Jimmy Giuffre
James Peter Giuffre (born 1921) is an American jazz saxophone and clarinet player.
Giuffre first came to attention as an arranger for Woody Herman's big band, and would continue to write creative, unusual arrangements throughout his career.
Giuffre was a member of Shorty Rogers' groups before going solo. Giuffre played clarinet, as well as tenor and baritone saxophones, but eventually focused on clarinet. His early music was sometimes classified as cool jazz. Giuffre's early saxophone work has been favorably compared to Lester Young.
Giuffre was a central figure in so-called West Coast Jazz.
His first trio consisted of Giuffre, guitarist Jim Hall and double bassist Jim Atlas. They had a minor hit when Giuffre's song The Train and the River was featured on 1957's Television special The Sound of Jazz. This trio explored what Giuffre dubbed "blues-based folk jazz"
When Atlas left the trio, Giuffre replaced him with valve tromboneist Bob Brookmeyer. This unusual instrumentation was partly inspired by Claude Debussy's Syrinx.
In 1961, Giuffre formed a new trio with piano player Paul Bley and double bassist Steve Swallow. This group is cited by some fans and musicians as among the most important groups in jazz history. They explored free jazz not in the loud, aggressive mode of Albert Ayler or Archie Shepp, but with a hushed, quiet focus sharing more in common with chamber music. The trio's exploration of melody, harmony and rhythm are as striking and radical as any in jazz, and was eventually wholly improvised. The trio broke up after a few years of making little or no money for their performances.
Giuffre has had a lower public profile in his later years, though he has recorded with Joe McPhee, and revived the trio with Bley and Swallow. He has taught at the New England Conservatory of Music.
