Phineas (Phinus) Newborn, Jr. was good. Really good! Scary good! When he emerged in the mid-1950s, his piano mastery drew comparisons to none other than Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson. His albums, mostly solo or trio format, have led notable pianists even today to reexamine their own approaches to jazz improvisation.
As Stanley Booth described Newborn in “Rythm [sic] Oil: A Journey Through the Music of the American South” (Pantheon Books, 1991, p. 190-227):
“His style resembled that of Secretariat, or the young Muhammad Ali. He could think of things to do that no one had ever done, and then he would do them. He had, another pianist once observed, ‘a boogie-woogie left hand, a bebop right hand, and this…third hand.’ But it was not simply unsurpassed technique that made his work so affecting: his music derived power from its own emotional range…”
Indeed! Having spent his early career in the Sun Records Studio of Memphis, Tennessee and performing with artists including B.B. King, Ike Turner, Big Walter “Mumbles” Horton, Jackie Brenston, Sherman Johnson and others, his playing was imbued with the soul and emotional depth of the African American blues tradition.
Phineas Newborn, Jr. was born in Whiteville, Tennessee, about 60 miles east of Memphis, on December 31, 1931. His father, Phineas Newborn, Sr., was a drummer, his brother Calvin, a guitarist and his childhood was filled with music. Phineas Jr. began studying piano at the age of 6 and would acquire skills on several other instruments as well. He attended both Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College (now Tennessee State University) and LeMoyne Normal Institute as a music major but never graduated. He was drafted into the Army in 1953 and discharged in 1955.
Newborn, Jr.’s early professional experiences included gigs with his father and brother in the Memphis area clubs and with Lionel Hampton’s band from 1950 to 1952 (no known recordings with Hampton). After his prodigious talent was discovered by influential members of the jazz community including Count Basie, he relocated to New York City in 1955 where he got work in clubs and began to record for major labels.
His first jazz album was Here Is Phineas: The Piano Artistry of Phineas Newborn, Jr., from two sessions in 1956, for Atlantic Records. Throughout his career Newborn, Jr. was usually backed by the very best rhythm section accompanists and this, his first outing, set the standard with Oscar Pettiford on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums. The album caught the jazz world’s attention. Ralph J. Gleason’s 4-star review in Down Beat Magazine (Oct. 3, 1956, p. 32, 34) stated, “It is clear from this album that he is one of the most impressive pianists to emerge in recent years, a gifted technician, a startling improvisor, and a musician with a well-developed harmonic and rhythmic sense.” However, Gleason expected much more to come from Newborn, Jr.: “When his emotional development equals his technical equipment and he realizes that simplicity is not necessarily inadequacy, he will be something overwhelming to hear.”
In 1957 and 1958, Newborn recorded 4 albums for the RCA Victor label including 2 with probable commercial aspirations, While My Lady Sleeps, a project with strings arranged by Dennis Farnon and Jamaica, a calypso-tinged affair featuring Harold Arlen’s music for a Broadway show arranged by A. K. Salim. Less gimmicky, Fabulous Phineas involved a quartet including his brother, guitarist Calvin along with fellow Memphian Jamil Nasser (George Joyner) on bass and bebop veteran Denzil Best on drums. Phineas’ Rainbow found the pianist in solo, trio and quartet formats.
In the fall of 1958, Newborn, Jr. was part of a tour of Europe and the UK called “Jazz from Carnegie Hall.” The other all-star musicians on the tour were trombonists J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding, saxophonists Lee Konitz and Zoot Sims, pianist Red Garland, bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Kenny Clarke. Many bootleg recordings were made of the concerts during this tour and not surprisingly, later released on various European labels with varying production values and limited information. In fact, 6 of the sessions in the discography come from this tour. Significantly, in 2 years, Newborn, Jr. had become part of the jazz elite.
Moving to Roulette Records in 1959, the pianist made 2 rather perfunctory trio albums, Piano Portraits by Phineas Newborn and I Love a Piano. In both cases, his accompanists were John Simmons on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. The tracks are very short and Newborn, Jr. is not terribly adventurous, often hewing closely to the melodies.
Arguably, the apex of Newborn, Jr.’s career occurred after he moved to California and began a lengthy association with Contemporary Records in 1961. At first the label recorded him as a sideman on LPs by saxophonist Teddy Edwards (Together Again, Good Gravy), trumpeter Howard McGhee (Maggie’s Back in Town) and vocalist Helyne Stewart (Love Moods). In all, the pianist led or appeared on a total of 9 albums for the label between 1961 and 1969. A tenth (Back Home) was recorded in 1976. All of these projects benefited from Contemporary’s utilization of musicians of the highest caliber and excellent sound quality. This was the pianist’s longest tenure with any record company.
Recorded in October and November of 1961, the trio album, A World of Piano (cover above), is generally considered Newborn Jr.’s finest and most influential. On it he is superbly backed by bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones on one session and bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes on the other. Pete Welding’s 4.5 star review in Down Beat Magazine (August 30, 1962, p. 28-29) cogently describes the pianist’s growth and maturity at this point in time:
“There is every indication in this stunning album that Newborn is well on the way to fulfilling the great promise he showed when he first burst on the jazz scene some seven years ago…The runaway technique has been harnessed and is now used as a means to expression rather than as an end in itself. But far more important than the tempering of his virtuoso proclivities are Newborn’s assured and mature conception, the deepened emotional thrust of his playing, and the unfailing sense of ordered direction that course through his work on this recording… Here Newborn’s technique never once obtrudes but is guided by a mind that is ever sure of its direction and moves to its goal with sureness, economy, and telling power. Moreover, Newborn’s playing is marked by a passionate intensity and a healthy emotional spontaneity that were too often absent in his earliest work.”
After Newborn. Jr. left Contemporary, there are long gaps in his recorded history. No recordings were made between 1964 and 1969, 1969 and 1974, and 1979 and 1986. This was a consequence, in varying degrees and at various times, of poor health, emotional difficulties, substance abuse and an injury to one of his hands. His absences led to “comeback” albums such as Back Home (Contemporary; 1976) and Look Out – Phineas is Back (Pablo; 1976). His later years left us with 9 albums of uneven quality, several of which were produced by European or Japanese labels. The Atlantic album Solo Piano was nominated for a Grammy Award (Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist) in 1974. Along with Harold Mabern, Charles Thomas and James Williams, in 1981 Newborn, Jr. participated in a “Memphis Piano Summit.” His last studio recording was I’ve Something to Say, issued on Japanese EmArcy, recorded in 1987, and backed by Jamil Nasser and drummer Tony Reedus.
Newborn, Jr. returned to Memphis in the 1970s where he died of lung cancer on May 26, 1989 at the age of 57. He was buried in Memphis National Cemetery. In 2013, he was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.
The piano approach of Phineas Newborn, Jr. is unique and has components reminiscent of Art Tatum, Bud Powell and Erroll Garner, but mainly it is of his own creation. There are block chords played at rapid tempi with amazing facility; octave runs with both hands locked in synchrony; seemingly effortless arpeggios; and performances using ONLY his left hand. And he would employ these techniques frequently. At his best, they would instill in the performance elegance and emotional power that could stun the listener – or they could seem mechanical and repetitive. His incredible technique could be an asset or a distraction, and not to everyone’s liking. Interestingly, he performed ballads with little improvisation, remaining close to the melody but inserting complex ornamental embellishment.
While he never lived up to the potential his talent and ability foretold, Newborn, Jr.’s 40 year legacy has been influential and has attracted the attention of pianists who emerged after him including Tom Cawley, Geoffrey Keezer and Mulgrew Miller as well as fellow Memphians Harold Mabern and James Williams. I encourage the reader to examine or reexamine the work of this important if imperfect artist and hope that the accompanying discography is helpful in that endeavor.
Noal Cohen, Montclair, NJ, April 2024
Other Phineas Newborn, Jr. Resources:
Gerald Wilson 1976 Interview of Phineas Newborn, Jr.
Phineas Newborn, Jr. on Jazz Scene USA 1962
Phineas Newborn, Jr. Wikipedia Page
The Sadness and Sound of Phineas Newborn, Jr.
Phineas Newborn, Jr. Discography
Phineas Newborn, Jr. Discography (Japan)
You’ll Hear It Live Listening Sesh with Special Guest Geoffrey Keezer on Phineas Newborn, Jr.
Kerry Politzer, The Left-Hand Techniques of Phineas Newborn Jr. – DownBeat Magazine, September 2024, p. 56-58.
Many Thanks to:
JazzInstitut Darmstadt, Peter Lin, Louis LoCicero, Rufus Reid, Nils Winther