Tolliver was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1942 and moved with his family to New York City when he was 10.[1] During his childhood, his grandmother gave him his first horn, a cornet he had coveted.[2] Tolliver attended Howard University in the early 1960s as a pharmacy major, when he decided to pursue music as a career and return home to New York City. He came to prominence in 1964, playing and recording on Jackie McLean's Blue Note albums. In 1971, Tolliver and Stanley Cowell founded Strata-East Records, and Tolliver released many albums and collaborations on Strata-East.[3] Following a long hiatus, he reemerged in the late 2000s, releasing two albums arranged for big band, With Love and Emperor March. With Love was nominated in 2007 for a Grammy award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble.[4]
He would later describe his experience: "There was so much going on with the music. Like with bebop, we had a long period of just salivating on. There were all these different idioms within a genre, the avant-garde and free music, bebop still, and of course the music of John Coltrane and Miles. It was just a hell of a period. And then there was also the political scene going on...."[5]
^French, David (April 25, 2019) [Originally published March 1, 2007]. "Charles Tolliver: It's Time". JazzTimes. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
