Britt Woodman

Britt Woodman

Britt Woodman (June 4, 1920 in Los Angeles – October 13, 2000 in Hawthorne, California) was a jazz trombonist. He is best known for his work with Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus. He knew Mingus from childhood, but first worked with Phil Moore and Les Hite. After service in World War II he played with Boyd Raeburn before joining with Lionel Hampton in 1946. During the 1950s he worked with Ellington. As a member of Ellington's band he can be heard on Such Sweet Thunder (1957), Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book (also 1957), Black, Brown, and Beige (1958) and Ellington Indigos (1958). In 1960 he left Ellington to work in a pit orchestra. Later he worked with Mingus and can be heard on the album Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1963). In the 1970s he led his own octet and worked with pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi. In 1989 he was in the personnel for the album Epitaph dedicated to the previously unrecorded music of Charles Mingus. Steve Turre, among others, has cited him as an influence.

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