Michael White (violinist)

Michael Walter White (born 24 May 1930 - died 06 December 2016) is an American jazz violinist.

White was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in Oakland, California, taking up the violin when he was six years old. He first became known in 1965 when he played with the John Handy Quintet at the Monterey Jazz Festival, and recorded three albums with Handy. White was among the first to play the violin in avant-garde jazz, and in the late 1960s became one of the first jazz violinists to play jazz rock fusion (with his band The Fourth Way). He has played with musicians such as Sun Ra, Prince Lasha, McCoy Tyner, Eric Dolphy, Wes Montgomery, Kenny Dorham, Joe Henderson, and Richard Davis. In early 2007, The Michael White Quintet's "Mechanical Man" won in The 6th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best Jazz Song.

White now lives in Los Angeles, California. After a long period of obscurity, in the mid 1990s he was involved in a reunion of the Handy Quintet, and recorded an album as co-leader with Bill Frisell, Motion Pictures (1997). In 2006 White released the album Voices. He died on December 06, 2016.

Discography

As leader

• 1971: Spirit Dance (Impulse!)
• 1972: Pneuma (Impulse!)
• 1973: The Land of Spirit and Light (Impulse!)
• 1974: Father Music, Mother Dance (Impulse!)
• 1974: Go with the Flow (Impulse!)
• 1978: The X Factor (Elektra Records)
• 1979: White Night (Elektra)
• 1997: Motion Pictures (Intuition)
• 2006: Voices (Izniz)

As sideman

With John Handy

• Recorded Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival (Columbia, 1966)
• Projections (Columbia, 1968)

With The Fourth Way

• The Fourth Way (Capitol Records, 1969)
• The Sun and Moon Have Come Together (1970, Harvest Records)
• Werewolf (Harvest, 1970)

With Sonny Simmons

• Manhattan Egos (Arhoolie, 1969 & 2000)
• Burning Spirits (Contemporary, 1971)

With The Dead Science

• Submariner (2003)
• "Bird Bones in the Bughouse" (2004)

With Pharoah Sanders

• Thembi (Impulse!, 1971)
• Elevation (Impulse!, 1973)

With Alice Coltrane

• John Coltrane: Infinity (1972)

With Joe Henderson

• The Elements (Milestone, 1973)