Phineas Newborn, Jr. levittshellarchive video #26 Memphis Music Memories.mov

Phineas Newborn Jr., one of the great geniuses of jazz piano, got his start in the late '40s in a band led by his father, a drummer. That band, which also featured his guitarist brother Calvin, was at the heart of the start of modern blues and rock on Beale Street and around Memphis. WIth them, young Phineas played on the earliest recordings of B.B. King and also toured with Jackie Brenston to support his scorching hit "Rocket 88" - the first rock & roll record made in Memphis.
By the mid '50s Phineas Jr.'s extraordinary talent as a jazz pianist was discovered by Count Basie on a visit to Memphis which led to his long career as a recording artist with labels such as Atlantic, RCA & Contemporary.
In this piece Newborn integrates Ravel into Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" to create an interpretation that was uniquely his own.
He was ill when he made this appearance at the Overton Park Shell in 1989 and knew this could be his last performance. He died just 6 weeks later.
The historic Memphis amphitheater was fully renovated in 2008 thanks to a generous grant from the Mortimer Levitt Foundation and the renamed Levitt Shell now sponsors a series of free concerts every year devoted to developing a shared sense of community through the performing arts.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Phineas Newborn
• Jr.
• Lush Life
• Billy Strayhorn
• Ravel
• Overton Park Shell
• Memphis Music
• Jazz Piano
• Beale Street
• Rocket 88
• levittshellarchive
• video # 26
• Mortimer Levitt Foundation
• Save Our Shell
• Levitt Shell Archive
• Support Our Shell
• Calvin Newborn
• John Hanrahan
• B.B. King
• Jackie Brenston
• Levitt Shell
• Farewell

[doraysmith]

This breaks my heart...for those of us who knew what he was 50 years earlier...

[madbebopper]

This genius of the piano never got his full due. I always loved Phineas, one of the many unique giants from memphis along with George Coleman, Harold Mabern, Jamil Nasser and Frank Strozier. All giants, in my humble opinion.

[hremdldw]

Now,go,back,and,listen,when,th­is,fantastic,musician,had,all.­had,,all,of,his,chops!,The,CD,­Lush,Life.,The,poor,man,was,ju­st,a,shell,of.what,he,was.

[holyburn]

Phineas was wonderful...had a hard time near the end.

[friskylamar]

Wow!