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Although not a huge name in the jazz world, veteran hard bop pianist
Sam Dockery has been well-respected on the Philadelphia jazz scene since the early '50s. Over the years,
Dockery has enjoyed a reputation for being a very hard-swinging, straight-ahead player;
Bud Powell is a major influence on
Dockery, as are
Thelonious Monk and
Art Tatum.
Dockery, who is originally from Lawnside, NJ but has spent much of his life in and around Philly, is perhaps best known for the year he was with
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers.
Dockery, a frequent visitor to New York City, was with drummer
Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1956 and 1957; he was
Blakey's pianist after
Horace Silver and
Kenny Drew Sr. and before
Junior Mance or
Bobby Timmons. During his stay in that legendary group,
Dockery was part of a five-man lineup that also included trumpeter
Bill Hardman, alto saxophonist
Jackie McLean (pre-Blue Note) and bassist
Spanky DeBrest; at times, that quintet became a sextet when Chicago icon
Johnny Griffin was added on tenor sax. But
Blakey wasn't the only well-known jazz musician
Dockery played with during his youth; the late '50s and early '60s found him being featured in Philly tenor saxophonist
Jimmy Heath's quartet, which employed
Buster Williams on bass and
Specs Wright on drums. And along the way,
Dockery also crossed paths with heavyweight improvisers ranging from trumpeter
Clifford Brown (four years before
Dockery's association with
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers) to saxophonists
Sonny Stitt,
Benny Golson and
Stan Getz. Regrettably,
Dockery hasn't been recorded nearly as often as he should have been; in a perfect world, any pianist of his caliber would have a huge catalog. Nonetheless,
Dockery was a fixture on the Philly jazz scene throughout the '60s, '70s and '80s. The '90s and early 2000s found
Dockery teaching at Philly's University of the Arts and continuing to perform around the city, where he was a frequent attraction at Ortleib's Jazz Haus and other local jazz hangouts. ~ Alex Henderson