Melvin Rhyne

Melvin Rhyne (October 12, 1936 March 5, 2013, Indianapolis, Indiana),[1] was a jazz organist best known for his work with Wes Montgomery.[2]

Melvin Rhyne
Born(1936-10-12)October 12, 1936
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
DiedMarch 5, 2013(2013-03-05) (aged 76)
Indianapolis
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsOrgan
Years active1955–2013
LabelsRiverside, Criss Cross
Associated actsWes Montgomery, Rob Dixon, Herb Ellis, Brian Lynch

Biography

Melvin Rhyne was born in Indianapolis in 1936 and started playing the piano shortly after. At 19 years old, Rhyne started playing piano with then-unknown tenor saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk but quickly switched over to the instrument that would make him famous: the Hammond B3 organ. Rhyne's piano skills translated to the organ fluently and before long he was backing famous blues players like B.B. King and T-Bone Walker.[3] In 1959 he was asked to join fellow Indianapolis musician Wes Montgomery's newly formed trio.[4]

Rhyne then moved to Wisconsin and largely kept to himself for the next two decades. In 1991, however, he played on Herb Ellis's album Roll Call, Brian Lynch's At the Main Event, and his own album, The Legend. He continued to be prolific in the years to come, releasing eight more solo albums on the Criss Cross Jazz label.[5] Rhyne also recorded with The Mark Ladley Trio for the 1992 release, Strictly Business[6] and the 1994 release, Evidence.[7] Both landed in the Jazz Charts at CMJ New Music Report and The Gavin Report. The group also appeared on a Jazziz Magazine sampler disc during that time.[8] Altenburgh Records posthumously released, Final Call in 2013 by the same group.[9]

In 2008 Rhyne teamed up with fellow Indianapolis jazz musician Rob Dixon to form the Dixon-Rhyne Project, a boundary-pushing jazz quartet that also includes Chicago guitarist Fareed Haque and drummer Kenny Phelps. The quartet released the album Reinvention in 2008 on Indianapolis jazz label Owl Studios.[10] Rhyne's later career trio included guitarist Peter Bernstein and drummer Kenny Washington in the same organ, guitar, drum formation of the original Wes Montgomery Trio.[11]

He died in his hometown of Indianapolis of lung cancer at the age of 76.[12]

Discography

Year Artist Title Label
1959 The Wes Montgomery Trio Guitar on the Go Riverside
1959 The Wes Montgomery Trio Round Midnight Riverside
1960 Melvin Rhyne Organ-izing Jazzland
1963 The Wes Montgomery Trio Boss Guitar Riverside
1963 The Wes Montgomery Trio Portrait of Wes Riverside
1969 Johnny Shacklett At the Hofman House Universal Artists
1969 Buddy Montgomery This Rather Than That Impulse!
1991 Herb Ellis Roll Call Justice Records
1991 Brian Lynch Quintet At the Main Event Criss Cross
1991 Melvin Rhyne Trio The Legend Criss Cross
1992 Mark Ladley Strictly Business Altenburgh Records
1992 Melvin Rhyne To Cannonball with Love Paddle Wheel Records
1993 Ronald Muldrow Yesterdays Enja
1993 Mark Ladley Trio Evidence Altenburgh
1993 Mark Ladley Coop's Blues Jazziz (Magazine Sampler Disc, Vol. 7)
1993 Melvin Rhyne Quartet Boss Organ Criss Cross
1993 The Tenor Triangle with The Melvin Rhyne Trio Tell it Like it Is Criss Cross
1994 The Tenor Triangle with The Melvin Rhyne Trio Aztec Blues Criss Cross
1994 Project G-5 A Tribute to Wes Montgomery Evidence
1995 Eric Alexander Quartet In Europe Criss Cross
1995 Royce Campbell Trio Make Me Rainbows Positive
1995 Melvin Rhyne Trio Mel's Spell Criss Cross
1995 Melvin Rhyne Quintet Stick to the Kick Criss Cross
1998 Juli Wood Quintet (feat. Mel Rhyne) Movin' and Groovin' Juli Wood
1999 Melvin Rhyne Trio Kojo Criss Cross
1999 Mel Rhyne (feat. Royce Campbell) Remembering Wes Savant
2000 Melvin Rhyne Quartet Classmasters Criss Cross
2004 Melvin Rhyne Trio Tomorrow Yesterday Today Criss Cross
2006 Killer Ray Appleton-Melvin Rhyne Quartet Latin Dreams Lineage
2007 Melvin Rhyne Front & Center Criss Cross
2008 The Dixon-Rhyne Project Reinvention Owl Studios
2009 Kyle Asche Blues For Mel Tippin'
2013 Mark Ladley Final Call Altenburgh

References

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