I Love You - Müzik

Keyboardist Weldon Irvine Looms Large In The Pantheon Of Jazz-Funk Profoundly Influencing The Subsequent Generations Of Hip-Hop Artists For Whom He Served As Collaborator And Mentor. Born In Hampton VA On October 27 1943 Irvine Was Raised By His Grandparents In The Wake Of His Parents' Divorce And While His Grandmother Played Standup Bass In A Series Of Regional Classical Ensembles Her Husband Served As Dean Of The Men's College At Hampton Institute. Irvine Began Playing Piano As A Teen And While He Later Majored In Literature At Hampton Music Remained His First Love Especially After Discovering Jazz. Upon Settling In New York City In 1965 He Was Recruited Into Kenny Dorham And Joe Henderson's Big Band A Year Later Signing On With Nina Simone As The Legendary Singer's Organist Bandleader Arranger And Road Manager. The Two Also Wrote Songs Together And After Seeing A Performance Of Playwright Lorraine Hansberry's To Be Young Gifted And Black Simone Instructed Irvine To Compose Lyrics For A Song Of The Same Title. After Two Weeks Of Writer's Block The Words Came To Him In A Flash Of Inspiration And The Finished Song Would Later Merit Cover Versions By Performers Including Aretha Franklin Stevie Wonder And Donny Hathaway On Its Way To Becoming The Best Known Of His Approximately 500 Published Compositions. After Splitting From Simone Irvine Formed His Own 17-Piece Group That At Different Times Included The Likes Of Billy Cobham Randy Brecker Bennie Maupin And Don Blackman In 1973 The Nodlew Label Issued His First Headlining Session Liberated Brother Followed A Year Later By Time Capsule. Over The Course Of These Records The Keyboardist Truly Hit His Stride Honing Not Only His Singular Yet Skilled Fusion Of Jazz Funk Soul Blues And Gospel — A Direct Antecedent Of What Would Later Be Known As Acid Jazz — But Also The Social Consciousness And Impassioned Spiritually That Further Defined His Career. In Addition To Subsequent LPs Like 1975's Spirit Man And The Next Year's Sinbad Irvine Also Began Writing Musicals For The Stage And In 1977 New York's Billie Holiday Theatre Produced His Young Gifted And Broke Which Proved Both A Commercial And Critical Smash That Won A Series Of Awards During Its Eight-Month Run. The Billie Holiday Theatre Also Mounted More Than 20 Of Irvine's Other Musicals Most Notable Among Them The Vampire And The Dentist The Will And Keep It Real. But While Irvine Focused On His Stage Projects His Recording Career Fell By The Wayside And Following 1979's Sisters He Did Not Headline A New LP For Another 15 Years. In That Time His Work Was Rediscovered And Praised By A Growing Number Of Politically Minded Young Rappers Especially Boogie Down Productions A Tribe Called Quest And Leaders Of The New School All Of Whom Sampled His Vintage Recordings. Unlike Many Artists Of His Generation Irvine Embraced These Upstarts In Turn In 1994 Recording The Hip-Hop-Inspired Music Is The Key For The Indie Label Luv'N'Haight. Three Years Later He Cut Spoken Melodies Even Rapping Himself Under The Name Master Wel And That Same Year Lent Keyboard And String Arrangements To Mos Def's Black On Both Sides He Even Gave Piano Lessons To Rappers Q-Tip And Common. In 1999 Irvine Called On Mos Def Talib Kweli And Q-Tip For The Price Of Freedom A Searing Indictment Of Police Brutality Inspired By The Death Of Amadou Diallo A Defenseless African Immigrant Murdered In A Hail Of Gunfire By New York City Cops. On April 9 2002 Weldon Irvine 59 Killed Himself With A Rifle On The Front Lawn Of This Uniondale Office Complex. The Apparent Suicide Took Place At The EAB Plaza On Hempstead Turnpike Just West Of The Meadowbrook Parkway And Across From Nassau Coliseum.
It Happened About 3 20 P.M. While Workers Were Inside The Large Office Complex.
Homicide Det. Sgt. Richard Laursen Said.
He Was Wearing A Tailored Button-Down Shirt Gray Slacks And Black Shoes.
He Apparently Carried The .22-Caliber Rifle Used In The Shooting In A Black Garment Bag According To Police.
Irvine Left No Suicide Note So We Can Only Speculate As To What Pressures Could Have Led To This Tragic End. Friends Close To Weldon At The Time Of His Death Spoke Of His Contemplating Selling The Rights To His Music To Settle The $200 000 Debt Owed To The Internal Revenue Service.
The Body Was Taken To The Nassau Medical Examiner For An Autopsy.
It Is Interesting To Note That Irvine’s Mother Also Committed Suicide.
Irvine Had Been An Accomplished Musician Since 1964 A Time When He Was Involved With A Quintet That Won An Award At A College Jazz Festival.
Weldon Also Studied English Drama And Music Theory. read less