Norman Simmons (musician)

Norman Simmons (October 6, 1929Wynn, Ron "[http://allmusic.com/artist/norman-simmons-p7550/biography Norman Simmons biography]." allmusic. Retrieved March 1, 2011."[http://www.jazzbiographies.com/Biography.aspx?ID=10085 Norman Simmons biography]." Jazz Biographies. Retrieved March 1, 2011. – May 13, 2021){{cite web| url=https://www.wbgo.org/music/2021-05-13/norman-simmons-pianist-who-made-an-elegant-art-out-of-accompaniment-dies-at-91| publisher=WBGO| title=Norman Simmons, Pianist Who Made an Elegant Art Out of Accompaniment, Dies at 91| authorlink=Nate Chinen|author=Chinen, Nate| date=May 13, 2021| accessdate=2022-03-27}} was an American musician, arranger, composer, educator, and most prominently a pianist who worked extensively with Helen Humes, Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughan, Anita O'Day, and Joe Williams among others.{{cite AV media notes |title= Helen|others= Helen Humes|year= 1981|first= Bob|last= Porter|type= LP|publisher= Muse Records|id= MR 5233}}"[http://www.hackettstownbid.com/news/2010/4/piano-in-the-parlour-norman-simmons Piano in the Parlour - Norman Simmons Trio April 11th]." Hackettstown Business Improvement District. Retrieved March 1, 2011.

File:Norman Simmons Binghamton NY 1973.jpg

Biography

Simmons was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 6, 1929. During the early 1950s, he was house pianist at the Beehive Lounge on East 55th Street, playing with visiting musicians such as Wardell Gray, Lester Young and with Charlie Parker on his final Chicago performance in February 1955.

In 1966, his arrangement for Ramsey Lewis' hit of "Wade in the Water" became a large commercial success. He was a member of the Ellington Legacy Band from 2002.

Discography

=As leader=

Norman Simmons Trio (Argo, 1956)
Ramira The Dancer (Spotlite, 1976)
Midnight Creeper (Milljac, 1979)
I'm...The Blues (Milljac, 1981)
13th Moon (Milljac, 1986)
The Heat And The Sweet (Milljac, 1997)
The Art Of Norman Simmons (Savant, 2000) - with Eric Alexander
Manha De Carnaval (Sound Hills [Japan], 2002)
Synthesis (Savant, 2002) - with Eric Alexander
In Private (Savant, 2004)

=As sideman=

With Roy Eldridge

What It's All About (Pablo, 1976)

With Johnny Griffin

Battle Stations (Prestige, 1960) - with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
Johnny Griffin’s Studio Jazz Party (Riverside, 1960)

With Red Holloway

Red Soul (Prestige, 1965)

With Etta Jones

My Buddy: Etta Jones Sings the Songs of Buddy Johnson (HighNote, 1998)
All the Way (HighNote, 1999)

With Carmen McRae

Sings Lover Man and Other Billie Holiday Classics (Philips, 1962)
Live at Sugar Hill San Francisco (Time, 1963)
Second to None (Mainstream, 1964)
Woman Talk, Live at the Village Gate (Mainstream, 1965)
Live & Wailing (Mainstream, 1965, reissued with Woman Talk on Columbia, 1973)
Carmen McRae (Mainstream, 1971)