Roswell Hopkins Rudd Jr. was born on November 17, 1935, and died on December 21, 2017. He was an American jazz trombonist and composer. He was skilled in many types of jazz, such as Dixieland, which he played while in college. He also played other kinds of music. However, he was best known for his work in free and avant-garde jazz. Starting in 1962, he worked frequently with saxophonist Archie Shepp.
Biography
Rudd was born in Sharon, Connecticut, United States. He attended the Hotchkiss School and graduated from Yale University, where he played with Eli's Chosen Six, a dixieland band of students that Rudd joined in the mid-1950s. The sextet played the lively traditional jazz style of the time and recorded two albums, including one for Columbia Records. His collaborations with Shepp, Cecil Taylor, John Tchicai, and Steve Lacy came from the experiences he gained while playing rags and stomps for drunk college students in Connecticut. Rudd later taught ethnomusicology at Bard College and the University of Maine.
Over a period of thirty years, he sometimes helped Alan Lomax with his world music song style (Cantometrics) and Global Jukebox projects.
In the 1960s, Rudd took part in free jazz recordings such as the New York Art Quartet; the soundtrack for the 1964 movie New York Eye and Ear Control; the album Communications by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra; and collaborations with Don Cherry, Larry Coryell, Pharoah Sanders, and Gato Barbieri. Rudd had lifelong friendships with saxophonists Shepp and Lacy, and performed and recorded the music of Thelonious Monk with Lacy.
Rudd and his producer and partner Verna Gillis traveled to Mali in 2000 and 2001. His album MALIcool (2001) is a cross-cultural collaboration with kora player Toumani Diabaté and other Malian musicians.
In 2004, Rudd brought his Trombone Shout Band to perform at the 4th Festival au Désert in Essakane, Tombouctou Region, Mali. In 2005, he expanded his work by recording an album with the Mongolian Buryat Band, a traditional music group from Mongolia and Buryatia, titled Blue Mongol. He also conducted master classes and workshops in the United States and around the world.
Rudd died of prostate cancer on December 21, 2017, at home in Kerhonkson, New York. His archives were donated to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Awards and honors
- Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Performance and Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Monk's Dream (1999)
- Won Trombonist of the Year from the Jazz Journalists Association (2003–05, 2009–10)
- Won Best Trombonist in the Down Beat Critics' Poll (2010)
Discography
The Yale University Dixieland Band, also known as Eli's Chosen Six, released two albums in 1957: College Jazz: Dixieland by Columbia Records and Ivy League Jazz by Golden Crest Records.
The New York Art Quartet released several albums, including New York Art Quartet by ESP-Disk in 1965, Mohawk by Fontana in 1965, and Old Stuff by Cuneiform in 2010 (a live recording). In 2000, the group released 35th Reunion by DIW. A box set titled Call It Art by Triple Point was released in 2013. This set includes four hours of previously unreleased music and a book with over 150 pages.