A smooth, West Coast American clarinet player who mixed his jazz grooves with
blues and folk melodies, Jimmy Giuffre helped pioneer the counterpoint technique
of improvisation, epitomised by his most revolutionary album 'Free Fall' in
1962.
Born in Dallas, Texas, he picked up the clarinet at the age of nine and studied
music at the North Texas State University and played with army bands before
making his mark as an arranger for the Woody Herman Orchestra. For them he
composed the swing standard 'Four Brothers' in 1947, which became a famous tune
for saxophone, and captured t...