Charles Earland
Charles Earland, 1983
Background information
Born	(1941-05-24)May 24, 1941 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	(1999-12-11)December 11, 1999 Kansas City, Missouri
Genres	Jazz, soul jazz, blues, funk
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Organ
Years active	1966–1999
Labels	Prestige, Muse, Mercury, Columbia, Milestone
Associated acts	Jimmy McGriff

Charles Earland (May 24, 1941 – December 11, 1999) was an American jazz organist.^[1]

Biography[edit]

Earland was born in Philadelphia and learned to play the saxophone in high school.^[1] He played tenor with Jimmy McGriff at the age of 17 and in 1960 formed his first group. He started playing the organ after playing with Pat Martino, and joined Lou Donaldson's band from 1968 to 1969.^[1]

The group that he led from 1970, including Grover Washington, Jr., was successful, and he eventually started playing soprano saxophone and synthesizer. His hard, simmering grooves earned him the nickname "The Mighty Burner".

In 1978, Earland hit the disco/club scene with a track recorded on Mercury Records called "Let The Music Play", written by Randy Muller from the funk group Brass Construction. The record was in the U.S. charts for five weeks and reached number 46 in the UK Singles Chart.^[2] With Earland's playing on synthesizer, the track also has an uncredited female vocalist. He had several moderate Billboard R&B chart hits in the mid-1970s and early '80s on Mercury and later Columbia Records.

Earland traveled extensively from 1988 until his death in 1999, performing throughout the USA and abroad. One of the highlights of his latter years was playing at the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1994. Among the musicians that performed with him at the Berlin Jazz Festival was the Alabama-born Chicago resident, Zimbabu Hamilton.^[3] on the drums. Earland died in Kansas City, Missouri, of heart failure at the age of 58.^[1]

Discography[edit]

As leader[edit]

• 
  Boss Organ (Choice, 1966 [rel. 1969])


• 
  Soul Crib (Choice, 1969)


• 
  Black Power (Rare Bird, 1969)


• 
  Freakin' Off [live] (Big Chance #BCR-5001, 1969 [rel. 1971]; reissued as Charles Earland on Trip Records in 1974)


• 
  Black Talk! (Prestige, 1969)


• 
  Black Drops (Prestige, 1970)


• 
  Living Black! (Prestige, 1970)


• 
  Soul Story (Prestige, 1971)


• 
  Intensity (Prestige, 1972) -with Lee Morgan, Hubert Laws, Billy Harper
  


• 
  Live at the Lighthouse (Prestige, 1972)


• 
  Charles III (Prestige, 1973) -with Lee Morgan, Billy Harper, Billy Cobham
  


• 
  The Dynamite Brothers (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Recording) (Prestige, 1973 [rel. 1974])


• 
  Leaving This Planet (Prestige, 1973 [rel. 1974]) -with Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson
  


• 
  Kharma (Recorded In Concert Performance At The 1974 Montreux Jazz Festival) (Prestige, 1974)


• 
  Odyssey (Mercury, 1976)


• 
  The Great Pyramid (Mercury, 1976)


• 
  Revelation (Mercury, 1977)


• 
  Perceptions (Mercury, 1978)


• 
  Smokin' (Muse, 1977)


• 
  Mama Roots (Muse, 1977)


• 
  Infant Eyes (Muse, 1978)


• "Cause I Love Her So" (as composer) from Until My Love Returns by Sunrise Ltd. (Pizzaz Records, Detroit [rel. 1980])


• 
  Pleasant Afternoon (Muse, 1981)


• 
  Coming To You Live (Columbia, 1980; reissued on PTG [EU] Records, and Sony Music [Japan] in 2016)


• 
  In the Pocket... (Muse, 1982)


• 
  Earland's Jam (Columbia, 1982; reissued on Funky Town Grooves/Columbia in 2012)


• 
  Earland's Street Themes (Columbia, 1983; reissued on Funky Town Grooves/Columbia in 2012)


• 
  Front Burner (Milestone, 1988) -with Virgil Jones, Bill Easley, Bobby Broom
  


• 
  Third Degree Burn (Milestone, 1989) -with Lew Soloff, Grover Washington Jr., David "Fathead" Newman, Bobby Broom


• 
  Whip Appeal (Muse, 1990) -with Johnny Coles, Houston Person


• 
  Unforgettable (Muse, 1991) -with Eric Alexander, Houston Person


• 
  I Ain't Jivin'...I'm Jammin' (Muse, 1992) -with Eric Alexander


• 
  Ready 'N' Able (Muse, 1995) -with Lew Soloff, Eric Alexander


• 
  Blowing The Blues Away (High Note, 1997) -with Eric Alexander, Jim Rotondi, Bob DeVos
  


• 
  Charles Earland's Jazz Organ Summit [live] (Cannonball, 1997) -with Dr. Lonnie Smith, Johnny "Hammond" Smith, Jimmy McGriff
  


• 
  Slammin' & Jammin' (Savant, 1997 [rel. 1998]) -with Carlos Garnett, Melvin Sparks, Bernard Purdie
  


• 
  Live (Cannonball, 1997 [rel. 1999]) [note: this is Earland's set from the Jazz Organ Summit concert]


• 
  Cookin' With The Mighty Burner (High Note, 1997 [rel. 1999]) -with Eric Alexander, Jim Rotondi, Melvin Sparks


• 
  Stomp! (High Note, 1999 [rel. 2000]) -with Eric Alexander


• 
  If Only For One Night (High Note, 1999 [rel. 2002]) -with Najee
  

LP/CD compilations[edit]

• 
  Burners (Prestige MPP 2501, 1980)


• 
  Organomically Correct (32 Jazz, 1999; reissued on Savoy Jazz in 2003)


• 
  The Almighty Burner (32 Jazz, 2000; reissued on Savoy Jazz in 2003)


• 
  Charlie's Greatest Hits (Prestige, 2000) (compilation drawn from 4 different Earland albums, and 1 track from Boogaloo Joe Jones' Right On Brother + 2 previously unreleased live tracks)


• 
  Anthology (Soul Brother [UK] Records, 2000) [2CD]


• 
  Charles Earland In Concert: At The Montreux Jazz Festival And The Lighthouse (Prestige, 2002) (compilation of Live At The Lighthouse + Kharma)


• 
  Funk Fantastique (Prestige, 2004) (compilation of Charles III + 4 bonus tracks from the same sessions)


• 
  The Mighty Burner: The Best Of His High Note Recordings (High Note, 2004)


• 
  Scorched, Seared & Smokin': The Best Of "The Mighty Burner" (High Note, 2011) [3CD]

As sideman[edit]

With Eric Alexander

• 
  Alexander the Great (HighNote, 1997 [2000])

With Rusty Bryant

• 
  Soul Liberation (Prestige, 1970) -with Melvin Sparks

With Lou Donaldson

• 
  Say It Loud! (Blue Note, 1968) -with Jimmy Ponder


• 
  Hot Dog (Blue Note, 1969)


• 
  Everything I Play Is Funky (Blue Note, 1970)

With George Freeman

• 
  Introducing George Freeman Live ...With Charlie Earland Sitting In (Giant Step, 1971)


• 
  Franticdiagnosis (Bam-Boo, 1972)

With Sonny Hopson

• 
  Life & Mad ...Featuring Charlie Earland (Giant Step, 1970)

With Willis Jackson

• 
  Bar Wars (Muse, 1977)


• 
  Nothing Butt... (Muse, 1980 [rel. 1983])

With Boogaloo Joe Jones

• 
  Right On Brother (Prestige, 1970) -with Rusty Bryant

With Houston Person

• 
  The Nearness of You (Muse, 1977)

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• 
  Charles Earland at Allmusic.com


• 
  Charles Earland discography at Jazzlists