Jazz Musician. Performing and recording with greats Sonny Criss, Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, and Charlie Parker, he was signed to Contemporary Records in 1950. His Be-Bop style won the Downbeat New Star Award in 1956 and with the Charles Mingus Trio, he recorded "Mingus Three" on Roulette Records in 1957. Overwhelmed by drug addiction, he was arrested for heroin possession in 1958 and spent five years in prison until President John F. Kennedy pardoned him in 1963. He returned to recording for Contemporary with series of six albums and toured in the United States, Europe and Japan. Writing his memoirs of drug addiction and music, his best seller autobiography "Raise Up Off Me," was published in 1974.
Jazz Musician. Performing and recording with greats Sonny Criss, Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, and Charlie Parker, he was signed to Contemporary Records in 1950. His Be-Bop style won the Downbeat New Star Award in 1956 and with the Charles Mingus Trio, he recorded "Mingus Three" on Roulette Records in 1957. Overwhelmed by drug addiction, he was arrested for heroin possession in 1958 and spent five years in prison until President John F. Kennedy pardoned him in 1963. He returned to recording for Contemporary with series of six albums and toured in the United States, Europe and Japan. Writing his memoirs of drug addiction and music, his best seller autobiography "Raise Up Off Me," was published in 1974.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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