Artist: John Klemmer Genre(s):
Jazz
R&B: Soul
Discography:
Touch Year: 1975
Tracks: 8
Waterfall Year: 1972
Tracks: 8
An participating composer and an trailblazer on the electrified saxophone (victimization echo personal effects quite an in effect), John Klemmer was also a very strong Coltrane-inspired acoustic tenor saxophonist. His solo sax recordings preceded smooth jazz and fresh age and his variety of projects earned him a gravid take of crossover appeal that includes his medicine sampled by rap music artists of the '90s. Over the course of his vocation, Klemmer collaborated with a number of malarky and pop artists and performed the albums by Steely Dan, John Lee Hooker, Lauren Wood, Roy Haynes, and Nancy Wilson, among others.
Trick Klemmer began playing music at a young old age, starting with the guitar and switching to tenor saxophone by high school day. In addition to individual music lessons that continued up through college, he likewise accompanied Interlochen's music camp. In school, Klemmer studied a mixed bag of liberal arts including graphics and optic humanistic discipline, authorship, and puppeteering at schools that include Chicago's Institute of Art. Early on in his music vocation, Klemmer lED his possess groups at gigs around the East Coast and Midwest, and was also busy touring as a sideman with bad bands. Among the people he worked with during this time are jazz musicians such as Chicago piano player Jodie Christian, tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris, rock guitarist Harvey Mandel (with whom Klemmer supposedly co-led a stripe for a time in the '60s), and producer James Guercio (wHO worked extensively with the stria Chicago). Klemmer made his debut recording as a drawing card in 1967 and affected to Los Angeles the next year. There he became a headstone soloist with Don Ellis's groundbreaking big stria for the adjacent 2 eld, piece besides working with artists such as Tim Buckley and Oliver Nelson, with whom Klemmer went on a State Dept. turn of West Africa.
From this time, up through the early '70s, John Klemmer lED fusion groups and recorded a number of albums, chiefly for Cadet Records. After studying picture make-up with Albert Harris, Klemmer began transcription for other labels: first Impulse, then ABC, MCA, and Elektra. He also worked as a manufacturer for pop, jazz ,and R&B artists. Klemmer's possess music gained crossover voter appeal, as his function with manager's Bill Siddons (wHO worked with the Doors) and Gary Borman (wHO went on to work with Faith Hill) brought his music to a maturation number of pop listeners. With his electrified saddle horn (victimisation an echoplex), Klemmer recorded democratic albums for MCA and Elektra that were in the leisurely listening, pop nervure from the mid-'70s through the former '80s. He enjoyed a hit record with
Touch and went on to record solo sax albums such as
Cry out, which ar considered by some to be direct predecessors of fluid jazz music.
Klemmer alternated the more pop-oriented projects with fiery efforts; his finest jazz album was the two-LP set Nexus (largely reissued on CD), a put of duets and trios with drums and occasional bass. In 1989,
Music came out on MCA and Klemmer went on sabbatical, choosing to stop touring and recording in order to focal point more on composition. Although it was rumored that this sabbatical was due to health problems, this is not true; it was plainly Klemmer's decision to contract a break from the limelight.
Gospel According to John Klemmer has co-written pop songs (for other artists) with, viz., David Batteau (the two wrote the successful song "Walk in Love," made pop by Manhattan Transfer) and Danny O'Keefe; the music on Klemmer's own jazz albums is composed solo. The late '90s base Klemmer returning to the microscope stage, often on the West Coast scene. He too returned to the studio, guesting on albums by such new age artists as 3rd Force, David Arkenstone, and Craig Chaquico. During this time, Klemmer too founded his own record label, Touch Records, on which he released the albums
Simpatico and
Making Love, Vol. 1 (1998). By 2000, near of John Klemmer's earlier recordings were still awaiting CD topic. His own website is at web.johnklemmer.com.
