Dick Twardzik

Dick Twardzik
Background information
Born (1931-04-30)April 30, 1931
Danvers, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died October 21, 1955(1955-10-21) (aged 24)
Paris, France
Genres Bebop
Instruments Piano
Years active 1945 - 1955
Associated acts Serge Chaloff, Charlie Mariano, Charlie Parker, Chet Baker

Richard Henryk Twardzik (April 30, 1931 in Danvers, Massachusetts – October 21, 1955 in Paris) was a jazz pianist, known for bebop,[1] who worked in Boston for the bulk of his career.

He trained in classical piano as a child, and made his professional debut at 14. He was taught by prominent Boston piano teacher Margaret Chaloff, mother of baritone saxophone player Serge Chaloff, in whose group Twardzik recorded, in addition to one led by Charlie Mariano. Twardzik also worked with Charlie Parker on several occasions toward the end of Parker's life when he was performing locally.

Twardzik became addicted to heroin as a teenager.[1] He died from a heroin overdose[2] while on a European tour with Chet Baker.[1]

Discography

As a Leader

With Chet Baker

References

Further reading

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 08, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.