Johnny Coles

Born in Trenton, New Jersey on July 3, 1926, Johnny Coles was a jazz and R&B trumpeter. He was born in New Jersey, but grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he taught himself to pay the trumpet. He spent the early part of his career playing in R&B bands led by Eddie Vinson (1948-1951), Bull Moose Jackson (1952), and Earl Bostic (1955-56). Johnny Coles spent the rest of the 1950s playing with James Moody and the Gil Evans Orchestra. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he recorded with a variety of artists including Tina Brooks, Grant Green, Charles Mingus, Duke Pearson, and others. Johnny Coles released The Warm Sound, his first album as a leader, in 1961. His next album, Little Johnny C (1963), was his first – and only – solo album on the Blue Note Records label and his final solo release in the 1960s. However, he kept busy as a session musician, working with a variety of artists including Herbie Hancock, Ray Charles, Booker Ervin, Astrud Gilberto, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus, and others. He reemerged as a leader with 1971’s Katumbo (Dance), the same year he began a three-year stint with Duke Ellington. After working with Ellington, Johnny Coles worked with Art Blakey, Mingus Dynasty, and the Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Thad Jones. Johnny Coles released his next album, New Morning, in 1982. He spent 1985-1989 in San Francisco, working with a variety of artists before moving back to Philadelphia. During the 1990s, he continued to record and play live with Charles Earland and Buck Hill. Johnny Coles died of cancer on December 21, 1997.

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