Bunky Green

Bunky Green long had his own sound but unfortunately, most of his recordings went out of print while he conducted a career as an educator (including a term as the president of the International Association of Jazz Educators). After playing locally, he had a stint with Charles Mingus in 1960. That year, Green moved to Chicago, where he played with Ira Sullivan, Andrew Hill, Louie Bellson, Yusef Lateef, and Sonny Stitt, among others. Originally strongly influenced by Charlie Parker, Green spent a period reassessing his style and studying, emerging with a much more distinctive sound. He recorded on Exodus (1960) and Argo (1964-1966), but his best work was in the mid- to late-'70s on Vanguard (and in 1989 with a session on Delos. A self-described "inside/outside" player, he had an influence on the styles of Steve Coleman and Greg Osby.