Jimmy Knepper

James Minter Knepper (November 22, 1927 – June 14, 2003) was an American jazz trombonist.

In addition to his own recordings as leader, Knepper performed and recorded with Charlie Barnet, Woody Herman, Claude Thornhill, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, Gil Evans, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin, and, most famously, Charles Mingus in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Knepper married Maxine Helen Fields, a trumpet player with the all-female jazz band the International Sweethearts of Rhythm on May 8, 1954, at a civil ceremony in Tucson, Arizona, while he was on a tour with the Maynard Ferguson Band.

They had two children, a daughter, Robin Reid Knepper Mahonen, and a son, Timothy Jay Knepper, who predeceased him.

Knepper chose the names "Robin" and "Jay" to honor his idol, Charlie Parker, whom the jazz world knew as "Bird".

He had four grandchildren.

In 1959, the U.S. State Department funded a trip for bandleader Herbie Mann to visit Africa, after they heard his version of "African Suite."

In a stroke of serendipity, Knepper replaced Willie Dennis as trombonist in the band for this tour.

The 14-week tour took place from December 31 1959 to April 5, 1960.

The musicians were:

Herbie Mann, bandleader, flute and sax;

Johnny Rae, vibist and arranger;

Don Payne, bass;

Doc Cheatham, trumpet;

Jimmy Knepper, trombone;

Carlos "Patato" Valdes, conguero;

Jose Mangual, bongos.

Destinations listed on official itinerary:

Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Mozambique, Rhodesia, Tanganyika, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia.

Knepper documented this tour meticulously in a series of letters he sent home to his wife, Maxine, his daughter, Robin, and his son, Timothy.

These letters were recently found carefully preserved in a dusty box in the attic of the family home, and have now been transcribed by his daughter.

They provide a fascinating glimpse into the inner circles of a notable piece of jazz history, and the life of a touring musician, who was also a devoted family man.

He paints vivid portraits of the personal life of the musicians he worked with, and his descriptions of the Africa's landscapes and people provide a vivid portrait of an era in which there were few civil rights for Africans in their own lands.

Knepper's daughter is hoping to publish these letters.

In 1962, Knepper toured the Soviet Union with Benny Goodman's Big Band, as part of a cultural exchange during the Cold War, in which the Bolshoi Ballet also came to the US.

This groundbreaking yet disastrous tour was also documented in Knepper's letters.

Knepper also played in the pit orchestra through the entire run of the Broadway show Funny Girl, with Barbra Streisand, and later, Mimi Hines.

After seventeen previews, the Broadway production opened on March 26, 1964, at the Winter Garden Theatre, subsequently transferring to the Majestic Theatre and the Broadway Theatre to complete its total run of 1,348 performances.

While he was playing Funny Girl, Knepper became a member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, a big band formed by trumpeter Thad Jones and drummer Mel Lewis around 1965, which began the 40-year tradition of Monday night jazz shows at the Village Vanguard in New York's Greenwich Village.

In 1967 and 1968, he played in the pit orchestra at the Mark Hellinger Theater for An Evening with Marlene Dietrich, for which Dietrich received a Tony Award in 1968.

He also appeared on and off Broadway in On Your Toes, and The Me Nobody Knows.

The band performed for twelve years in its original incarnation, but since the death of Lewis in 1990 it has been known as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.

Knepper died in 2003 of complications of Parkinson's disease.

Knepper was born in Los Angeles, California, United States, the second son of a nurse and a police officer.

His parents divorced shortly after his birth, and his mother had to take her abusive husband to court in order to get child support.

He and his older brother, Robert, were sent to several boarding and military schools, Page Military Academy and St. John's Military Academy, while their mother worked.

He picked up his first instrument, an alto horn, at the age of six while he was a pupil there.

His first teacher persuaded him to put aside the alto and pick up the trombone because, as he said, he had a "trombone mouth".

He played his first professional gigs in Los Angeles, and traveled to Spokane, Washington, at the age of 15.

He graduated high school, and later attended classes at Los Angeles Community College.