Eddie Gale

Having developed his skills amongst the cream of New York's hard bop players, Eddie Gale helped ring in jazz's controversial new thing during the 1960s and 1970s on a series of influential releases. His inspired trumpet playing graced Cecil Taylor's Unit Structures, Larry Young's Of Peace and Love and a series of recordings and performances with Sun Ra's Arkestra. He also cut a pair of under-acknowledged soul-jazz influenced albums as a leader for Blue Note at the end of the '60s. Born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1941, Eddie Gale experienced the world of jazz firsthand through the borough's community of jazz musicians. The great bebop pianist Bud Powell lived nearby and occasionally stopped outside the young musician's house to hear him practice. Gale received lessons from trumpeter Kenny Dorham and before long was sitting in on jam sessions with the likes of drummers Art Blakey and Max Roach and saxophonists Illinois Jacquet, Sonny Stitt, and Jackie McLean. During these years, Gale absorbed the styles of the trumpet greats from pioneers like Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie to hard bop practitioners like Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan, and Freddie Hubbard. Though these musicians made a lasting impression, Gale came of age during the dawn of jazz's new thing. John Coltrane's 1965 album Ascension heralded the arrival of a new generation of players like Eric Dolphy, Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, and Pharoah Sanders. The new sounds made a strong impression on the young musician. Though he never recorded with the great tenor saxophonist, Gale had the privilege of sharing the stage with Coltrane on a number of occasions. In the early '60s, Gale (then in his early twenties) was introduced to composer, keyboardist, and intergalactic bandleader Sun Ra. Gale toured and...