Henry Franklin

Henry Franklin – The Skipper (1972/2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · March 8, 2023 · Comments off

For decades, the Los Angeles jazz community has been fortunate to have bass player Henry ‘The Skipper’ Franklin in their midst. He’s a paragon of jazz consistency, as trusty as they come. The best musicians living in the area or visiting the area have called on this technically-assured bass player for gigs and/or recording dates: Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Archie Shepp, Freddie Hubbard, Roswell Rudd, Hugh Masekela, Willie Bobo, the list stretches on and on. Franklin even turns up on the gold record Stevie Wonder’s Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants.

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Henry Franklin – Blue Lights (Remastered) (1976/2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · March 8, 2023 · Comments off

A great Jazz funk fusion lp by henry franklin on Ovation 1976. It was originally released on Black Jazz in 1974 as “Skipper At Home”. Ovation was their parent company & released most of BJ’s catalog with new covers in the mid-1970s.Including ” Blue Lights”, begins with some open bass, and “Soft Spirit”. The rest of the album is more jazz Bop.

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Henry Franklin – 3 More Sounds Play Ray Charles (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · March 6, 2023 · Comments off

Henry Franklin - 3 More Sounds Play Ray Charles (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz] Download

Henry “Skipper” Franklin (born October 1, 1940) is an American jazz double bassist.

Franklin played on Hugh Masekela’s 1968 number one single, “Grazing in the Grass,” as well as with Masekela’s band at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967. In addition, Franklin has played and recorded with Gene Harris & the Three Sounds, Hampton Hawes, Freddie Hubbard, Bobbi Humphrey, Willie Bobo, Archie Shepp, O.C. Smith, Count Basie, Stevie Wonder and Al Jarreau. Franklin’s recording—composed by Sanifu Al Hall, Jr.– “Soft Spirit” was featured on the breakbeat compilation Tribe Vibes as it had been sampled by the musical group A Tribe Called Quest.

Encourage by his father, Sammy Franklin, a jazz trumpeter and bandleader, he studied with Al McKibbon and George Morrow and listening to Paul Chambers and Doug Watkins.

While attending the Manual Arts High School he played with his first professional band – the Roy Ayers Latin Jazz Quintet. Around that time, Franklin worked with Harold Land and Hampton Hawes. Years later he would tour Europe with Hawes and record five albums with him. In Los Angeles, Franklin also played with Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Billy Higgins and Scott LaFaro.

In 1968, after a year-long tour of the East Coast playing with Willie Bobo and working gigs on his days off with Archie Shepp, Lamont Johnson, Beaver Harris and Roswell Rudd, Hugh Masekela heard Henry play and made him an offer. Three and a half years later the two would collaborate on Grazing in the Grass.

In 1972, Franklin released his debut album The Skipper through Black Jazz Records. It was called “adventurous postbop” by music critic Tom Hull.
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Henry Franklin – Henry Franklin, Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · December 1, 2022 · Comments off

A guiding force behind the venerated Black Jazz catalog, bassist Henry “The Skipper” Franklin has left an indelible mark as a sideman and leader, having appeared on many of the label’s most recognizable releases, as well as having recorded with Hugh Masekela, Stevie Wonder, Freddie Hubbard, Hampton Hawes, and many other luminaries. His swooping, languid style gave the bass a new emotive range, and has become a point of reference for the several generations that have followed. Now, Franklin joins Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad for the latest release in Jazz Is Dead Series 2, a masterful showcase of Franklin’s range and lasting impact, and a continuation of the maestro’s impeccable legacy.

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