Death Takes Musician At Age 77 Jazz Pianist Jimmy Rowles Was Born In Spokane

Jimmy Rowles, a jazz pianist who accompanied singers such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, has died. He was 77.

Rowles died of cardiac arrest last Tuesday at Thompson Memorial Hospital in Burbank, Calif., the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

Born in Spokane, Rowles was brimming with talent. When he lived on South Tekoa, across the street from the Manito Park playgrounds, he learned to play a mean game of tennis. But he taught himself to play an even meaner jazz piano.

According to legend, a band showed up at the Davenport Hotel in 1934 to play at a luncheon. A kid in tennis shoes was noodling on the piano.

Someone saw the shoes and cracked, “Where’s your racquet?” The kid said, “Out in the car.” He was serious.

Rowles married Dorothy Paden, a former North Central High School student. In 1940, he made his way to Los Angeles to play with small jazz groups on Central Avenue.

After serving in the Army during World War II, he played with the big bands of Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey, Les Brown and Benny Goodman. He also played in the studio with Henry Mancini. He was dubbed a musical handyman to the greats, backing up Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughan and Peggy Lee.

Rowles never stopped playing, moving from swing to soul without missing a beat. He recorded with the Fifth Dimension on the album “Stoned Soul Picnic” in 1968.

Rowles also was a soloist with such musicians as Stan Getz and Red Mitchell. Rowles performed with his daughter, jazz trumpeter Stacy Rowles, in the 1980s, and in 1984, they recorded “Tell It Like It Is.”

Among Rowles’ albums were “Music for Touching” with Holiday in 1955, “The Jimmy Rowles Sextet” in 1958, “Sarah Vaughan and the Jimmy Rowles Quintet” in 1972, “The Special Magic of Jimmy Rowles” in 1974, “The Peacocks” with Getz in 1977, “Red ‘n’ Me” with Mitchell in 1978, “Jimmy Rowles Plays Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn” in 1981, “Remember When” in 1989 and “Trio” in 1991.

In addition to his daughter, who lives in North Hollywood, he is survived by his wife, Dorothy; another daughter, Stephanie, of Cambria, Calif.; and a son, Gary, of Philomath, Ore.

xxxx