Columbus Calvin "Duke" Pearson Jr. (August 17, 1932 – August 4, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Allmusic describes him as having a "big part in shaping the Blue Note label's hard bop direction in the 1960s as a record producer."

Early life

Pearson was born Columbus Calvin Pearson Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia, when he took an interest in brass instruments: mellophone, baritone horn and ultimately trumpet. He was so fond of the trumpet that through high school and college he neglected the piano. He attended Clark College while also playing trumpet in groups in the Atlanta area. While in the U.S. Army, during his 1953–54 draft, he continued to play trumpet and met, among others, the pianist Wynton Kelly. Pearson himself confessed in a 1959 interview that he was "so spoiled by Kelly's good piano" that he decided to switch to piano again.

On the 1963 Byrd album A New Perspective, Pearson arranged four tracks, including "Cristo Redentor", which became a hit. The composition, Pearson later commented, was inspired by a trip he took to Brazil while touring with Wilson. and was covered on The Manhattan Transfer's 1984 album Bop Doo-Wopp. The Steve Lehman Trio recorded the song on their 2011 album Dialect Fluorescent.

As a small side project at Blue Note, Pearson penned the liner notes for Grant Green’s 1963 album, Idle Moments. He was the pianist for the recording. Having also composed the album’s title track, he wrote, “I wonder while listening to this recording, just what the people involved were thinking of while idling away (so to speak). The dreamlike mood that prevails gave me the idea of naming this tune Idle Moments.”

Pearson eventually retired from his position with Blue Note in 1971 after personnel changes were made; co-founder Alfred Lion retired in 1967 after the label was sold to Liberty Records the previous year, and co-founder Francis Wolff died in 1971. Pearson opted to teach at Clark College in 1971, toured with Carmen McRae and Joe Williams through 1973, and eventually re-formed his big band during that time.

He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the 1970s, from which he died in 1980 at Atlanta Veterans Hospital.

As sideman

With Donald Byrd

  • Fuego (Blue Note, 1960) – rec. 1959
  • Byrd in Flight (Blue Note, 1960)
  • At the Half Note Cafe (Blue Note, 1961) – rec. 1960
  • The Cat Walk (Blue Note, 1962) – rec. 1961
  • A New Perspective (Blue Note, 1964) – rec. 1963
  • Fancy Free (Blue Note, 1969)
  • Electric Byrd (Blue Note, 1970)
  • Kofi (Blue Note, 1995) – rec. 1969–1970

With others

  • Johnny Coles, Little Johnny C (Blue Note, 1963, and arranger)
  • Grant Green, Idle Moments (Blue Note, 1963)
  • Bobby Hutcherson, The Kicker (Blue Note, 1963)
  • Thad Jones/Pepper Adams Quintet, Mean What You Say (Milestone, 1966)
  • Carmen McRae, Carmen (1972)

As Arranger

  • Lou Donaldson - Lush Life (1967)
  • Donald Byrd - A New Perspective (1963), I'm Tryin' to Get Home (1964)
  • Grant Green - Am I Blue (1963)
  • Blue Mitchell - Boss Horn (1966), Heads Up! (1967)
  • Hank Mobley - A Slice of the Top (1966)
  • Lee Morgan - Standards (1967)
  • Stanley Turrentine - Rough 'n' Tumble (1966), The Spoiler (1966), A Bluish Bag (1967), The Return of the Prodigal Son (1967), The Look of Love (1968)

References

  • Duke Pearson Discography at www.JazzDiscography.com
  • Duke Pearson Discography Project at www.jazzdisco.org