Don Pullen

Don Pullen, December 25, 1941 – April 22, 1993 was an American jazz pianist/organist. Don Pullen had a unique technique for playing the piano. He also developed a distinctive style that was post-bop, modern, and still has a strong love for the blues. His jazz recordings were acknowledged as masterworks, blending and combining many genres before it was commonplace. His first contact upon his arrival on the New York jazz scene was with the 1960s free players, which proved to be a mistake. His abilities in straight-ahead jazz playing and free jazz were only discovered to a wider audience a few years later. His music was diverse and difficult to categorize. However, he displayed a vitality that could shock at first but would continue to delight his listeners. Don Gabriel Pullen was not born in 1944, but 25 December 1941. He was raised in Roanoke in Virginia. He was raised in a musical household and learned to play the piano as a child. His cousin, Clyde “Fats”, Wright, was a professional jazz pianist. Although he had taken lessons in classical piano, he was not familiar with jazz. He was more familiar with blues and church music. Don wanted to play fast and developed his own technique that allowed him to run extremely fast while keeping the melody. You can also access user-contributed text under the Creative Commons By–SA License.

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