Art Farmer
b. 21 August 1928, Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA. Farmer began playing early in life, as did his twin brother, bassist Addison Farmer. By the mid-'40s Farmer, then playing trumpet, was working in California. He worked in bands led by Jay McShann, Gerald Wilson, Benny Carter and others and in 1952 joined Lionel Hampton, with whom Farmer toured Europe in 1953, attracting considerable attention even in a remarkably star-studded band that included Clifford Brown, Gigi Gryce, Jimmy Cleveland and Quincy Jones. In the mid-to late '50s, Farmer settled in New York, worked and recorded with artists including Gryce, Jones, Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan and George Russell, was co-leader, with Benny Golson, of the acclaimed Jazztet and later led a quartet with Jim Hall. In the '60s Farmer began touring extensively as a single, playing clubs and festivals around the world, an activity that continued into the '70s. In 1976 he recorded with Art Pepper ( ON THE ROAD). In the '80s he formed an occasional partnership with Clifford Jordon including recording dates such as MIRAGE, YOU MAKE ME SMILE and the highly-acclaimed BLAME IT ON MY YOUTH, and was also reunited with Golson on several albums. In Europe, where he was resident for several years, his lyrical playing became especially popular with audiences. Having changed almost exclusively to flugelhorn in the '60s, Farmer's sound and style proved particularly well-suited to ballads, to which he brings a warm, sometimes plaintive, feel and an ability to reshape the melody with seemingly endless inventiveness.