Biography
10 July 1915, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, d. 27 July 1977, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Orphaned as a child, Buckner was taught music by an uncle in Detroit. Playing piano and arranging for local bands, he attracted the attention of McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, for whom he wrote arrangements. In November 1941 he joined Lionel Hampton’s newly formed big band, acting as pianist and staff arranger, and remained there for seven years. For the next two years he led his own short-lived big band, and then rejoined Hampton. It was at this time that Buckner began to concentrate on playing organ, and he worked as a solo or in harness with Jo Jones, Sam Woodyard and Illinois Jacquet, frequently returning to Hampton for record and concert dates. From the early 30s Buckner had experimented with a technique of piano playing that became known as the ‘locked hands’ style and was later developed by George Shearing and Buckner himself. Buckner’s playing was always...
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