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Jimmy Rowles Jimmy (*1918 in Spokane, WA) was a jazz pianist, vocalist, and composer. He attended Gonzaga University in Spokane. After moving to Los Angeles, he joined Lester Young's group in 1942. He also worked with Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Les Brown, Tommy Dorsey, and Tony Bennett, and as a studio musician.   Jimmy was praised as an accompanist by female singers. He recorded with the Jimmy Rowles Quintet with Sarah Vaughan and accompanied Carmen McRae on her 1972 live album The Great American Songbook. McRae described Jimmy as "the guy every girl singer in her right mind would like to work with".   In the 1950s and 1960s, Jimmy frequently played behind Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee. In the 1980s, he succeeded Paul Smith as Ella Fitzgerald's accompanist. In late 1956 he performed with Fitzgerald at the Mocambo nightclub in Hollywood; from then on, he appeared on several recording sessions with Ella in the 1960s before joining her in 1981 for nearly three years. Rowles appeared, in 1982, on Fitzgerald's final collaboration with Nelson Riddle, The Best Is Yet to Come. His song "Baby, Don't You Quit Now", written with Johnny Mercer, was recorded on her final album, All That Jazz, released in 1989.   In 1983, Jimmy worked with Diana Krall in Los Angeles, shortly after she moved from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He developed her playing abilities and encouraged her to add singing to her repertoire. In 1994, he accompanied jazz singer Jeri Brown on A Timeless Place, the only album containing only his own compositions.   "The Peacocks" is Jimmy's best known composition; it has been recorded on the 1975 album of the same name with Stan Getz, and subsequently by Gary Foster, John McLaughlin, Esperanza Spalding, Bill Evans, and other artists. Singer Norma Winstone wrote lyrics for the composition and recorded it under the title "A Timeless Place". "The Peacocks" is performed in the soundtrack of Bertrand Tavernier's movie Round Midnight.   Jimmy's 1958 composition "502 Blues" gained wide exposure from Wayne Shorter's 1966 recording. "502 Blues" was subsequently included in the Real Book, a collection of jazz sheet music widely used by students and professionals when playing jam sessions and casual gigs. Rowles died in 1996.   from Wikipedia

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