Biography
Julian Priester possessed remarkable range and technical sophistication on trombone, navigating hard bop, post-bop, R&B, fusion, and outright avant-garde jazz with equal assurance, yet his limited output as a bandleader has kept him from wider recognition. Born in Chicago on June 29, 1935, he first gained experience on the city’s active blues and R&B circuit alongside Muddy Waters, Dinah Washington, and Bo Diddley while also contributing to Sun Ra’s forward-looking large ensembles in the mid-1950s. Relocating to New York in 1958, he became a member of Max Roach’s group and took part in the landmark Freedom Now Suite. Two years later he led a pair of hard-bop dates, Keep Swingin’ and Spiritsville. After departing Roach in 1961, Priester frequently appeared on Blue Note sessions with Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Blue Mitchell, Art Blakey, Joe Henderson, and McCoy Tyner; he also collaborated with Sam Rivers and performed in John Coltrane’s Africa/Brass ensemble. A six-month stint with Duke Ellington in 1969–70 preceded his most visible engagement, joining Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters-era fusion ensemble. Upon leaving that group in 1973, he settled in San Francisco and cut two albums for ECM, Love, Love in 1974 and Polarization in 1977. During the 1980s he joined Dave Holland’s band, joined the faculty of Cornish College in Seattle, and rejoined Sun Ra’s orchestra. The following decade found him continuing with Holland and touring in Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra. In 1997 Priester finally returned as a leader with the Postcards release Hints on Light and Shadow, which featured Sam Rivers. A liver transplant in 2000 did not prevent him from performing again the next year at a benefit concert held in his honor.
Albums
