Wallace Roney was an acclaimed American jazz trumpeter who ranked among the stars of the genre after breaking through as a soloist in 1991. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 25th, 1960, he played music as a child and went on to study at the city's Settlement School of Music, Duke Ellington School of Music in Washington, D.C., Berklee School of Music in Boston and Howard University. His engaging, sometimes mournful and often brash improvisational style landed him work with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers but as the New York jazz scene dwindled in the early 1980s, he played with lounge bands until 1985, when drummer Tony Williams took him on tour. He played on two Williams albums: Foreign Intrigue (1985) and Civilization (1986). After another stint with Blakey, he released his debut solo album, Verses, in 1987. Mentored by Miles Davis, he won acclaim when he performed with the legendary jazz star at a 1991 concert produced by Quincy Jones, held in Montreux to honour pianist Gil Evans. Davis died soon afterwards, but the concert can be heard on the album Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux. In 1994, the album A Tribute to Miles, featuring Roney with Herbie Hancock on piano, Wayne Shorter on tenor and soprano saxophone, Ron Carter on bass and Williams on drums, won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance By an Individual Or Group. Roney received another nomination in 1997 for the same award for Remembering Bud Powell with Chick Corea on piano, Kenny Garrett on alto saxophone, Joshua Redman on tenor sax, Christian McBride on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. He continued to record with top jazz artists with albums such as Home (2012), Understanding (2013), In an Ambient Way (2015) and A Place in Time (2016). Less than a year after releasing another LP, Blue Dawn-Blue Nights (2019), Roney sadly died on March 31st, 2020 in Paterson, New Jersey at just 59 years of age after contracting the coronavirus.
