Herbie Mann
Bio
Herbie Mann was born in 1930 in Brooklyn, New York. He was introduced to music at an extremely early age, as both of his parents were performers. When he started playing in high school, and even through his early career, he would perform on bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, and also flute. However, as his career progressed, he would center his focus more and more on the flute. In the 1950’s, he made a name for himself on the bebop scene by playing with Phil Woods’ group. As time went on though, he became an increasingly diversified musician. Herbie Mann was an early adopter of different rhythmic styles, recording both bossa nova, and afro cuban styles to accompany his flute. His strong sense of groove and pulse comes through effortlessly in his playing, allowing him to soar above whatever time feel might be under him. He was also an early pioneer of Jazz Fusion, which allowed him to maintain and reach a large audience into the 70’s and 80’s, a time where jazz music was often thought to be on the backburner. Over the course of his long career, Herbie Mann collaborated with Miroslav Vitous, Reggie Workman, Babtunde Olatunji, Roy Ayers, Phil Woods, Chick Corea, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Duane Allman, and Cissy Houston.