Tommy Flanagan

Tommy Flanagan made his professional debut at age 15, joining forces with fellow Detroit budding heavyweights Milt Jackson, Thad Jones, Elvin Jones, and Kenny Burrell, playing clubs like the Bluebird. He hit New York in 1956, his first gig being a sub job at Birdland for Bud Powell, whom he recalls as a major influence on his own early development, along with Art Tatum and Nat Cole. Mr. Flanagan's own gifts were so readily apparent that in short order he was tapped for recording dates with such jazz icons as Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, and Miles Davis.
In 1957 he made his first trio album with Elvin Jones and Wilbur Little, which has been reissued many times and is now a collector's item. He made more than one hundred recordings from 1956 through 1968, many of which have become essential to any serious jazz record library. From 1968 to 1978 he toured extensively with Ella Fitzgerald. It was with Ella Fitzgerald that he earned his stripes as jazz' supreme accompanist, a designation widely acknowledged throughout the industry.
In 1978, in a momentus departure, Mr. Flanagan formed his own trio and has since performed almost exclusively in that format. His recording career has since flowered with 22 universally admired albums as a soloist or leading his trio. His vast honors include two Grammy nominations, Top Jazz Pianist in Down Beat's recent readers' poll, and top ping Jazztimes' critics and readers' polls. His most recent release on Verve is entitled "Lady Be Good" -- for Ella.

   Flanagan Discography

The artist profiles on these pages were excerpted from the Carnegie Hall Tribute program. We present them here in an effort to recognize the artists that keep the music of Lady Ella alive through their repertoire.