No other person has equaled pianist Horace Tapscott’s impact on L.A. creative music. When young players of the 1960s heard the radical call of Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and Cecil Taylor, and could find no nontraditional local teacher to accept them, Tapscott stepped up. When other stars sought greener pastures in New York, Tapscott stuck with his community. His hypnotic compositions and African rhythms established root systems that nourished generations, especially through his tumultuous Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, which gave voice to the distinctive expressions of Arthur Blythe, Roberto Miranda and Nate Morgan. The Ark continues his legacy to this day.
LA Creators
LA Creators: Don Cherry
Arrived Los Angeles 1940, died 1995
LA Creators: Charlie Haden
Arrived Los Angeles 1957, died here 2014.
LA Creators: Charles Mingus
Raised from infancy in Los Angeles, left 1949, died 1979.
LA Creators: Eric Dolphy
Born in Los Angeles 1928, left 1960, died 1964.