Larry Young

Larry Young (also known as Khalid Yasin [Abdul Aziz]; 7 October 1940 in Newark, New Jersey – 30 March 1978 in New York City) was an American jazz organist and occasional pianist. Young's early work was strongly influenced by the soul jazz of Jimmy Smith, but Young later pioneered a more experimental, modal approach to the Hammond B-3.

Raised in Newark, New Jersey, Young attended Newark Arts High School, where he began performing with a vocal group and a jazz band.

Young played with various R&B bands in the 1950s before gaining jazz experience with Jimmy Forrest, Lou Donaldson, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley and Tommy Turrentine. Recording as a leader for Prestige from 1960, Young made a number of soul jazz discs, Testifying, Young Blues and Groove Street. When Young signed with Blue Note around 1964, his music began to show the marked influence of John Coltrane. In this period, he produced his most enduring work. He recorded several times as part of a trio with guitarist Grant Green and drummer Elvin Jones, occasionally augmented by additional players; most of these albums were released under Green's name, though Into Somethin' (with Sam Rivers on saxophone) became Young's Blue Note debut. Unity, recorded in 1965, remains his best-known album; it features a front line of Joe Henderson and the young Woody Shaw. Subsequent albums for Blue Note (Contrasts, Of Love and Peace, Heaven On Earth, Mother Ship) also drew on elements of the '60s avant-garde and utilised local musicians from Young's hometown of Newark. Young then became a part of some of the earliest fusion groups: first on Emergency! with the Tony Williams Lifetime (with Tony Williams and John McLaughlin) and also on Miles Davis's Bitches Brew. His sound with Lifetime was made distinct by his often very percussive approach and often heavy use of guitar and synthesizer-like effects. He is also known for a jam he recorded with rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix, which was released after Hendrix's death on the album Nine to the Universe.

In March 1978 he checked into the hospital for stomach pains. He died there on March 30, 1978, while being treated for what is said to be pneumonia. However, the actual cause of his death is unclear.

As leader

Prestige Records

• 1960: Testifying (New Jazz)
• 1960: Young Blues (New Jazz)
• 1962: Groove Street (Prestige)

Blue Note Records

• 1964: Into Somethin'
• 1965: Unity
• 1966: Of Love and Peace
• 1967: Contrasts
• 1968: Heaven on Earth
• 1969: Mother Ship

Others

• 1973: Lawrence of Newark (Perception)
• 1975: Fuel (Arista)
• 1976: Spaceball (Arista)
• 1977: The Magician (Acanta/Bellaphon)
• 2016: Larry Young in Paris: The ORTF Sessions (Resonance, recorded for French radio in 1964 and 1965)

As sideman

With Joe Chambers

• Double Exposure (Muse, 1978)

With Miles Davis

• Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1969)
• Big Fun (Columbia, 1969 sessions only)

With Jimmy Forrest

• Forrest Fire (New Jazz, 1960)

With Grant Green

• Talkin' About! (Blue Note, 1963)
• Street of Dreams (Blue Note, 1964)
• I Want to Hold Your Hand (Blue Note, 1965)
• His Majesty King Funk (Verve, 1965)

With Etta Jones

• Love Shout (Prestige, 1963)

With Gildo Mahones

• I'm Shooting High (Prestige, 1963)
• The Great Gildo (Prestige, 1964)

With John McLaughlin

• Devotion (Douglas, 1970)
• Love Devotion Surrender (Columbia, 1972) - with Carlos Santana

With Pony Poindexter and Booker Ervin

• Gumbo! (Prestige, 1963) - bonus tracks on CD only

With Woody Shaw

• In the Beginning (Muse 1965 [1983])

With Thornel Schwartz

• Soul Cookin' (Argo, 1962) with Bill Leslie [as Larry Olds]

With Buddy Terry

• Natural Soul (Prestige, 1968)

With The Tony Williams Lifetime

• Emergency (Polydor, 1969)
• Turn It Over (Polydor, 1970)
• Ego (1971, Polydor)

With Love Cry Want

• Love Cry Want (Newjazz.com, [1997])