Born September 27,
1924. His grandfather was a great
flamenco player. His father was a
pianist and his brothers played the
trumpet and the
violin. At the age of 19 he started to show signs of
mental illness. At the age of 21 he was put away in a nursing home due to
schizophrenia. He was certified
insane.
In 1951, he was arrested for
drug possession. He received intensive
detoxification and
electric shock therapies.
In 1953 he performed in front of his idol,
Art Tatum (another great pianist).
In 1956, while on tour with
Miles Davis,
Lester Young and the
MJQ (
Modern Jazz Quartet), his brother died in a car accident. Incidentally,
Clifford Brown died in that same accident.
Soon he became totally insane, and in 1965 was fished out of the gutter (not for the first time), to perform two concerts, at
Carnegie Hall, and at the
Town Hall.
He died on July 24th, 1966 of
pneumonia.