Woody Shaw - Definition and Overview

Woody Herman Shaw II (1944–1989) was an American trumpeter and flugelhorn player.

Early in his career he was influenced by Freddie Hubbard, although the influence of Eric Dolphy, with whom he played and recorded in the 1960s, became more marked in the 1970s. He also played during the 1960s and 1970s with Horace Silver, Max Roach, and Art Blakey. During this period he also recorded extensively for Blue Note Records, working as a sideman with Andrew Hill, Jackie McLean, McCoy Tyner, and others. From the mid-1970s until 1983 on he worked primarily as a leader, developing a mature individual style. During the remaining years of his life he continued to perform with major musicians, but his career was harmed by depression and retinitis pigmentosa, which eventually made him blind. He lost an arm in a subway accident in 1989, and died of pneumonia three months later.