasted from 1958 to 1964. There, he met and started working with many top musicians including Brook Benton and jazz saxophonists Rahsaan Rolf Kirk, Jackie McLean and Joe Henderson. [1] Few was a part of several Ayler albums, as well as recording with Noah Howard, Kali Fasteau, Kali Fasteau, Kali Fasteau, Kali Fasteau, Kali Fasteau, and Muhammad Ali. He moved to France in 1969 and quickly integrated the expatriate jazz scene, often working with Sunny Murray, Rasul Siddik, Archie Shepp and Steve Lacy. He toured the world with American saxophonist Avram Ffer from 2001 to record four critically acclaimed CDs. Few were able to play extensively in Europe, and he made frequent trips back to the United States. He was a frequent guest of Charles Gayle, the saxophonist, and led his own band in Paris. Few’s Blues was a Booker Ervin tribute that featured Tony Lakatos as tenor and Reggie Johnson as bassist. It also featured Doug Sides as drummer. Few was interviewed for a documentary on Sunny Murray, which was later released on DVD. It featured him as Sunny’s Time Now. Bobby Few, 85, died January 20, 2021. Kevin Whitehead described the many styles of Bobby Few, including his ability to play single-note melodies and romantic chords. He also raps out explicit Monkish close-interval clunks.

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