Biography
Born in 1953 in Chicago, Illinois, Irving took up brass instruments in childhood while also pursuing piano studies. His upbringing spanned Chicago and North Carolina, where he performed across numerous ensembles and absorbed a wide range of styles amid intensive training. Returning to Chicago in 1978, he maintained steady work with local groups until Miles Davis took notice. Irving contributed co-compositions and co-arrangements to Davis’s 1981 release The Man With The Horn. By 1983 he was performing on, writing for, and co-producing both Decoy and You’re Under Arrest, each earning Grammy nominations. He remained with Davis through the close of the decade, departing in 1989, and during those years studied under Gil Evans.
Irving’s collaborators, both in performance and on recordings, have included Victor Bailey, Gary Bartz, Michael Brecker, Oscar Brown Jnr., Regina Carter, Khalil El Zabar, Eddie Henderson, Billy Joel, Oliver Lake, Ramsey Lewis, Marilyn Mazur, Marcus Miller, David Murray, Wallace Roney, Pharoah Sanders, Sister Sledge and Phil Upchurch. He co-founded the Davis alumni ensembles ESP and ESP2 and established Chicago’s African Arts Ensemble. As a producer he has overseen projects by David Murray, Gerald Albright, Bill Evans, Branford Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Patrice Rushen, Carlos Santana, John Scofield, Wayne Shorter, Sting and Grover Washington Jnr.
Film scores by Irving include Street Smart (1987) and Scenes For The Soul (1995). He also wrote the concerto “Mademoiselle Mandarin” for jazz harp, premiered by Markus Klinko with the Miami Chamber Symphony Orchestra. In 1989 he produced Terri Lyne Carrington’s Grammy-nominated Real Life Story. Early in the 2000s the pair launched Sonic Portraits Entertainment, an artist-run label they jointly directed. Its debut project, 2006’s New Momentum, found Irving returning to acoustic performance alongside bassists Buster Williams and Marlene Rosenberg with Yusef Ernie Adams on drums. Since leaving Davis, and particularly from the late 1990s onward, Irving has created paintings exhibited in both Chicago and New York.
Irving’s collaborators, both in performance and on recordings, have included Victor Bailey, Gary Bartz, Michael Brecker, Oscar Brown Jnr., Regina Carter, Khalil El Zabar, Eddie Henderson, Billy Joel, Oliver Lake, Ramsey Lewis, Marilyn Mazur, Marcus Miller, David Murray, Wallace Roney, Pharoah Sanders, Sister Sledge and Phil Upchurch. He co-founded the Davis alumni ensembles ESP and ESP2 and established Chicago’s African Arts Ensemble. As a producer he has overseen projects by David Murray, Gerald Albright, Bill Evans, Branford Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Patrice Rushen, Carlos Santana, John Scofield, Wayne Shorter, Sting and Grover Washington Jnr.
Film scores by Irving include Street Smart (1987) and Scenes For The Soul (1995). He also wrote the concerto “Mademoiselle Mandarin” for jazz harp, premiered by Markus Klinko with the Miami Chamber Symphony Orchestra. In 1989 he produced Terri Lyne Carrington’s Grammy-nominated Real Life Story. Early in the 2000s the pair launched Sonic Portraits Entertainment, an artist-run label they jointly directed. Its debut project, 2006’s New Momentum, found Irving returning to acoustic performance alongside bassists Buster Williams and Marlene Rosenberg with Yusef Ernie Adams on drums. Since leaving Davis, and particularly from the late 1990s onward, Irving has created paintings exhibited in both Chicago and New York.
Albums
