Bobby Few

Bobby Few (October 21, 1935 – January 6, 2021) was an American jazz pianist and vocalist.

Early life
Few was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in the Fairfax neighborhood of the city's East Side. Upon his mother's encouragement, he studied classical piano, but later discovered jazz while listening to his father's Jazz at the Philharmonic records. His father became his first booking agent, and soon Few was doing gigs around the greater Cleveland area with other local musicians including Bill Hardman, Bob Cunningham, Cevera Jefferies and Frank Wright. He was exposed to Tadd Dameron and Benny Bailey during his youth, and knew Albert Ayler, with whom he played in high school. As a young man, Few also gigged with local tenor legend Tony "Big T" Lovano – Joe Lovano's father.

Career
In the late 1950s, Few relocated to New York, where he led a trio from 1958 to 1964; there, he met and began working with many world-class musicians, including singer Brook Benton, and saxophonists Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson and Ayler. Few played on several of Ayler's albums and also recorded with Alan Silva, Noah Howard, Muhammad Ali, Booker Ervin, and Kali Fasteau. In 1969, he moved to France and rapidly integrated the expatriate jazz community, working frequently with Archie Shepp, Sunny Murray, Steve Lacy and Rasul Siddik. From 2001, he toured internationally with American saxophonist Avram Fefer, with whom he recorded four critically acclaimed CDs.

Few played extensively around Europe and made regular trips back to the United States. Recently, he played with saxophonist Charles Gayle and led his own trio in Paris. He was working on a Booker Ervin tribute project called Few's Blues that featured tenor player Tony Lakatos, bassist Reggie Johnson and drummer Doug Sides. Few was interviewed in a 2008 documentary, later released on DVD, on drummer Sunny Murray – "Sunny's Time Now".

Bobby Few died on January 6, 2021, at the age of 85.

Playing style
Some of Few's various playing styles were described by Kevin Whitehead: "He can play delicate single-note melodies, roll out lush romantic chords, rap out explicitly Monkish close-interval clanks – though he's a busier pianist than Monk – or roil around in classic free style, using a sustain pedal to shape the density of his sound".

As sideman
Years in brackets refer to dates of recording.

With Albert Ayler With Jacques Coursil With Hans Dulfer With Mike Ellis With Booker Ervin With Zusaan Kali Fasteau With Avram Fefer With Ricky Ford With Noah Howard With Talib Kibwe With Steve Lacy With David Murray With Sunny Murray With Archie Shepp With Alan Silva With Marzette Watts With Joe Lee Wilson With Frank Wright
 * Music is the Healing Force of the Universe (Impulse!, 1969)
 * The Last Album (Impulse!, 1969)
 * Trails of Tears (Sunnyside, 2010)
 * El Saxofón (Catfish, 1970)
 * What Else is New? (Alfa, 1985)
 * The In Between (Blue Note, 1968)
 * Sensual Hearing (Flying Note, 1994–95)
 * Camaraderie (Flying Note, 1997)
 * Making Waves (Flying Note, 2004)
 * Few and Far Between (Boxholder 2002) w/ Wilber Morris
 * Kindred Spirits (Boxholder, 2005)
 * Heavenly Places (Boxholder, 2005)
 * Sanctuary (CIMP, 2006) w/ Newman Taylor Baker, Hill Greene
 * Songs for My Mother (Jazz Friends Production, 2001)
 * Space Dimension (America, 1971)
 * Red Star (Mercury, 1977)
 * Traffic (Frame, 1980)
 * In Concert (Cadence, 1997)
 * Live at the Unity Temple (Ayler, 1997)
 * Egyptian Oasis (Cryonic, 1986)
 * Songs (hat ART, 1981) with Brion Gysin
 * Ballets (hat ART, 1981)
 * The Flame (Soul Note, 1982)
 * Blinks (hat ART, 1983)
 * Lift the Bandstand (1983) DVD
 * Prospectus (hat ART, 1983) also released as Cliches
 * The Condor (Soul Note, 1985)
 * The Gleam (Silkheart, 1986)
 * Momentum (RCA Novus, 1987)
 * The Door (RCA Novus, 1988)
 * Anthem (RCA Novus, 1989)
 * Itinerary (hat ART, 1991)
 * Live at Sweet Basil (RCA Novus, 1992)
 * Associates (Felmay 1992)
 * Clangs (hat ART, 1993)
 * Vespers (Soul Note, 1993)
 * Findings (CMAP, 1994)
 * Flowers Around Cleveland (Bleu Regard, 1995)
 * Aigu-Grave (Marge, 1979)
 * Pitchin Can (America, 1970)
 * Coral Rock (America, 1970)
 * Seasons (BYG, 1971)
 * H.Con.Res.57/Treasure Box (Eremite, 2003)
 * The Marzette Watts Ensemble (Savoy, 1968)
 * Secrets From The Sun (Sun, 1977)
 * Uhuru na Umoja (Emarcy, 1970)
 * One for John (BYG, 1970)
 * Church Number Nine (Odeon, 1971)
 * Center of the World (Center of the World, 1972)
 * For Example – Workshop Freie Musik 1969–1978 (FMP, 1972)
 * Last Polka in Nancy? (Center of the World, 1973)
 * Unity (ESP-Disk, 1974)