# Harold Mabern one of jazz’s most enduring and dazzlingly skilled pianists: Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2018/03/20/harold-mabern-one-of-jazzs-most-enduring-and-dazzlingly-skilled-pianists-video/
- Published: 2018-03-20T00:04:31+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**20.03. – Happy Birthday !!! Harold Mabern, one of jazz’s most enduring and dazzlingly
skilled pianists, was born in Memphis, a city that produced saxophonists George 
Coleman and Charles Lloyd, pianist Phineas Newborn Jr. and trumpeter Booker Little.**

He was an unsung hero of the 1960s hardbop scene, performing and recording with 
many of its finest artists, and only in recent years has he begun to garner appreciation
for his long-running legacy in jazz and the understated power of his talent; as 
critic Gary Giddins has written, “With the wind at his back, he can sound like an
ocean roar.”

During his over half-century on the scene as sideman and leader, he has played and
recorded with such greats as Lee Morgan, Sonny Rollins, Hank Mobley, Freddie Hubbard
and Miles Davis, just to name a few. “I was never concerned with being a leader,
I just always wanted to be the best sideman I could be. Be in the background so 
you can shine through.”

Mabern explains a little about his background and its influence on his music – “
There were some fine jazz musicians in Memphis, like Phineas Newborn, Jr., who I’ve
always said was a musical genius. But if you wanted to make a living as a jazz musician
in Memphis, you were also forced to play rhythm and blues music. At the time, we
all thought it was taking away from our time with jazz. But now I realize what a
joy it was. It takes a special kind of feel that all great improvisers like Charlie
Parker and Clifford Brown understood. In fact, I think of myself as a bluespianist
who understands jazz.” “Every day, even when I’m not practicing, I’m thinking about
music. Most of the songs I’ve ever written are away from the piano while I’m walking
down the street humming and whistling.”

![Image result for Harold Mabern](https://i0.wp.com/www.gregorysjazz.com/wp-content/
uploads/2017/01/HAROLD-MABERN.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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