Stomach Cancer....Dec. 21, 1997

          Johnny Coles, a trumpeter and fluegelhornist who illuminated some of the best jazz groups of the
          1950s and '60s with his warm, soft sound, died on Dec. 21 at University of Pennsylvania
          Hospital in Philadelphia. He was 71.

          The cause was stomach cancer, said Darlene Drummond, his niece.

          Coles was born in Trenton, N.J., and his family moved to Philadelphia when he was still a child.
          There he joined a pool of first-rate jazz musicians who would move on to New York and greater
          recognition. Among them were Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath and John Coltrane.

          Coles' style had a connection to Miles Davis, and arranger Gil Evans hired him for many recording
          sessions in the early 1960s. Besides taking part in the trumpet section of the famous Evans-Davis
          collaborations "Porgy and Bess" and "Sketches of Spain," Coles contributed some well-known solos
          to Evans' 1960 album "Out of the Cool." He also recorded under his own name for the Epic and
          Blue Note labels.

          In 1964 he toured with Charles Mingus. Later in the decade he was a member of Herbie Hancock's
          sextet and toured with Ray Charles. He performed with Duke Ellington and Count Basie in the
          1970s. He also played in the early incarnation of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis band and was a regular
          presence around New York as a leader and a sideman in groups that paid tribute to Count Basie,
          Charles Mingus and Tadd Dameron.

          No immediate family members survive.
 
 
 

Jazz trumpeter Johnny Coles Dies                  PHILADELPHIA - Johnny Coles, a trumpeter who played with many
of jazz music's biggest names, died of cancer Sunday at age 71.  Coles,
a resident of Philadelphia, died Sunday at Allegheny University Hospitals-
Hahnemann.  Coles, who had a soft, warm tone and spare style that invited
comparison to Miles Davis, was equally comfortable on trumpet and the
larger-bore, softer-toned flugelhorn. He recorded fewer than a dozen
records as a band leader, including "The Warm Sound of Johnny Coles"
and "Little Johnny C," but played on scores of albums for Duke Ellington
and Herbie Hancock, among others. He also played with Count Basie,
Ray Charles and Quincy Jones, and performed for the royal families of
Ethiopia, Thailand and Britain.  He returned to Philadelphia in 1989 after
stints in Newark, N.J., Richmond, Va., and the San Francisco area.  Coles
realized he was not as well-known as the stars with whom he played. "My
name is definitely not a household word. Among jazz buffs, yes. But I'm
gonna make it a household word," he said in a 1986 interview.

Coles, who was 5-feet-3, continued to play trumpet as recently as the
summer, despite the cancer that left him weighing only 60 pounds
before his death, friends said. In February, Coles received the PECO
Energy Jazz Festival's "Living Legend of Jazz" award during an all-night
jam session at the African American Museum. Funeral arrangements
were incomplete.  Coles, who was divorced, is survived by several
nieces, nephews and cousins.

 

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                  ~ Ron Wynn

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