Steve Turre (born September 12, 1948 in Omaha, Nebraska) is an internationally renowned trombonist, recording artist, arranger, and educator. In 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2006 he won the Down Beat Reader's Poll for best trombonist.
He was raised in San Francisco, California by Mexican American parents, and at first studied violin. However he switched to trombone at age ten and later studied at University of North Texas. In 1968 he played with Rahsaan Roland Kirk, in 1970 he recorded with Carlos Santana, and in 1972 he toured with Ray Charles. He has been the trombonist for the Saturday Night Live band since 1985 and has taught jazz trombone at the Manhattan School of Music since 1988.
He is also noted for playing conch and other seashells as musical instruments, which he has done since 1970. Kirk encouraged his interest in using seashells as a lip-reed instrument. Turre has a collection of shells of various sizes, which he has picked up during his travels in the Caribbean and elsewhere. The shells have their mouthpieces carefully cut and are tuned to specific pitches. When playing them as a soloist he frequently switches between shells, as each is limited in its register (the smallest shells, for example, have a practical register of only a fifth). His largest shell, from the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, has a range between the D and E below middle C, and was painted by a Cuban artist. Turre also leads "Sanctified Shells," which is a "shell choir" made up of brass players who double on seashell (using shells from Turre's collection, which he loans out for rehearsals and performances). The group released its first, eponymous album in 1993.
He has had long experience with Latin jazz, and is also a skilled player of the cowbell and Venezuelan maracas.
He is married to the cellist Akua Dixon.
Discography
- 1987 Viewpoints And Vibrations (Stash)
- 1988 Fire And Ice (Stash)
- 1991 Right There (Antilles)
- 1995 Rhythm Within (Antilles) with Herbie Hancock, Pharoah Sanders
- 1997 Steve Turre (Verve)
- 1999 In The Spur Of The Moment (Telarc)
- 2000 TNT (Telarc)
External links
- Official site
- Steve Turre interview
- Steve Turre biography
- Steve Turre biography page from Manhattan School of Music site
- All Music bio
- BBC Radio 2
- Review of Sanctified Shells
- NPR story about trombone bands (2003)]]
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 29 December 2008, at 15:22.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by PediaView.com. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with PediaView.com.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Steve Turre".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.