Roswell Rudd (Roswell Hopkins Rudd, Jr., Sharon, Connecticut, November 17, … Read Full Bio ↴Roswell Rudd (Roswell Hopkins Rudd, Jr., Sharon, Connecticut, November 17, 1935 - December 21, 2017) was an American jazz trombonist and composer.

Although skilled in a variety of genres of jazz (including Dixieland, which he performed while in college) and other genres of music, he was known primarily for his work in free and avant-garde jazz. Since 1962 Rudd had worked extensively with saxophonist Archie Shepp.

Rudd was born in Sharon, Connecticut. He attended the Hotchkiss School and graduated from Yale University, where he played with Eli's Chosen Six, a dixieland band of students that Rudd joined in the mid-'50s. The sextet played the boisterous trad jazz style of the day and recorded two albums, including one for Columbia Records. His collaborations with Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, John Tchicai, and Steve Lacy grew out of the lessons learned while playing rags and stomps for drunken college kids in Connecticut.

Rudd later taught ethnomusicology at Bard College and the University of Maine. On and off for a period of three decades, he assisted Alan Lomax with his world music song style (Cantometrics) and Global Jukebox projects.

In the 1960s, Rudd participated in free jazz recordings such as the New York Art Quartet; the soundtrack for the 1964 movie New York Eye and Ear Control; the album Communications by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra; and in collaborations with Don Cherry, Larry Coryell, Pharoah Sanders, and Gato Barbieri. Rudd has had lifelong friendships with saxophonists Archie Shepp and Steve Lacy and has performed and recorded the music of Thelonious Monk with Lacy.

Rudd and his producer and partner Verna Gillis went to Mali in 2000 and 2001. His album MALIcool (2001), a cross-cultural collaboration with kora player Toumani Diabaté and other Malian musicians, represented the first time the trombone had been featured in a recording of Malian traditional music.

In 2004, he brought his Trombone Shout Band to perform at the 4th Festival au Désert in Essakane, Tombouctou Region, Mali. In 2005, he extended his reach further, recording an album with the Mongolian Buryat Band, a traditional music group of musicians from Mongolia and Buryatia, entitled Blue Mongol. Rudd conducted master classes and workshops both in the United States and around the world. He was a resident of Kerhonkson, New York.

Awards and honors
Nomination: Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance Male and Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Monk's Dream (1999)
Trombonist of the Year, Jazz Journalists Association (2003–2005, 2009, 2010)
Best Trombonist, Down Beat Critics' Poll (2010)

Discography

As leader
1965: Roswell Rudd (America)
1966: Everywhere (also released as part of Mixed)
1973: Numatik Swing Band
1974: Flexible Flyer (Freedom)
1976: Blown Bone (Emanem)
1976: Inside Job with Enrico Rava, Dave Burrell, Stafford James, Harold White (Arista/Freedom)
1978: The Definitive Roswell Rudd (Horo)
1982: Regeneration with Steve Lacy, Misha Mengelberg, Kent Carter, Han Bennink (Soul Note)
1996: The Unheard Herbie Nichols–Vols. 1 & 2 (CIMP)
1999: New York Art Quartet: 35 Reunion (DIW)
1999: Monk's Dream (Universal/Verve)
2000: Broad Strokes (Knitting Factory)
2001: Eventuality: The Charlie Kohlhase Quintet Plays the Music of Roswell Rudd (NADA)
2001: Roswell Rudd and Archie Shepp Live in New York (Universal)
2002: MALIcool (Universal/Sunnyside)
2005: Blue Mongol (Sunnyside)
2006: El Espiritu Jibaro (Sunnyside)
2007: Keep Your Heart Right (Sunnyside)
2008: El Encuentro (Mojito)
2013: Trombone for Lovers (Sunnyside)
2016: August Love Song with Heather Masse (Red House)
2016: Strength & Power (RareNoise)
2017: Embrace (RareNoise)

As sideman
1957 Eli's Chosen 6, Yale University Dixieland Band (Columbia)
1961 New York City R&B, Buell Neidlinger, Cecil Taylor (Mosaic)
1962 Into the Hot, Gil Evans/Cecil Taylor (Impulse)
1963 School Days, Steve Lacy, Dennis Charles, Henry Grimes (Hathut)
1964 Four for Trane, with Archie Shepp (Impulse)
1964 New York Art Quartet, John Tchicai, Milford Graves (ESP-Disk)
1966 Until, with Robin Kenyatta (Atlantic)
1966 Archie Shepp Live in San Francisco, with Archie Shepp (Impulse)
1966 Mama Too Tight, with Archie Shepp (Impulse)
1966 New York Eye and Ear Control, Don Cherry, Albert Ayler, John Tchicai and Gary Peacock (ESP-Disk)
1967 Live at Donaueschingen (SABA)
1968 The Jazz Composer's Orchestra
1969 The Third World, Gato Barbieri (Flying Dutchman)
1971 Escalator over the Hill, Carla Bley (JCOA)
1971 Liberation Music Orchestra, Charlie Haden (Impulse)
1972 Roswell Rudd, New York Art Quartet (America)
1974 Village on the Left, Marcello Melis & Don Moye (Soul Note)
1975 Trickles, Steve Lacy, Beaver Harris, Kent Carter (Soul Note)
1976 Maine (Bvhaast)
1976 Dinner Music, with Carla Bley (Watt)
1977 The New Village on the Left, with Marcello Melis and Enrico Rava, Don Moye, Gruppo Rubanu (Black Saint)
1977 European Tour 1977, with Carla Bley (Watt)
1978 Enrico Rava Quartet, Enrico Rava, J.F. JennyClarke & Aldo Romano (ECM)
1979 Divine Song, with Sangeeta Michael Berardi, Rashied Ali, Eddie Gomez, Archie Shepp
1979 Sharing, Giorgio Gaslini (Discgidella Quercia)
1979 Musique Mecanique with Carla Bley (Watt)
1981 Interpretations of Monk,
1984 That's the Way I Feel Now
1992 Darn it, with Paul Haines (American Clave)
1994 Dark Was the Night, with Allen Lowe
1995 Wild Weekend, NRBQ & Terry Adams (Virgin)
1995 Woyzeck's Death, with Allen Lowe (Enja)
1996 Bladik, Keith Tippett et al. (Cuneiform)
1996 Rumors of an Incident, with Elton Dean (Slam)
1996 Terrible, NRBQ & Terry Adams (New World)
1997 Newsense, with Elton Dean (Slam)
2002 Seize the Time, Nexus Orchestra (Splasch)
2003 Sex Mob, Dime Grind Palace (Ropeadope)
2006 Dry Bones, with Sonic Youth, The Harry Smith Project (Shout! Factory)
2008 Concertos, Michael Mantler (ECM)

All Nite Soul
Roswell Rudd Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

The day is my enemy, the night my friend,
For I'm always so alone
Till the day draws to an end.
But when the sun goes down
And the moon comes through,
To the monotone of the evening's drone
I'm all alone with you.

All through the night,
I delight in your love,
All through the night, you're so close to me.
All through the night, from a height far above,
You and your love brings me ecstasy.

When dawn comes to waken me
You're never there at all.
I know you've forsaken me,
Till the shadows fall.
But then once again
I can dream,
I've the right

To be close to you
All through the night.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Roswell Rudd's "All Nite Soul" contain a dichotomy between day and night. The day is described as the enemy, but the night is the friend. The singer feels alone throughout the day, but at night, they are alone with the person they love. The evening is described as monotonous, but it is the time the singer spends with their lover. The night brings about a shared intimacy and ecstasy that is not present during the day.

However, when the dawn comes, the singer's lover is not there. The singer knows they have been forsaken until the shadows fall and night returns, providing another opportunity to be close to their love. The repetition of "all through the night" emphasizes the importance of the singer's love and the sense of longing they feel when they are apart. The singer dreams of their lover's embrace and feels that they have the right to be close to them, all through the night.

Overall, the lyrics to "All Nite Soul" convey the powerful emotions associated with love, loss, and longing. The contrast between day and night highlights the importance of intimate connections and the sense of comfort that comes with the night. The repeated use of "all through the night" emphasizes the singer's desire to be close to their lover, creating a sense of urgency and longing that permeates the song.

Line by Line Meaning

The day is my enemy, the night my friend,
I find solace in the night, as the day is full of harshness and discomfort.

For I'm always so alone
I perpetually experience a sense of loneliness.

Till the day draws to an end.
My day is often full of emptiness and lack of companionship, drawing to a disappointing close.

But when the sun goes down
However, when night falls,

And the moon comes through,
and the moonlight appears,

To the monotone of the evening's drone
in the background of the night's repetitive hum,

I'm all alone with you.
with only the memory of being united with a lover.

All through the night,
Throughout the whole night,

I delight in your love,
I experience pure joy in your affection,

All through the night, you're so close to me.
Throughout the night, I sense your proximity to me.

All through the night, from a height far above,
Throughout the night, from a great distance,