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It is no small wonder that the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences awarded George Bohanon the "Most Valuable Player" award in 1980. His genius approach to trombone playing creates a lyrical quality that rates high in tone color and dynamics. His evolution as a jazz musician has put him in the company of Kenny Burrell, Yusef Lateef, Barry Harris, and Donald Bird, to name a few. He was also a member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet with Charles Lloyd and Gabor Szabo in the early 1960s.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Bohanon began playing trombone at the age of eight. He attended Northwestern High School, Wayne State University, and the Detroit Institute of Musical Arts, where he decided to pursue a career as a musician. Some of his greatest influences were J.J. Johnson, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and John Coltrane.
Motown Records hired Bohanon as their first trombonist, a position he held for some seven years, accompanying artists such as Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and many more. In 1968 Bohanon moved to Los Angeles and became very active in the jazz and recording studio scenes. In addition to his position with the UCLA Jazz Studies Program, he is also a music contractor, a signatory to the American Federation of Musicians, a music publisher, writer, arranger, producer, clinician, and performer.
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