Jimmy Owens was a fine trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He is best known for his session work with many bandleaders and groups. Owens was a member of Miles Davis’ band, but he didn’t record with them. In 1959, he studied with Donald Byrd and was a member of Marshall Brown’s Newport Youth Band 1959 and 1960. Owens was a member of Slide Hampton’s Maynard Ferguson, Maynard Ferguson and Gerry Mulligan in the 1960s. He also worked with Max Roach, Herbie Mann, Hank Crawford, Hank Crawford and Charles Mingus during the ’60s. He was also a founding member in 1966 of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and played from 1966 to 1968 with the New York Jazz Sextet. Owens also performed with Clark Terry’s bigband and in Billy Taylor’s orchestra on David Frost’s television program. In 1968, he toured Europe with Dizzy’s band. He then recorded and played with Duke Ellington. He was one the founders of Collective Black Artists in 1969 and performed and taught with the Jazzmobile in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Owens, who was a member of the Young Giants of Jazz, toured Europe in 1971 with his group, The Jimmy Owens Quartet Plus 1. He also performed with radio orchestras in Germany, Holland and with Chuck Israels’ National Jazz Ensemble. Owens recorded with Errol Parker and the Mingus Dynasty, 1979 and 1980. He has been a session leader for Atlantic, Polydor and Horizon. In 2007, he released his solo album Peaceful Walking.
