Frank Gant Explained

Frank Gant
Birth Date:26 May 1931
Birth Place:Detroit, Michigan
Occupation:Jazz musician
Instrument:Drums
Associated Acts:Donald Byrd, Sonny Stitt, Yusef Lateef, Red Garland, Ahmad Jamal

Frank Gant (born May 26, 1931- July 19, 2021) was an american jazz drummer.

Born in Detroit, Michigan,[1] Gant recorded with Donald Byrd, Sonny Stitt, and extensively with Yusef Lateef in the late 1950s and then Red Garland before becoming a member of Ahmad Jamal's trio (1966-1976).

His first gigs were with Billy Mitchell and Pepper Adams, and after working with Little John Wilson and his Merry Men at the Madison Ballroom, including four days backing Billie Holiday, he went on to join Alvin Jackson's house band at the Blue Bird.[2]

As the house drummer at Detroit's Club 12, with Jackson's band, he backed Thelonious Monk and Charlie Rouse in September 1959.[3]

In the 1970s, he accompanied Jamil Nasser and Harold Mabern as the rhythm section for workshops run by Cobi Narita.[4]

Discography

As sideman

With Sonny Stitt
With Yusef Lateef
With Red Garland
With Ahmad Jamal

With Al Haig

With others

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Frank Gant. discogs.com. 30 October 2013.
  2. https://books.google.com/books?id=K11GJ-xaEcoC&dq=Frank+Gant&pg=PA214 Björn, Lars Olof (2001) Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit, 1920-60, p. 142. University of Michigan Press
  3. https://books.google.com/books?id=jk3Bx7KfdO8C&dq=alvin+jackson+milt&pg=PA273 Kelley, Robin (2009) Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, p. 273. Simon and Schuster
  4. https://books.google.com/books?id=7H5poFVLKvoC&q=Frank+Gant&pg=PA62 Gourse, Leslie (1996) Madame Jazz: Contemporary Women Instrumentalists, p. 62. Oxford University Press