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Phineas Newborn, Jr. was born into a musical family on December 14, 1931 in Whiteville, Tennessee. His father Phineas Sr. was a blues musician and his younger brother Calvin, a jazz guitarist. He studied piano as well as trumpet, tenor and baritone saxophone. His principal influences were Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson and Bud Powell.
Newborn first played in an R&B band led by his father on drums, his brother Calvin on guitar, bassist Tuff Green, Ben Branch and Wilie Mitchell before moving on to work with Lionel Hampton, Charles Mingus and others. From 1947 to ’51 they recorded B.B. King’s first recording, toured with Jackie Brenston, recorded Sam Phillips Roclet 88 which became the first #1 record for Chess Records.
His earliest Fifties recordings for Sun Records with blues harmonica player Big Walter Horton, We Three with drummer Roy Haynes and bassist Paul Chambers, and his debut as a solo artist with Phineas’ Rainbow for RCA Victor. By 1956, Phineas was in New York City performing in trio and quartet form with Oscar Pettiford, Kenny Clarke, George Joyner and Philly Joe Jones. He created enough interest internationally to work as a solo pianist in Stockholm and Rome towards the ned of the decade.
In 1960, the 29-year-old Newborn replaced Thelonious Monk and performed It’s Alright with Me on the ABC-TV series, Music for a Spring Night. A move to Los Angeles, California saw him recording a sequence of piano trio albums for the Contemporary label, however, some critics found his playing style rather facile. He developed emotional problems as a result an during certain periods pent time at Camarillo State Mental Hospital. He also suffered a hand injury which hindered his playing.
Newborn’s later career was intermittent due to ongoing health problems. During the mid-1960s to mid-1970s Newborn faded from view, underappreciated and under-recorded. He made a partial comeback in the late 1970s and early ‘80s, although this return apparently failed to benefit his financial situation.
Pianist Phineas Newborn, Jr. recorded twenty-three albums as a leader and another seven as a sideman before he passed away on May 26, 1989 after the discovery of a growth on his lungs. He is buried in Memphis National Cemetery. It is said that his financial and medical plight spurred the founding of the Jazz Foundation of America in 1989.
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