![Image](http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/2011/normanconnorsnh9.jpg)
Compositeur, producteur, arrangeur et batteur, venu du jazz, passé au funk comme on passe à l'Ouest
![Twistedevil :twisted:](./images/smilies/teu17.gif)
Voici ce qu'en dit Alex Henderon :
Like Roy Ayers, George Benson, and Patrice Rushen, Norman Connors is best known for his major R&B hits but started out as a jazz improviser. The drummer/composer was born and raised in Philadelphia, where he lived in the same neighborhood as Bill Cosby and became interested in jazz when he was only a child. As a kid in elementary school, Connors was exposed to jazz extensively thanks to such schoolmates as drummer Lex Humphries and the younger brother of bassist and Jazz Messenger-to-be Spanky De Brest. Connors was in junior high when he began sneaking into jazz clubs and sat in for Elvin Jones at a John Coltrane gig. At 13, he first got to meet his idol, Miles Davis, and started expressing his admiration for the famous trumpeter by dressing like him. Connors went on to study music at Philly's Temple University and the Juilliard School of Music in New York. Gigs with Jackie McLean, Jack McDuff and Sam Rivers followed, and he was first recorded as a sideman when Archie Shepp employed him on his 1967 Impulse! session Magic of JuJu.
After touring with Pharoah Sanders and playing on several of his albums, Connors signed with Buddah's Cobblestone label in 1972 and recorded his first album as a leader, Dance of Magic. A few more jazz-oriented Cobblestone and Buddah dates followed, and it was in 1975 that Connors made R&B his main priority with Saturday Night Special (which included the number ten soul hit "Valentine Love"). The rest of the 1970s found Connors featuring R&B singers prominently (including Michael Henderson, Jean Carn, and the late Phyllis Hyman) and scoring such R&B hits as "We Both Need Each Other," "Once I've Been There," and the lovely "You Are My Starship." Connors, who signed with Arista in 1977, wasn't as popular or as visible in the 1980s, although, in the 1990s, he would make a comeback by signing with Motown's MoJazz label and focusing on both urban contemporary and crossover. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
DISCOGRAPHIE SÉLECTIVE
Jazz-Funk
Dance Of Magic - Cobblestone 72
Slewfoot - Buddah BDS 5611 US LP 74
Funk/Jazz-Funk/Soul/Disco-Funk
Saturday Night Special - Buddah BDS 5643 US LP 75
You Are My Starship - Buddah BDS 5655 US LP 76
Romantic Journey - Buddah BDS 5682 US LP 77
This Is Your Life - Arista AB 4177 US LP 77
Invitation - Arista AB 4216 US LP 79
Take It To The Limit - Arista AL 9534 US LP 80
Boogie funk d'enfer!!!!
Mr. C - Arista AL 9575 US LP 81
Une bonne compile
Best of - Sequel UK CD 90 (75-77)
Sans oublier deux bombes du groupe Aquarian Dream!
Fantasy - Elektra 6E 152 US LP 78
Norman Connors presents Aquarian Dream - Buddah BDS 5672 US LP 79
Le célèbre album d'Al Johnson.
Coming Back For More - Columbia JC 36266 US LP 80
Un opus de Phyllis Hyman.
Can't We Fall In Love Again - Arista AL 9544 US LP 81
Et aussi un LP de Starship Orchestra.
Celestial Sky CBS NJC 36456 US LP 81
Bon, tout ça n'est pas exhaustif, sans doute y a-t-il encore quelques trucs à mentionner par ci par là, surtout dans sa période jazz-funk que je connais moins bien et qui mérite un sujet dans la section dédiée.