1. Avery Sharpe was born on August 23,1954 and is an American jazz double-bassist, electric bassist, composer, educator and founder of the artist-owned record label, JKNM Records.
14 Facts About Avery Sharpe
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Avery Sharpe was first bought to prominence by tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp and drummer Art Blakey, but is best known for his longtime association with pianist McCoy Tyner from 1980 to 2003.
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Avery Sharpe's mother, Evelyn, was a pianist and choir director in the Church of God in Christ and she gave lessons to Sharpe, as well as to his seven other siblings.
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Avery Sharpe studied the accordion in his youth and ultimately the electric bass.
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Avery Sharpe played the double and electric bass in gospel, funk, rock groups, jazz band and orchestra.
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Avery Sharpe played as a sideman with Yusef Lateef, Ricky Ford, and Joe Ford, among others.
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Avery Sharpe has multiple roles at Williams College, as an Artist Associate and Jazz Coach.
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Avery Sharpe serves additional roles at Williams College; as Faculty Advisor for the Williams Gospel Choir and as affiliation with the Africana Studies department.
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Sharpe's parents, James and Evelyn Sharpe, had eight children, of whom Avery was the sixth-born.
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Avery Sharpe married his high school sweetheart Cheryl after college and they have four children.
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Avery Sharpe has been commissioned by the Springfield Symphony Orchestra on multiple occasions.
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Avery Sharpe debuted his six-movement piece America's Promise with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.
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Avery Sharpe released an album in 2019 titled "400: An African American Musical Portrait", which is in reference to the 400th anniversary of the first African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 by the Dutch.
14.
Avery Sharpe has been awarded the NAACP Martin Luther King Jr Special Achievement Award, National Endowment for the Arts Grants, and the New England Foundation for the Arts Achievement in Jazz Award.