Charles Walter "Chuck" Flores (January 5, 1935 – November 24, 2016) was an American jazz drummer. One of the relatively small number of musicians associated with West Coast jazz who were actually from the West Coast, Flores was born in Orange, California, and grew up in Santa Ana. He is best known for the work he did with saxophonist Bud Shank in the 1950s, and for his two-year stint with Woody Herman, from 1954 to 1955, but also performed and recorded with such musicians as Carmen McRae, Art Pepper, Maynard Ferguson, Al Cohn, and Shelly Manne, who had been his drum teacher. Manne and others considered Flores an underrated drummer.

In later years, Flores became a highly sought after and renowned educator whose students included Danny Seraphine, Chad Wackerman, John Wackerman, Brooks Wackerman, Ray Mehlbaum, Pete Parada, Jamie Wollam, Jose Ruiz, and Zack Stewart. Flores was a longtime faculty member at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles.

Discography

edit

As leader

edit
  • Flores Azules (Dobre, 1976)
  • Drum Flower (Concord Jazz, 1977)

As sideman

edit

With Laurindo Almeida

  • Latin Guitar (Dobre, 1976)
  • New Directions (Crystal Clear, 1979)
  • Virtuoso Guitar (Crystal Clear, 1977)

With Woody Herman

  • The Woody Herman Band! Part 1 (Capitol, 1954)
  • The Woody Herman Band! Part 2 (Capitol, 1954)
  • The Woody Herman Band! Part 3 (Capitol, 1954)
  • The Woody Herman Band! (Capitol, 1955)
  • Road Band! (Capitol, 1955)
  • Blues Groove (Capitol, 1956)
  • Jackpot! (Capitol, 1956)
  • Hey! Heard the Herd? (Verve, 1963)
  • The Third Herd Vol. 2 (Discovery, 1982)

With Art Pepper

  • Modern Art (Intro, 1957)
  • The Art of Pepper (Omegatape, 1957)
  • The Art of Pepper Vol. II (Omegatape, 1958)
  • Omega Alpha (Blue Note, 1981)

With Bud Shank

With others

References

edit
  • Feather, Leonard. The Encyclopedia of Jazz (Horizon Press, 1960)
edit