Carl Perkins
Piano
About
Carl Perkins was a West Coast jazz pianist whose polio-paralyzed left arm led him to develop one of the most distinctive techniques in jazz history. He adapted by holding his arm parallel to the keyboard and striking bass notes with his elbow, earning him the nickname "The Crab." After moving from Indianapolis to Los Angeles in 1949, he became one of the most in-demand pianists on the West Coast scene, recording with Curtis Counce, Art Pepper, Dexter Gordon, Harold Land, and Clifford Brown. His dense chord voicings and blues-inflected right-hand lines synthesized the urgency of Bud Powell with the rhapsodic sweep of Erroll Garner. He recorded one album as a leader, Introducing Carl Perkins, for Dootone in 1956 and composed "Grooveyard," which became a jazz standard. He died of a drug overdose at twenty-nine.
Trivia
His childhood friend from Indianapolis, bassist Leroy Vinnegar, described his playing: "He not only played the chords — he played the beauty in the chords, and his time was perfect." After briefly joining the Clifford Brown–Max Roach Quintet in 1954, Perkins left because he found Max Roach's breakneck tempos difficult given the positioning of his left arm. His composition "Grooveyard" continues to be widely performed, though few musicians who play it recognize him as its composer.
Early Life
Born on August 16, 1928, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Carl Perkins contracted polio as a child, leaving his left arm withered and partially paralyzed. He grew up on Indiana Avenue, the epicenter of Indianapolis jazz culture, where the Bebop Society was promoting the new music through concerts and scholarships. Rather than abandon the piano, he developed an unorthodox technique, holding his paralyzed arm parallel to the keyboard and using his elbow to play bass notes. He honed his skills in Avenue clubs before relocating to Los Angeles in 1949. After serving in the United States Army from 1951 to 1952, he resumed his career in LA, working with the Oscar Moore Trio and joining the Clifford Brown–Max Roach Quintet in 1954.
Carl Perkins Solos
1955
Piano solo - My Old Flame - 1955
4/4 ballad in F major at 62 BPM
Piano solo - Neil's Blues - 1955
4/4 swing in F major at 138 BPM
Piano solo - The Champ - 1955
4/4 swing in B♭ major at 280 BPM
Piano solo - Milt's Tune - 1955
4/4 swing in B♭ major at 237 BPM