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All Music Guide:
Despite leading a number of recording dates under his own name, pianist, composer, and arranger Mike Wofford was better known as a consummate accompanist, lending his skills to the music of such giants as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Benny Carter. A native of San Antonio, TX, Wofford was raised in San Diego, CA, and gained his earliest professional experience at the famed Lighthouse club in nearby Hermosa Beach. There he played with the likes of James Moody, and later enlisted with the bands of Shelly Manne and Shorty Rogers; over the decades to come, he also worked in the company of Zoot Sims, Joe Pass, Kenny Burrell, Barney Kessel, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Bud Shank, and countless others. While already a respected figure in jazz circles on the strength of such solo dates as 1966's Strawberry Wine and the following year's Summer Night, Wofford's visibility was raised considerably in 1979 when he, longtime friend and drummer Roy McCurdy, and bassist Andy Simpkins were tapped to back Sarah Vaughan. Wofford remained with the legendary singer for about a year, at which time he exited to pursue other projects, among them several recordings of Jerome Kern standards. By 1988, he was regularly performing with Benny Carter, and a year later appeared on All That Jazz, the final studio recording from Ella Fitzgerald. After touring with Fitzgerald until her 1994 retirement, Wofford signed on with Kenny Rankin; on occasion, he also continued leading his own sessions.
Wikipedia:
Mike Wofford is a jazz pianist born February 28, 1938 in San Antonio, Texas, raised in San Diego, California.
He is best known as an accompanist to and music director for singers Sarah Vaughan (in the 1970s), Ella Fitzgerald (1989–1992) and others. That stated, he was known in the jazz community going back to the 1960s for the albums Strawberry Wine and Summer Night. He settled in Los Angeles and performed with Shorty Rogers, Teddy Edwards, Bud Shank, Red Norvo, Chet Baker, Joe Pass, Quincy Jones, Oliver Nelson, Shelly Manne and Zoot Sims, among many others. In the 1970s he toured Europe with Manne and Lee Konitz, in the 1980s Japan with Manne, Harry "Sweets" Edison and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and Japan and Brazil with Benny Carter. Resettling in San Diego, he performed with Kenny Burrell, Benny Golson, Art Farmer, Charlie Haden, Slide Hampton, Clifford Jordan, Ray Brown, Charles McPherson and others.
He also took part in much non jazz session work, including John Lennon's 1975 release, Rock 'n' Roll, and in 1973, briefly toured with former Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn.
On August 13, 2012 Wofford was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 22nd Annual San Diego Music Awards Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).