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Although Tommy Flanagan began by learning several instruments, including double bass, clarinet, saxophone and vibraphone, he settled on the piano, making his mark at an early age alongside the likes of Dexter Gordon, Oscar Pettiford and Jay Jay Johnson. Recognized and appreciated for his sensitivity as an accompanist, he took Ella Fitzgerald's privileged position as pianist in 1963, staying with her for five years. From then on, other big names of the bebop jazz era called on him: saxophonists Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, trumpeters Miles Davis, Thad Jones and Kenny Dorham, participating in the recordings of some of the most memorable sessions of the era. In later years, he would be called upon again for special appearances, as on the occasion of a tribute to Thad Jones recorded in Denmark in 1993.
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