CiTR

Jimmy Knepper was born today in Los Angeles on Nov. 22,1927 and passed away in 2003. Knepper was one of the foremost Jazz trombonists and had an unmistakable style. He wrote and arranged as well and tonight's Feature has all of Jimmy's unique tunes. His most famous association was with Charles Mingus from 1957 to 1962 and he appeared on some of Mingus' most famous classic recordings. Their association ended abruptly in 1962 after a fight but resumed in 1975 when Mingus said that he felt Jimmy was the very best Modern Jazz trombonist. Knepper recorded little under his own name but tonight's Feature is one of Jimmy's definitive recordings.

Jimmy hand picked the band and some of his favorite players are here including two from his Mingus days in the persons of "Sir Elf" Roland Hanna on piano and the great Dannie Richmond on drums plus George Mraz on bass and Al Cohn (in magnificent form) on tenor saxophone. All of the compositions are Jimmy's and they are all interesting in that some of them reflect a Mingus influence. The album is called "Cunningbird" and this is the only tune that Jimmy recorded before, all the rest were written for the date which was done in NYC in Nov. 1976. Happy Birthday Mr. Knepper....your music will be with us for a long time.