Opus de Funk

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A longtime fixture of the Chicago bop scene -- and criminally under-appreciated outside of it -- pianist John Young collaborated with jazz giants ranging from Sarah Vaughan and Ell a Fitzgerald to Dexter Gordon during a career spanning more than six decades. In 1957, Young signed to Argo to issue his debut LP Opus de Funk. While Young's lyrical playing originally borrowed from swing icon Earl Hines, he quickly developed his own distinctive approach that married the earthiness of the blues with the cerebral complexity of bebop -- singer Nancy Wilson implored him to join her on tour but he declined, rarely traveling outside of the Windy City during the remainder of his career. Show more