Quick Facts
Biography
Earl Knight, or Joe "Earl" Knight (1920—2008) was an American jazz pianist and keyboardist.
He worked in the jazz bands of Lonnie Johnson, Buddy Banks, Lester Young, and Clyde Bernhardt, among others.
From 1945 to 1972, Knight was involved in 29 jazz recording sessions.
Life and work
Born in 1920, Earl Knight began his professional music career in the mid-1940s with saxophonist Buddy Banks Sextet in Los Angeles, California. In 1947, he played piano on singles "Hi Jinks Blues" and "Name It And Claim It" alongside bassist Basie Day, drummer Monk McFay, guitarist Frosty Pyles, and trombonist Wallace Huff.
In the following years, Knight worked in Cincinnati and New York with Lonnie Johnson, Hot Lips Page, Big Maybelle, Marion Abernathy, Wynonie Harris, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Clyde Bernhardt and His Kansas City Buddies.
In 1951, Knight worked with bandleader Earl Bostic.
From 1953 to 1956, Knight performed with saxophonist Lester Young's band at Birdland Jazz Club in New York City, sharing the stage with Jesse Drakes (trumpet), Aaron Bell (bass), Leon Abramson (percussion), and Count Basie Orchestra. A collection of live recordings was released in 2007 as Live at Birdland on ESP Records.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Knight worked with Lucky Thompson & His Lucky Seven, Jimmy Hamilton, Oscar Pettiford (Basically Duke, 1954), Coleman Hawkins, and Curley Hamner.
From 1968 to 1972, he worked again in Clyde Bernhardt's band. His last recording was Bernhardt's 1972 album Blues & Jazz From Harlem (Saydisc Records) with Charlie Holmes (alto saxophone), Jimmy Shirley (bass), James Harewood (drums), Napoleon Allen (guitar), Happy Caldwell (tenor saxophone), and Jack Butler (trumpet).
Death
Knight died in 2008, at age 88.
References
Tom Lord: The Jazz Discography