[1] Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he learned piano at an early age and played mellophone in the high school band.
[2] In the early 1940s he was drafted and worked for the U.S. Army as an arranger for shows at camps in Georgia and Florida.
[2][3] He worked as a jazz pianist and arranger[3] with Eric Dolphy, Dizzy Gillespie, Ahmad Jamal, Melba Liston, Oliver Nelson, and Randy Weston and wrote incidental music for television, radio, and theater.
He has a daughter, Robin, who resides in Manhattan, and three sons: Michael from Freeport, Eric from York, PA, and Marcel from Harpursville, NY.
[6] His compositions include The Valley Wind (1952), In Memoriam, Beryl Rubinstein (1953), Sonata for Cello and Piano (1955), Contours for Orchestra (1961), Faces of Jazz (1965), Evocation (1966), Ritual and Incantation (1974), Innerflexions (1977), Toussaint L'Ouverture (1979), Solemn Music (1979), Three Patterson Lyrics (1985), and Dialogues and Commentaries (1991)[2][3] He wrote music for band, choir, orchestra, jazz groups, chamber ensembles, duos, and solo performance.