TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 27th

One of the greatest tenor saxophonists of all time, Ben Webster, was born on March 27, 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri. After studying violin and piano as a youth, Webster too saxophone lessons from Budd Johnson and played with Lester Young in the Young Family Band. In the early 1930s Webster played in the Bennie Moten Orchestra with Count Basie, Walter Page and “Hot Lips” Page and later in the decade played with Fletcher Henderson, Cab Calloway, Benny Carter and Andy Kirk.

In 1940 Ben Webster was hired to fill a tenor saxophone chair in the Duke Ellington Orchestra and soon thereafter recorded a signature piece for both Ellington and Webster - Cotton Tail. However, despite Webster’s often brilliant playing there was a good deal of tension between the saxophonist, Ellington and other members of the group during Webster’s tenure with the band. He eventually left Ellington in 1943 after reportedly having slapped the band leader. Fellow musicians attributed much of Webster’s aggressive behavior to his drinking.

Webster did return briefly to Ellington’s group for a few months in 1948, but spent much of his time performing with combos in clubs along New York City’s 52nd Street. He recorded frequently as both a leader and as a sideman during this period. He worked with Jay McShann, John Kirby and Sid Catlett. In 1957 he recorded a landmark album with fellow tenor man Coleman Hawkins and formed a quintet with baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan that performed regularly on the west coast.

In 1964 Ben Webster moved to Europe living in England, then Scandinavia and then finally in Copenhagen where he lived until his death from a stroke in September 1973. When the Ellington orchestra was on tour in Denmark in 1971, Webster reunited with his old boss for two shows at Tivoli Gardens.
​
Here is a link to Webster playing the tune many most readily associate with him:

"COTTONTAIL"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 26th

“James Moody was a jazz saxophone and flute player and occasional vocalist, playing predominantly in the bebop and hard bop styles. Quincy Jones called him a national treasure. Moody was known for his virtuosic playing, his ability to seamlessly blend distinctive styles and his infectious personality. He was a master of the saxophone and the flute, and his music remains an inspiration to musicians and jazz lovers all over the world.

​“Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia on March 26,1925. He was raised by his single Mother, Ruby Hann Moody Watters in Newark, New Jersey. Moody was born partially deaf. He first became interested in music as a child, and his Uncle Louis bought him his first saxophone when he was 16 years old. He graduated from Newark Arts High School as did Sarah Vaughn and Wayne Shorter.

“Moody was drafted into the segregated US Army Air Corp, where he played in the “Negro” band and honed his skills as a saxophonist. It was during the 1940’s and 1950’s that Moody’s career began to take off. He became known for his virtuosic playing and his ability to play in a wide range of styles, from swing and bebop to Latin jazz and beyond. His fluid, soulful playing and his distinctive sound made him a jazz legend.

“In 1949, in Stockholm, Sweden Moody recorded his first album as a bandleader, “James Moody and His Modernists,” which featured the iconic track Moody’ Mood for Love. The song was based on the chord changes of I’m in the Mood for Love.

“In the 1960’s, Moody became a member of The Dizzy Gillespie Quintet. The group’s performances and recordings are still considered to be some of the most important and influential in the history of jazz. Moody’s playing was marked by his ability to seamlessly blend distinctive styles and to infuse his playing with his own unique personality and humor. Dizzy once said, “Playing with James Moody is like playing with a continuation of myself.”

“In 1997, Moody had the pleasure of playing Mr. Glover in Clint Eastwood’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. In 1998, he received the NEA Jazz Master Award and in 2000 was presented with an Honorary Doctorate from the Berklee College of Music and an Honorary Doctorate from Florida Memorial College. Moody was a 4-time Grammy nominee and a recipient posthumously in 2011.Moody continued to perform and record well into his later years, and he remained an active and much beloved figure in the jazz community until his death from pancreatic cancer on December 9, 2010.“

(This article is excerpted from jamesmoody.com)

Here is a link to James Moody performing as a flute soloist with a big band led by Dizzy Gillespie in Copenhagen in 1968:

"CHEROKEE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 25th

On March 25, 1952 The Duke Ellington Orchestra performed at the Seattle Civic Auditorium and the concert was recorded and released in 1954 by RCA Victor. This was the first live recording made by Duke Ellington and predates several more famous records he made later in the 1950s, including the iconic performance captured live at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. In the decades since, the recording has been re-released several times on vinyl and was, in 1995, released on CD by BMG. The 1995 re-release included quite a few additional tracks that were not present on the original record.

Kevin Kniestedt of KNKX radio has written about the concert and the recording that “One of the interesting things about this recording is that it showcases some new members at a time after Duke’s top star, Johnny Hodges, and two others, had departed. Drummer Louis Bellson was perhaps the most notable addition, along with [the return of] valve trombonist Juan Tizol, slide trombonist Britt Woodman, saxophonist Willie Smith, and trumpeter Willie Cook.

“The new members contributed not only with their instruments to this concert, but with their compositions as well. The band performed Skin Deep (the opening number) and The Hawk Talks by new drummer Bellson, as well as contributions by Tizol including Caravan and Perdido.”

Here is a link to a medley of Ellington favorites recorded that night 71 years ago:

"ELLINGTON MEDLEY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 24th

Best known for his work with the group Oregon and with the Paul Winter Consort, multi-instrumentalist Paul McCandless was born on March 24, 1947 in the town of Indiana, Pennsylvania. Both of his parents were music teachers and Paul attended Duquesne University and the Manhattan School of Music. In 1971 he auditioned on English horn for the New York Philharmonic and was a finalist in that competition.

McCandless plays oboe, clarinet, English horn, soprano and sopranino saxophone, flute, bass clarinet, penny whistle and various ethnic flutes. McCandless recorded with the Paul Winter Consort for the first time in 1969 and has done so on many occasions since. In 2007 and 2011 he won Grammy’s for his work with that ensemble.

While playing with Winter, Paul McCandless met and became friends with guitarist/pianist Ralph Towner, bassist Glen Moore and percussionist Collin Walcott. The four would form the group Oregon in the mid-1970s and continue working today despite the death of Walcott in 1983. To date they have released 23 albums.

McCandless has recorded 14 records as a leader and has also worked with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Carla Bley, Wynton Marsalis, Mark Isham, Eberhard Weber, Andy Summers, Al Jarreau and the String Cheese Incident. Today is Paul McCandless’ 76th birthday.

Here is a link to a live performance by the group Oregon featuring Paul McCandless playing a well-known Jim Pepper song:

"WITCHI-TAI-TO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 23rd

Pianist, songwriter and vocalist Dave Frishberg was born on March 23, 1933 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Although he originally resisted classical training on piano, Frishberg showed an early interest in playing blues and boogie-woogie on the piano. By his teens he was playing in the house band at The Flame in his hometown, a club that featured performances by Art Tatum, Johnny Hodges and Billie Holiday.

After earning a degree in journalism at the University of Minnesota and serving two years in the U.S. Air Force, Dave Frishberg moved to New York City where he landed a job playing solo piano at The Duplex in Greenwich Village. He became known in the business for his work with Carmen McRae, Gene Krupa, Bud Freeman, Ben Webster, Eddie Condon and Zoot Sims. He also was noted for his humorous compositions including My Attorney Bernie, Peel Me Grape, I Want to be a Sideman, and I’m Hip, which he co-wrote with Bob Dorough. Many baseball fans are familiar with his song Van Lingle Mungo, which consists almost entirely of the names of old-time baseball players.

In the early 1970s Frishberg moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a studio musician in addition to recording his own albums. He sometimes worked as a lyricist for composers like Gerry Mulligan, Johnny Mandel, Bob Brookmeyer, Johnny Hodges and Blossom Dearie. Frishberg received four Grammy award nomination during his career and won a Golden raspberry Award for Worst Original Song in 1981 for the tune Baby Talk used in the Burt Reynolds film “Paternity.” Dave Frishberg lived the last years of his life in Portland, Oregon and recorded 24 albums as a leader. He passed away in November of 2021 at the age of 88.

Here is a link to Dave Frishberg performing one his best-known composition on the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson:

"MY ATTORNEY BERNIE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 22nd

Guitarist George Benson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 22, 1943. Benson was a child prodigy and first began playing publicly on ukulele when he was only seven years old. A year later he was playing guitar in an unlicensed nightclub until the police shut the place down. He made his first recordings when he was nine for RCA Victor in New York.

During his high school years, Benson developed a close musical relationship with organist Jack McDuff and the two performed together for a number of years. George Benson made his first album as a leader when he was 21. The album featured McDuff. Benson’s second album, released in 1966, was made with a different organist, Lonnie Smith, and featured saxophonist Ronnie Cuber, as well. In 1968 Benson appeared on Miles Davis’ “Miles in the Sky” album.

In the late 1960s George Benson signed with CTI Records and made several records that were less straight-ahead jazz and leaned more into popular repertoire, including a salute to The Beatles called “The Other Side of Abbey Road.” In the mid-1970s Benson started receiving wide-spread popular acclaim with the release of his record “Breezin’” which included the single This Masquerade, which featured Benson’s guitar as well as his vocal skills. The 1978 single On Broadway, from the album “Weekend in L.A.,” also achieved widespread popular airplay.

During his career, George Benson has been awarded ten Grammy Awards in addition to receiving and honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music in 1990. In 2009 he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. Today is George Benson’s 80th birthday.

Here is a link to a performance by George Benson at the 1966 Newport Jazz Festival:

"BENSON AT NEWPORT"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 21st

Pianist Charles Phillip Thompson was better known to his musical colleagues and fans as Sir Charles Thompson. He received the moniker “Sir Charles” from saxophonist Lester Young. Thompson was born on March 21, 1918 in Springfield, Ohio and first studied violin and saxophone before taking up piano as a teen. By high school, Thompson’s family was living in Kansas City, and he would occasionally sit in with the Bennie Moten band subbing for Count Basie at the keyboard.

During his career, Thompson worked mainly in small group settings with musicians like Coleman Hawkins and Howard McGhee. During the 1940s he also recorded with Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis and Illinois Jacquet. In 1946 he spent time filling the piano chair in Lucky Millinder’s big band.

During the 1970s and 1980s Thompson toured North America, Europe and Japan regularly and after spending some time playing with Jazz at the Philharmonic tours in the 1960s. Thompson recorded seven albums as a leader during his lifetime and also contributed to records made by Ike Quebec, Paul Gonsalves, Joe Williams and Buck Clayton. Thompson moved to Japan in 2002 and passed away at a hospital near Tokyo in 2016 at the age of 98.

Here is a link to a 1993 recording of Sir Charles Thompson playing his composition Robbin’s Nest:

"ROBBIN'S NEST"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 20th

Pianist Marian McPartland was born in Slough, England on March 20, 1918. She demonstrated a true aptitude for music at an early age and began playing violin when she was nine years old but never really liked the instrument. She was 16 before her mother would allow her to take piano lessons. By that time Marian was already quite adept at learning music by ear and never became a strong reader. Marian McPartland had perfect pitch.

In 1935 McPartland was accepted to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where she studied to become a concert pianist and also did coursework in vocal performance. Before completing her degree, though, she left Guildhall to tour with a four-piano vaudeville act. During World War II McPartland did shows with the USO and met American jazz cornetist Jimmy McPartland during a jam session in 1944. Jimmy invited Marian to join a sextet he was putting together to entertain the troops and she became the pianist in the group. A year later they were married and at the conclusion of the war they came to America as a married couple.

Now living in New York City, Marian formed her own piano trio in 1951 and landed a gig at a club called The Embers and played with the likes of Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins and Terry Gibbs. She signed her first recording contract with Savoy records that same year. McPartland also received a positive review from Leonard feather in DownBeat magazine that year. In 1952 she began a ten-year run at The Hickory House where her performances were often attended by Duke Ellington.

In the 1960s Marian McPartland played with Benny Goodman and also developed an interest in jazz education. In 1964 she began participating in jazz clinics for young people organized by Clem DeRosa. She also received a grant to teach jazz in poor neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. She also worked as a clinician and adjudicator at jazz festivals for the rest of her life.

In 1979 she began a weekly radio program on NPR called “Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz” which was available to station across the United States for more than 30 years. The increased visibility created additional performance opportunities for McPartland and the show is heard to this day in reruns on many radio stations. McPartland passed away of natural causes in 2013.

Here is a link to a live performance by Marian McPartland at the Monterey Jazz festival in 1975:

"AFTERGLOW"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 19th

Over the years music critics and jazz historians have had differences when asked about the impact of pianist, composer and music educator Lennie Tristano. Some have claimed he had little influence on the music, while others have said that he provided a bridge between be-bop and later jazz styles. Tristano was born in Chicago on March 19, 1919.

Tristano was born with weak eyesight, perhaps because his mother had been affected by the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic while pregnant with Lennie. By the time he was around nine years old he was completely sightless. Lennie attended the Illinois School for the Blind for much of his youth and during that time he learned to play several instruments including saxophone, trumpet, guitar, drums and piano. Later Tristano would earn a bachelor’s degree in music performance from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago and would stay on to do additional post-graduate work.

In the early 1940s Tristano played saxophone in several bands and gave private lessons, including to Lee Konitz. He began teaching at the Axel Christensen School of Popular Music beginning in 1943 and was mentioned as an up-and-coming pianist in both Metronome and DownBeat magazines in the mid-1940s. In 1946 Tristano moved to New York City and made his first records with a trio there. In 1947 Tristano played regularly with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach for radio broadcasts.

By the end of 1948 Tristano was leading his own quintet that included Konitz and tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh. The instrumentation was piano, guitar, bass and the two saxophonists. In 1949 the group made what were probably the first recordings that included free improvisation sections. While the music was praised by Parker and composer Aaron Copland, it failed to catch on commercially and, despite a five-week run at New York City’s Birdland, the band struggled to find work.

During the 1950s Tristano lived in a Manhattan loft that included a recording studio and often hosted jam sessions. He made innovative recordings throughout the decade including a 1953 musical interpretation of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Descent into the Maelstrom.” That recording used multi-tracking and was completely improvised.

By 1956 Tristano was concentrating more on teaching and less on performing. He did, however, perform occasionally including a reformation of his quintet with Konitz and Marsh in 1964. By the 1970s Tristano was in failing health and passed away in November of 1978 of a heart attack at his home in Jamaica, Queens, New York.

Here is a link to a performance by Lennie Tristano recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark during a 1965 European tour:

"LULLABY OF THE LEAVES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 18th

Although known as a guitarist, Bill Frisell began his musical journey when he started clarinet lessons in his youth. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 18, 1951, Frisell grew up in Denver, Colorado and took clarinet lessons from Richard Joiner, a member of the Denver Symphony. In his teens Frisell became interested in guitar and studied the instrument, first at the University of Northern Colorado and later at the Berklee College of Music in Boston where Jim Hall was one his instructors.

Bill Frisell made his first recordings on the ECM label when Pat Metheny was unable to make a recording session and recommended Frisell as his replacement. Soon thereafter Frisell was the house guitarist at ECM working with Paul Motian and Jan Garbarek, among others. Frisell’s first recording as a leader was made at ECM in 1983. In the years since, he has worked extensively with Motian, Joe Lovano and John Zorn.

In 1988 Bill Frisell moved to Seattle, Washington and has continued working and recording regularly since that time. He has released 35 albums as a leader over the past 34 years. His work has explored music by artists as diverse as Madonna, Aaron Copland, John Lennon, Elvis Costello and John Hiatt. Bill Frisell has been nominated for six Grammy awards and has won once. Today Frisell continues to be active on the music scene and lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington.

Here is a link to Bill Frisell playing interpretations of John Lennon’s music during an NPR Tiny Desk Concert appearance:

"JOHN LENNON SONGS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 17th

Since it’s St. Patrick’s Day I thought I would write a little bit today about an Irish jazz trombonist, composer, arranger and bandleader named Bobby Lamb. Lamb was born in Cork on February 11, 1931. Lamb started playing euphonium when he was in his teens before changing to trombone. In 1951 he moved to Dublin where he joined Johnny Devlin’s Downbeaters. A year later Lamb relocated to London, England where he played first with Teddy Foster and later with Jack Parnell.

In late 1955 Bobby Lamb came to the United States and spent a number of years playing with Charlie Barnett, Stan Kenton and put in a three-year stint playing with the Woody Herman band. At the end of the decade Lamb returned to England where he played with the BBC Show Band, Cyril Stapleton and the popular band led by Gerald Bright, better known as Geraldo.

Lamb spent most of the 1960s as a studio musician and as a member of the BBC Radio Orchestra before co-founding an orchestra with fellow trombonist Raymond Premru. During the 1970s and 1980s Lamb composed and conducted their group, but he still found time to play and tour with Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Buddy Rich, Kenny Wheeler, Laurie Johnson, Louis Bellson, Johnny Pearson and Ella Fitzgerald.

In 1982 Bobby Lamb was appointed director of jazz studies at Trinity College of Music in London, a position he held until his retirement in 2007.

Here is a link to the group co-led by Lamb and Premru performing at the Cork Jazz Festival in 1981. Lamb is the composer and conductor in this clip which has been digitized from an old video tape:

"BOBBY LAMB"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 16th

The youngest of six children, pianist Tommy Flanagan was born in Detroit, Michigan on March 16, 1930. Flanagan’s early influences included Art Tatum and Fats Waller, and was later influenced by bebop pianists like Bud Powell. Flanagan can be heard on several landmark jazz recordings both as a sideman and leader during a career that spanned half a century. He was long associated with Ella Fitzgerald having served as her accompanist for two stints.

While still a teenager Flanagan began gigging around his hometown with artists like trombonist Frank Rosolino, guitarist Kenny Burrell and saxophonist Pepper Adams. He also played in a band led by Lucky Thompson and one night sat in on piano with Charlie Parker when Bird was in Detroit.

Within months of moving to New York City in 1956, Flanagan was playing with Miles Davis, Thad Jones and Sonny Rollins, holding down the keyboard duties on the latter’s iconic “Saxophone Colossus” album. That same year Flanagan was the accompanist for Ella Fitzgerald at the Newport Jazz Festival. Over the next few years Flanagan would be a frequent sideman on recordings and played piano on John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” album in 1959. He also appeared on the record “The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery” in 1960. In the early 1960s Flanagan could be heard playing with Harry “Sweets” Edison and Coleman Hawkins, as well.

Tommy Flanagan took a job as accompanist and musical director for singer Ella Fitzgerald in 1962 at the request of Norman Granz. His first stint with Fitzgerald lasted three years until Flanagan took a gig playing in trumpeter Art Farmer’s Sextet. He returned to Fitzgerald’s employ in 1968 and stayed for a decade until he suffered a heart attack in 1978 and had to leave the stressful touring which usually took up 40 or more weeks per year.

After recovering from his heart attack Flanagan could be found playing solo piano in New York City and often led a trio throughout the 1980s. In 1991 Flanagan suffered an aneurism and had quadruple bypass heart surgery. After recovering he took to the road once again, touring both North America, Europe and in Japan. He continued playing regularly until his death in November of 2001.

Here is a link to the Tommy Flanagan Trio playing in 1991:

"RAINCHECK"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 15th

Trumpeter and bandleader Harry James was born on March 15, 1916 in Albany, Georgia. His family worked in a circus - his mother was an acrobat and his father led the band. By the time he was four, young Harry was working as well, first as a contortionist and then playing snare drum in the band.

At age eight, Harry’s family moved to Beaumont, Texas and he began taking trumpet lessons from his father. He became accomplished enough that by the time he was 15 he won first place in a soloists contest held by the Texas Band Teacher’s Association. That same year Harry started playing gigs with local big bands and, after being heard by nationally known bandleader Ben Pollack, he was hired to play in Pollacks band in 1935. After two years with Pollack, James left to take the lead trumpet chair in the Benny Goodman Orchestra, the most popular big band in the country. James was with the Goodman outfit when they played the famous concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938. James is the trumpet soloist on the iconic Goodman recording of Sing, Sing, Sing.

In 1939, with the financial backing of Goodman, James struck out on his own to front a big band. The band was not initially successful, but gained in popularity when James added a string section a couple of years later. That band can be seen in three Hollywood movies from the early 1940s - “Private Buckaroo,” “Springtime in the Rockies” and “Two Girls and a Sailor.” Other than James himself, the band’s best-known members were drummer Buddy Rich and vocalist Frank Sinatra, who sang with James’ group before his more celebrated stint with Tommy Dorsey.

Harry James continued to lead his band for decades until his passing in 1983. The band continues to tour today under the leadership of Pacific Northwest native trumpeter Fred Radke, who began the jazz department at North Seattle College.

Here is a link to the Harry James Orchestra as they appeared in the 1942 movie “Private Buckaroo:”

"CONCERTO FOR TRUMPET"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 14th

Quincy Jones was born on the south side of Chicago on March 14, 1933, but moved at age ten to Bremerton, Washington with his father who had taken a job in the shipyard there during World War II. At the conclusion of the war, Quincy, his younger brother and his dad moved to Seattle where Quincy was a student at Garfield High School. While at Garfield, he worked on his skills as a trumpet player and arranger, skills that would serve him well in a musical career that has spanned more than 70 years.

One of Quincy Jones’ classmates in high school was Charles Taylor whose mother, Evelyn Bundy, had directed one of the most popular Seattle jazz bands of the 1930s. At age 14 Quincy befriended a 17-year-old piano player he had heard play at the Black Elks Club in Seattle. His name was Ray Charles and he became an inspiration for Jones to follow his dreams of a music career. After graduating high school Jones attended Seattle University on scholarship for a semester before transferring to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He did not complete his studies there, though, after being offered an opportunity to play trumpet on a European tour with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra.

In the 1950s Jones worked briefly in the studio orchestra for CBS television before playing trumpet and acting as musical director for Dizzy Gillespie on a tour of the Middle East and South America. He then settled in Paris where he studied theory and composition with Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen. Jones also toured Europe with several jazz bands during the decade.

In the early 1960s Quincy Jones was back in the United States working in New York City as vice-president of Mercury Records. In 1961 movie director Sidney Lumet asked Jones to write the music for an upcoming picture called “The Pawnbroker.” It was the first of more than 40 movie scores Jones would compose. Because of the success of the score Jones relocated to Los Angeles and was writing movie music for films like “In the Heat of the Night,” “Mackenna’s Gold,” “The Color Purple” and “In Cold Blood.” He was also composing themes for television shows including “Ironside,” the original “Bill Cosby Show,” “Sanford and Son” and the mini-series “Roots.” For a significant portion of the 1960s Jones also worked closely with Frank Sinatra and the Count Basie Orchestra, directing the band on the iconic “Sinatra at the Sands” LP.

In addition to his composing and arranging work Quincy Jones has been active as a record producer for more than half a century. He has produced records for Leslie Gore, Michael Jackson, Miles Davis, Billy Eckstein, Aretha Franklin, Donny Hathaway, and Dizzy Gillespie.

It is nearly impossible to do justice everything that Quincy Jones has accomplished in his career. What is written here is in many ways the “tip of the iceberg.” Jones continues to be a powerful force in American music to this day - his 90th birthday.

Here is a link to Quincy Jones working in the studio with Frank Sinatra in the 1980s:

"UNTIL THE REAL THING COMES ALONG"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 13th

One of the founding fathers of jazz education in the state of Washington was born in Centralia, Washington on March 13, 1927. His name was Waldo King and he played saxophone and sang. His section mate in high school band was future Count Basie saxophonist Bill Ramsay. While a student at Central Washington College of Education (now Central Washington University), King formed “The Collegians,” a campus jazz band. After graduation he started the jazz bands at Garfield, Franklin and Roosevelt High Schools in Seattle. He also formed the city’s first high school jazz choir at Roosevelt High School.

A former student of King’s, composer, arranger and music educator Dave Barduhn described his mentor as “very nurturing. He was more about creating a culture where you would discover your own shortcomings rather than having them pointed out to you. He was a very gentle guy.” Scott Brown, who inherited the program at Roosevelt after King’s retirement said he was “a master music educator, but even more than that, a master of values. He taught humility. He taught students to listen to other bands, to have a love of the music and to play what you feel.” Fellow music educator Clarence Acox recalled Waldo King’s love of the Count Basie Orchestra: “I was at a Count Basie concert and he was sitting behind me and he was whooping and hollering so much everybody was wondering who this crazy guy was! He loved Basie!”

After his retirement King was active as a clinician and adjudicator at jazz festivals. Generations of musicians in the Pacific Northwest have been touched either directly or indirectly by the teaching and legacy of Waldo King. The region is now recognized nationally as a hotbed of jazz education and much of that reputation is because of the foundation laid by King. Waldo King passed away in 2019 at the age of 92.

Here is a link to Waldo King with a group of his Roosevelt High School alumni and Dave Barduhn. The band plays an original composition by Barduhn dedicated to King:

"BLUES FOR WALDO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 12th

Jazziz Magazine says “Bass great Charles Mingus recorded tracks from his album “The Clown” on March 12, 1957. Among those tracks was Haitian Fight Song, which he wrote as an ode to the triumph of freedom in the face of persecution. The song, one of the bassist and bandleader’s most enduring compositions, features some classic Mingus tropes: an intensely brooding solo bass opening, an urgent burst of call-and-response, and, of course, a round of raucous, blues-tinged solos."

There are six tracks on the album and five of them were recorded on March 12th, 66 years ago today. All the selections that appear on the record were composed by Charles Mingus. Along with Mingus on bass, the other musicians include Shafi Hadi playing alto and tenor saxophones, Jimmy Knepper on trombone, Wade Legge at the piano and Dannie Richards playing drums.

Here is a link to the recording of Haitian Fight Song from 1957:

"HAITIAN FIGHT SONG"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 11th

Edmonia Jarrett was born in South Carolina on March 11, 1933.  Like most of the jazz and soul greats she grew up in the church, singing in the choir and spreading the gospel through music.  At the same time her parents pushed her to make something of herself.  She chose the field of education.  Her path would first lead her to work at The Pentagon, and eventually to Seattle and a job at Boeing. Then she was hired by the Seattle School District, first as a teacher of African-American History and  Physical Education, and eventually as principal of Cleveland High School.  Finally, after 23 years with the Seattle School District she retired. After retiring Edmonia then made a move that few would even attempt.  She decided she would become a professional jazz singer.  She was 55 years old.

In 1991 she got her first big break when she was chosen to play the part of Bessie Smith in an original play called “Janis” starring local R&B singer Duffy Bishop. The play followed the life of Janis Joplin and included a series of scenes in which Joplin spoke with and about some of people that had inspired her career.   During the play’s run Edmonia was spotted by a booking agent who helped amp up Jarrett’s jazz career by getting her into several jazz clubs in the Seattle area.

When Edmonia Jarrett was ready to record her first album she was surrounded by a wealth of local and national talent to help her.  She entered the studio alongside Barney McClure, Bill Ramsay, Billy Wallace, Floyd Standifer and Clarence Acox. The result was the album “Live, Live, Live!”.  It should be noted that although a live performance would have resulted in a great album, too, the title “Live, Live, Live!” actually refers to life, not to live performance. The songs recorded for the album were Jarrett’s interpretations of jazz standards, with a few lesser-known songs thrown in. Her next record, “Legal at Any Age” was released in 1998. Her third album, "Into the Light" was issued in early 2001.

Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s  Edmonia Jarrett was a fixture on the Northwest jazz scene and audiences never tired of her performances.  Unfortunately cancer reared its ugly head in 2001 when Jarrett was diagnosed with lung cancer that had metastasized to her brain.  She put trust in her strong Christian faith, but she was not able to overcome the disease.  Edmonia Jarrett died on March 16, 2002.

(portions of this piece are from jivetimerecords.com and allmusic.com)

Here is a link to Edmonia Jarrett performing at Dimitiou’s jazz Alley in Seattle:

"MIDNIGHT LADY CALLED THE BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 10th

One of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s was born on March 10, 1903 in Davenport, Iowa. Known primarily as a cornetist Leon Bismark “Bix” Beiderbecke was also a pianist and composer. During his short but impactful career in music, Beiderbecke was noted for his development of lyrical improvisations and for his lovely tone on the cornet.

Beiderbecke was a largely self-taught cornetist and used a unique fingering technique because no one ever taught him how to do it “the right way.” His first recordings were made with The Wolverines, a successful territory band in the American mid-west, in 1924. Following his stint with them, Beiderbecke played with C-melody saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer’s outfit at the Arcadia Ballroom in St. Louis before they both joined Jean Goldkette’s very popular orchestra in Detroit in 1926.

Goldkette’s band toured and recorded profusely, and for time was in residence at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City opposite the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. On October 12, 1926 the Roseland promoted a “Battle of the Bands” between the two ensembles and Goldkette’s group was declared the winner, an experience that Henderson lead trumpeter Rex Stewart described as “humbling” and “humiliating.” Shortly after Beiderbecke’s death a few years later Henderson recorded a cover of one of the tunes moist associated with Beiderbecke, Singin’ the Blues, and Stewart re-created his solo almost note for note.

The Goldkette organization broke up in late 1927, but even before it did Trumbauer and Beiderbecke recorded several side for Okeh Records under their own names. These recordings capture some of Beiderbecke’s best playing on tunes like Clarinet Marmalade, I’m Coming Virginia, and Way Down Yonder in New Orleans.

In October of 1927 Beiderbecke and his friend Trumbauer both signed on as members of the most popular and highest band of the era, the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. Although the Whiteman band was not a jazz band but could be better described as a popular dance orchestra, it used jazz elements in some of their music and Bix was featured on several Whiteman recordings including Sugar, You Took Advantage of Me, Ramona and Back in Your Own Back Yard.

In November of 1928, while on tour with Whiteman in Cleveland, Ohio, Beiderbecke suffered what was described as a “nervous breakdown” due in no small part to his excessive use of alcohol. In February of 1929 he returned home to Iowa to convalesce but was back with Whiteman that summer for work on a planned movie about the bandleader to be called “The King of Jazz.” Unfortunately, production delays allowed for a lot of down time during which Beiderbecke’s drinking became more of a problem and his health continued to decline precipitously. By the fall he was back in Davenport where his parents helped him to seek treatment. He returned to New York City in early 1930 but gigs were hard to find due to the recent stock market crash and the onset of The Great Depression. Beiderbecke performed only sparingly over the next year and was found dead in his Queens apartment in August 1931 at the age of 28.

Bix Beiderbecke had a short and, in many ways, sad career, but the music he produced as a cornetist and the compositions he penned, including In a Mist, continue to be influential almost a century later.

Here is a link to one of the most famous Beiderbecke recordings, made with his friend Frankie Trumbauer. Bix’s solo follows Trumbauer’s:

"SINGIN' THE BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 9th

Musical trailblazer and saxophonist Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman was born on March 9, 1930 in Fort Worth, Texas. Ornette Coleman is recognized as one of the primary founders of the free jazz movement. All Music has referred to him as “one of the most beloved and polarizing figures in jazz history,” and that although he is "now celebrated as a fearless innovator and a genius, he was initially regarded by peers and critics as rebellious, disruptive, and even a fraud."

Coleman was a self-taught saxophonist that was kicked out of his high school band. His first professional gigs were with The Jam Jivers, a group he co-founded with reedman Prince Lasha and drummer Charles Moffett. After spending some time touring with a Silas Green from New Orleans tent show, Coleman moved to California where he encountered musicians with similar interests like drummers Billy Higgins and Ed Blackwell, trumpeter Don Cherry and bassist Charlie Haden. Coleman’s debut album was 1958’s “Something Else!!!!,” and soon after he recorded “Tomorrow is the Question” with Higgins, Cherry and Haden.

By the time his quartet recorded “The Shape of Jazz to Come” for the Atlantic label in 1959 Coleman was becoming a controversial figure in jazz. His music was praised by Lionel Hampton, Leonard Bernstein and members of the Modern Jazz Quartet, but denigrated by many critics and, at least initially, by Miles Davis.

In 1960 Ornette Coleman recorded and released “Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation” which featured two quartets playing a 37-minute performance - the longest that had been recorded up until that time. Each quartet included a reed player (Coleman or Eric Dolphy), a trumpet player (Cherry or Freddie Hubbard), a bassist (Haden or Scott LaFaro) and a drummer (Higgins or Blackwell). The album received mixed reviews upon release but has more recently been rated as one of the “Twenty Essential Free Jazz Albums” by AllMusic.com. It is credited for giving the genre its name, although Ornette Coleman himself did not like his music to be called free jazz, citing his compositional work within his performances. Coleman continued to record with the Atlantic and Blue Note labels throughout the 1960s and performed with Elvin Jones, Dewey Redman and The Plastic Ono Band.

​Over the following three decades Coleman experimented with the use of strings and electronic instruments in his music and played with musicians as diverse as Pat Metheny and The Grateful Dead. Ornette Coleman was elected to the DownBeat Magazine Jazz Hall of Fame in 1969, received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music in 2006 and received a Grammy award for lifetime achievement in 2007. Ornette Coleman passed away due to a heart attack in 2015.

Here is a link to video of a 1978 live performance by the Ornette Coleman Sextet in Germany:
"FREE JAZZ"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 8th

Saxophonist George Coleman is best known for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock during the 1960s. Coleman was born March 8, 1935 in Memphis, Tennessee. One of Coleman’s earliest gigs of note was playing alto saxophone with Ray Charles in the early 1950s, following which he played tenor sax with blues guitarist B.B. King. In 1956 he moved to Chicago where he played with saxophonists Gene Ammons and Johnny Griffin, organ master Jimmy Smith, trumpeter Lee Morgan, trombonist Curtis Fuller and guitarist Kenny Burrell. Later in the decade Coleman moved to New York City to play in the Max Roach Quintet for a year.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s George Coleman played with Slide Hampton, Wild Bill Davis, Ron Carter and Jimmy Cobb before being asked to join Miles Davis’s unit in 1963. While with Davis Coleman appeared on six albums including “My Funny Valentine” and “Seven Steps to Heaven.” Shortly after performing with the Davis quintet at the Lincoln Center in New York City, Coleman was replaced by Wayne Shorter, although Miles always spoke highly of Coleman’s musicianship. Davis was quoted as saying that “George played everything almost perfectly...He was a hell of a musician."

George Coleman landed on his feet after leaving Davis, playing with Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Chet Baker and Horace Silver in the second half of the 1960s. He continued to be active as a sideman in the 1970s performing with organist Shirley Scott, pianist Cedar Walton and bassist and bandleader Charles Mingus. Coleman recorded his first record as a leader in 1977 when he released “Meditation,” a duo outing with pianist Tete Montoliu. He has gone on to record an additional thirteen records as leader or co-leader since. He has also stayed active as a sideman collaborating with Ahmad Jamal, Joey DeFrancesco, Nicholas Payton and Paul Brown. Today is George Coleman’s 88th birthday.
Here is a link to George Coleman playing in a trio setting with pianist Ahmad Jamal:

"MY FOOLISH HEART"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 7th

Born in Budapest, Hungary on this date in 1936, Gabor Szabo would start playing guitar at the age of 14 and would eventually mold a career during which he played with some of the greats in jazz.

After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Szabo moved to the United States where he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston and eventually settled in California. In 1961 he joined the Chico Hamilton quintet where he played with Hamilton and saxophonist Charles Lloyd. The group played “chamber jazz with a moderate avant-gardism.” Szabo would appear on eight albums with Hamilton between 1962 and 1966. During the decade he would also appear as a sideman on records by Steve Allen, Gary McFarland and Charles Lloyd, as well as releasing twelve records as a leader starting with “Gypsy ‘66” on the Impulse! label in 1966. Szabo’s song Gypsy Queen from his “Spellbinder” album was later covered by Carlos Santana on his “Abraxas” record in 1970. In 1968 Gabor Szabo started the Skye record label along with vibraphonists Gary McFarland and Cal Tjader.

During the 1970s Szabo’s music began to employ more rock, pop and world music elements and he was able to make numerous trips to Europe to visit family and perform in the country of his birth. During one of those trips in late 1981, Gabor Szabo was hospitalized suffering from liver and kidney ailments. He passed away in February of 1982 at the age of 45.

Here is a link to Szabo’s recording of Gypsy Queen from his 1966 “Spellbinder” album:

"GYPSY QUEEN"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 6th

Guitarist Wes Montgomery was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 6, 1923. His first guitar was a four-string tenor guitar he received as a gift from his older brother when he was twelve years old. He didn’t begin playing a six-string guitar until after being inspired by a Charlie Christian record when he was 20 years old. Although he spent years struggling to be successful in his musical career, his unique style would eventually make him one of the most recognizable guitarists in jazz history.

Montgomery worked day jobs at a dairy and also as a welder to support his wife and seven children while spending his evenings practicing guitar and playing gigs around Indianapolis. In 1948 Lionel Hampton’s band was in town and the leader was in search of a new guitarist. He heard Montgomery playing Charlie Christian solos and hired him for the Hampton ensemble. Wes spent two years playing with Hampton, but eventually returned to Indianapolis. Because he had a fear of flying and had opted to drive between gigs while on tour, he found the experience exhausting and opted to return home.

For several years Wes Montgomery played in a group with two of his brothers and recorded with them for Pacific Jazz records in 1957. He stayed in Indiana, though, working regularly with his own trio. He was heard one night by Cannonball Adderley who convinced Riverside records to sign him to a contract. Montgomery would record nine albums with Riverside between 1959 and 1963. In 1964 he moved to Verve Records and made nine records with them, too, before moving to A&M Records in 1967. Montgomery’s work until the mid-1960s was based in hard bop, but in the latter part of the decade he started to move to more pop-oriented jazz recordings and achieved wider popular recognition.

Wes Montgomery is known among musicians for his unique sound, and that is due in large part to his technique. He did not use a pick, but played guitar using the side of his thumb. He was also recognizable due to his extensive use of octaves. Montgomery was a self-taught musician and could not read music. He died suddenly from a heart attack at home on June 15, 1968 at the age of 45.

Here is a link to a 1965 Montgomery television appearance playing a John Coltrane composition:

"IMPRESSIONS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 5th

Frank Foster and Frank Wess teamed up several times through the years. Both tenor saxophonists came to prominence in the 1950s with the Count Basie Orchestra. They combined as co-leaders for an album called “Two Franks Please” which was recorded over three sessions in 1956, the first being on March 5th. The record mostly features a 1956 septet that, in addition to the two Franks (with Wess doubling on flute), also has trombonists Henry Coker and Benny Powell, guitarist Kenny Burrell, bassist Eddie Jones and drummer Kenny Clarke. The remaining three selections are more of a showcase for Foster, featured in a sextet with trumpeter Donald Byrd and Coker. With the exception of Serenata and Dancing on the Ceiling, all of the selections are group originals, mostly composed by either Foster or Wess. The record has been reissued in various forms over the 67 years since it was recorded in Hackensack, New Jersey and offers “enjoyable straight-ahead music.”

Here is a link to Foster and Wess playing the tune Two Franks as members of the Count Basie Orchestra:

"TWO FRANKS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 4th

Seattle bassist and composer Michael Bisio was born March 4, 1955 in Troy, New York. During his career Bisio has appeared on more than 100 recordings, twelve as a leader and twelve more as a co-leader.

Bisio has composed more than 100 pieces that have been played by a wide variety of ensembles around the world. In addition to music for jazz groups, he has written music for the the 1985 Karl Krogstad film “Strings” and the 2004 movie “Beat Angel.” Bisio wrote music for the play “Music for American Voices: Bukowski, Michelin and the First Amendment.” His music can also be heard in the animated film “Time & Object.”

Seattle jazz writer Paul deBarros has described Bisio’s playing as "a spare, bluesy sound, the sweet and sour timbres favored by Charles Mingus." He has written that Bisio is “one of the heirs to Seattle's earthy yet innovative tradition.” In addition to his work as a composer and performer, Michael Bisio has also worked developing young musicians in public school settings and has appeared on educational videos for Jazz at Lincoln Center. Since 2009 Bisio has been the bassist in the Michael Shipp Trio.

Here is a link to Michael Bisio playing solo bass in 2020:

"MICHAEL BISIO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 3rd

Clarinetist Barney Bigard was born in New Orleans on March 3, 1906. As a child he studied music with legendary New Orleans clarinetist and music teacher Lorenzo Tio, Jr. Bigard is best known for his time spent with the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

In the early 1920s Bigard moved north to Chicago where he played both clarinet and tenor saxophone with King Oliver, Johnny Dodds and others. In 1927 he was lured to New York City by the opportunity to join Duke Ellington’s orchestra playing at the Cotton Club in Harlem. Bigard stayed on with Ellington for fifteen years and was his featured clarinet soloist while playing tenor sax in the reed section. He is also credited as co-composer on the Ellington standard Mood Indigo.

Ellington often encouraged his musicians to record in small group settings as well as with his big band. It was during one of these sessions, led by Barney Bigard, that the clarinetist became the first to record trombonist Juan Tizol’s classic Caravan in 1936. The record was released as Barney Bigard and his Jazzopaters which consisted of Bigard, Tizol, Cootie Williams playing trumpet and baritone saxophonist Harry Carney, with bassist Billy Taylor, Sonny Greer on drums and Ellington at the piano.

After leaving Ellington’s employ in 1942 Bigard moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a studio musician for much of the rest of his life. He did, however, also spend some time touring with fellow New Orleans natives Louis Armstrong and Kid Ory. Bigard could also be found playing with Nat “King” Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, Pearl Bailey and pianist Art Hodes. In addition, Bigard recorded several albums as a leader during the 1950s and 1960s. Barney Bigard passed away at the age 74 in June of 1980.

Here is a link to a video of a televised 1968 performances with Bigard playing clarinet with the Art Hodes combo:

"C JAM BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 2nd

Many critics consider Miles Davis’s 1959 Columbia album “Kind of Blue” his masterpiece. Others have called it the greatest of all jazz records. One thing is certain: in the 64 years since it was recorded it has sold more than five million copies in the United States alone. The five tracks on “Kind of Blue” were recorded over two days, the first being March 2, 1959. The second session took place on April 22nd of that year, and both sessions were done at the Columbia Records 30th Street Studios in New York City. The album was released on August 17, 1959.

Davis had begun to move away from hard bop and toward more experimentation with a modal approach to composing and improvising with the 1958 album “Milestones." Inspired by George Russel’s book “The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization,” Davis set out to produce an entire album of music based on these modal theories. This was a departure from the major/minor chordal construct that epitomized bop and hard bop.

The musicians employed for “Kind of Blue” included Davis on trumpet, alto saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, and tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, along with Paul Chambers playing bass, drummer Jimmy Cobb and pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly. The group recorded side one of the original album at the March 2nd session. That included the tunes Freddie Freeloader, So What and Blue in Green.

In an interview with Nat Hentoff in Jazz Review Miles Davis talked about the use of modes for writing and improvisation: “No chords gives you a lot more freedom and space to hear things. When you go this way, you can go on forever. You don't have to worry about changes and you can do more with the [melody] line. It becomes a challenge to see how melodically innovative you can be. When you're based on chords, you know at the end of 32 bars that the chords have run out and there's nothing to do but repeat what you've just done—with variations. I think a movement in jazz is beginning away from the conventional string of chords. There will be fewer chords but infinite possibilities as to what to do with them.”

Here is a link to one of the tracks recorded on that March day 64 years ago:

"FREDDIE FREELOADER"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - March 1st

“Best known as the lead composer, guitarist, and keyboardist for the acoustic jazz ensemble "Oregon", Ralph Towner has also had a rich and varied solo career that has seen fruitful and memorable musical collaboration with such great modern musicians as Gary Burton, John Abercrombie, Egberto Gismonti, Larry Coryell, Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, and Gary Peacock.

“Towner was born in Chehalis, Washington on March 1st, 1940 into a musical family, his mother a piano teacher and his father a trumpet player. In 1958, Towner enrolled in the University of Oregon as an art major, later changing his major to composition. He soon thereafter met bassist Glen Moore who would become a lifelong musical partner in the band Oregon.

“In 1968 Towner moved to New York City and immersed himself in the New York jazz scene, eventually landing a position with the Paul Winter Consort where the friendships and musical partnering with Glen Moore, Paul McCandless, and Collin Walcott were forged, a musical chemistry which was destined to alchemize into the band Oregon.

“Towner's working relationship with producer Manfred Eicher of ECM Records began in 1972 and would provide a forum for his growth as a leader and collaborator with other jazz giants, all while concomitantly breaking open musical frontiers with Oregon throughout the intervening years. ECM's roster of low-volume acts was decidedly contrary to the amplified popular zeitgeist of the era and provided Towner an opportunity to connect and create with some of the more iconoclastic and innovative artists of the musical culture in the 1970s. Towner's creativity and virtuosity into the new millennium retain all the vitality of his younger years, even now into his 70s.”

(excerpted from ralphtowner.com)
Here is a link to video of a Ralph Towner solo concert ion St. Louis from 2017:

"I FALL IN LOVE TOO EASILY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 28th

“Willie Bobo was one of the great Latin percussionists of his time, a relentless swinger on the congas and timbales, a flamboyant showman onstage, and an engaging if modestly endowed singer. He also made serious inroads into the pop, R&B and straight ahead jazz worlds.

“Growing up in Spanish Harlem, Bobo, whose given name was William Correa, began on the bongos at age 14, only to find himself performing with Perez Prado a year later, studying with Mongo Santamaria while serving as his translator, and joining Tito Puente for a four-year stint at age 19. Mary Lou Williams gave Correa his nickname Bobo when they recorded together in the early '50s.

“After working with Cal Tjader, Herbie Mann and Santamaria with whom he recorded the Latin standard Afro Blue, Bobo stepped forward in 1963 with his first recording as a leader, with Clark Terry and Joe Farrell as sidemen. Recording for Verve in the mid-'60s, Bobo achieved his highest solo visibility with albums that enlivened pop hits of the day with Latin rhythms, spelled by sauntering originals like "Spanish Grease" and "Fried Neck Bones and Some Home Fries." In addition, Bobo played on innumerable sessions in New York, recording with artists like Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, Herbie Hancock, Wes Montgomery, Chico Hamilton and Sonny Stitt.

“In 1969, he moved to Los Angeles where he led jazz and Latin jazz combos, appeared on Bill Cosby’s first comedy series (1969-1971) and short-lived 1976 variety show, and recorded on his own for Sussex, Blue Note and Columbia. One of Bobo's last appearances, only three months before his death from cancer, was at the 1983 Playboy Jazz Festival where he reunited with Santamaria for the first time in 15 years.”

(excerpted from allmusic.com)

Here is a link to Willie Bobo and his band from a 1973 television appearance hosted by James Earl Jones:

"2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 27th

“Widely regarded the as the first musician to translate the language of mid-20th century modern jazz to the tenor saxophone, Dexter Gordon was born on February 27, 1923 in Los Angeles, California. His father, Dr. Frank Gordon, was one of the first African American doctors in Los Angeles who arrived in 1918 after graduating from Howard Medical School in Washington, D.C. Among his patients were Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton.

“Dexter began his study of music with the clarinet at age 13, then switched to the alto saxophone at 15, and finally to the tenor saxophone at 17. In his last year of high school, he received a call from alto saxophonist Marshall Royal asking him to join the Lionel Hampton Band. He left Los Angeles with the band, traveling down south and learning to play from fellow band members Illinois Jacquet and Joe Newman. In January 1941, the band played at the Grand Terrace in Chicago for six months and the radio broadcasts made there were Dexter’s first recordings.

“It was in 1943, while in New York City with the Hampton band, that Dexter sat in at Minton’s Playhouse with Ben Webster and Lester Young. This was to be one of the most important moments in his long musical career as, as he put it, “people started to take notice.”

“Back in Los Angeles in 1943, Dexter played mainly with Lee Young (Lester Young’s brother), with Jesse Price plus a few weeks with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. In 1944, he worked with Louis Armstrong‘s orchestra and it was during this period that Gordon made his first lengthy solo recordings as the leader of a quintet session with Nat “King” Cole as a sideman.

“In 1944, Dexter joined the Billy Eckstine band, the source of many of the Bebop innovators of the time and many of the most prominent bandleaders in the future. He was surrounded nightly by Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro, Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Leo Parker, John Malachi, and other architects of the new music.

“Dexter began to record for Savoy Records in 1945. These early recordings are examples of the development of his sound and his style which influenced many of the younger tenor players of that day, including Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. In 1947, Dexter recorded his historic sides for Dial Records with tenor saxophonist Wardell Gray. The two tenor “duels” became very popular at this time and further established Dexter as a leader and a recording artist.

“In the late 40s, Dexter appeared on the famed 52nd Street in New York City with Charlie Parker, Fats Navarro, Miles Davis, Max Roach, and many of the bebop innovators of the day. The classic photo of Dexter at the Royal Roost in 1948 has become the iconic photo of the bebop musician and has been reprinted on album covers, t-shirts, posters, and print ads.

“In 1960, Dexter was approached by Alfred Lion to sign with Blue Note Records. For five years, he made one session after another, and they are all considered classics.  A gig in 1962 at Ronnie Scott’s Club in London was a new experience for Dexter and he began to travel and work in Europe. Eventually, he settled in Copenhagen where he lived until his return to the U.S. in 1976. 

“In 1976, Dexter enjoyed a hero’s welcome in the U.S. when he made his return engagement at Storyville in New York City. He subsequently played the Village Vanguard, signed with Columbia Records, and was officially back in town. He organized his first working band during this period with George Cables, Rufus Reid, and Eddie Gladden. He considered this band to be his best band and he toured extensively with them.

“In 1986, Dexter moved into his new career, acting, in the motion picture Round Midnight which was directed by Bertrand Tavernier. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Leading Actor in 1986 for his portrayal of Dale Turner, a character based on the lives of Lester Young and Bud Powell. The music for the film won an Oscar for musical director, Herbie Hancock. The film included fellow musicians Bobby Hutcherson, Billy Higgins, Cedar Walton, Freddie Hubbard, Tony Williams, Pierre Michelot, John McLaughlin, and Wayne Shorter.

“Dexter Gordon’s last major concert appearance was with the New York Philharmonic in Ellingtones, a concerto written for him by acclaimed composer David Baker and conducted by James de Priest. Dexter died on April 25, 1990 in Philadelphia.“

(The above was excerpted from dextergordon.com)

Here is a link to Dexter Gordon playing Lady Bird in Belgium in 1964:

"LADY BIRD"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 26th

The Original Dixieland Jass Band was made up of five white men from New Orleans who billed themselves as “The Creators of Jazz” - they weren’t, but that’s a whole different story than the one being told here. They had all met while members of Papa Jack Laine’s band. In 1916 clarinetist Alcide Nunez was contacted by a Chicago promoter who promised a gig in the Windy City if he were to form a band similar to Tom Brown’s Band from Dixieland that was enjoying great popularity there. Nunez assembled Eddie Edwards on trombone, Nick LaRocca playing cornet, pianist Henry Ragas and drummer Johnny Stein. Stein was later replaced by Tony Spargo. They moved to Chicago and began a regular gig at Schiller’s Cafe in March of 1916.

By January 1917 they had moved on to New York City where they were playing Reisenweber’s Cafe on Columbus Circle. Their popularity was quickly growing, and they did a test recording for Columbia Records at the end of January 1917, but nothing from that session was ever released. However, on February 26, 1917 the ODJB recorded two sides for Victor Records that were released nine days later, and the record is now considered the very first jazz recording ever made. Livery Stable Blues and Dixieland Jass Band One-Step were released on March 7, 1917 and originally sold around 250,000 copies. The record increased the visibility of jazz throughout the country and spawned hundreds of small groups across the country who began playing jazz.

The ODJB went on to make additional records, some of which proved to be very popular during the 1920s. Many jazz fans will tell you that the “vaudevillian antics” of the ODJB set a poor example of what the music was really about. It has been reported that Black New Orleans jazz cornetist Freddie Keppard was offered an opportunity to be the first to record jazz, but that he refused because he didn’t want his music to become a “corporate commodity.” By the time Keppard agreed to make records the ODJB (and other similar bands) had become so popular with he general public that Keppard’s purer style was not appreciated as widely.

Here is a link to Livery Stable Blues as recorded 105 years ago today:

"LIVERY STABLE BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 25th

Known to many as “The Comet,” trombonist Ake Persson was born in southern Sweden on February 25, 1932. Persson began his music studies as a child playing trumpet but went on to become one of Europe’s leading bebop trombonists.

Persson moved to Stockholm in 1951 and began his musical career in earnest playing for three years with the Simon Brehm Quintet. He also worked with leading Swedish jazz figures like reedmen Hacke Bjorksten, Arne Domnerus and Lars Gullin. Between 1956 and 1961 he played in the radio band led by saxophonist and composer/arranger Harry Arnold. Persson achieved wider international fame when he joined the trombone section of the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band in 1963, a position he held for eight years. He appears on 16 albums with the band.

In addition to his performances with European jazz artists and groups, Ake Persson played and recorded with prominent American stars like Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Roy Haynes, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, Herbie Mann and Quincy Jones. Persson also made several records as a leader for labels like Philips and EmAry during the 1950s. Persson died in 1975 when the auto he was driving plunged into the Djurgarden Canal in central Stockholm. It has been a point of speculation for years whether this was an accident or was done purposefully.

Here is a link to Ake Persson playing in a small group setting with saxophonist Hacke Bjorksten:

"PENTA"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 24th

Saxophonist David “Fathead” Newman was born in Corsicana, Texas on February 24, 1933 and grew up in the Dallas area. Although Newman released dozens of records as a leader and worked extensively as a sideman, he is best known for his work as a featured soloist with Ray Charles during the 1950s and 1960s.

The story about Newman’s perhaps less than becoming nickname is that, according to the New York Times, he received it when “an outraged music instructor used it as an epithet after catching Mr. Newman playing a Sousa march from memory rather than from reading the sheet music, which rested upside down on the stand." Newman started saxophone in the seventh grade after hearing and being inspired by Louis Jordan records. He took private lessons from Buster Smith, a Count Basie Orchestra alum, and studied music at Jarvis Christian College for three years before dropping out to pursue a career in music full-time.

Newman met Charles in 1951 and initially played baritone saxophone in Charles’ band when he joined in 1954. But he soon switched to tenor and became the band’s principal soloist for years thereafter. In his biography Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler referred to Newman as Charles’ ”alter ego on tenor.” Ray Charles himself wrote in his own autobiography that Newman "could make his sax sing the song like no one else.”

After his time in Ray Charles’ ensemble, Newman worked briefly with flautist Herbie Mann and then did session work on records by Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Jimmy McGriff, Stanley Turrentine, Joe Cocker, Hank Crawford and Queen Latifah. Trumpeter Roy Hargrove cited Newman as a major influence in his youth. David “Fathead” Newman died from pancreatic cancer in 2009 at the age of 75.

Here is a link to David “Fathead” Newman in a live performance of a tune with which he was closely associated:

"HARD TIMES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 23rd

The tune Stolen Moments by composer, arranger, bandleader and saxophonist Oliver Nelson has become a jazz standard. It first appeared on the Impulse! label record “The Blues and the Abstract Truth” which was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on February 23, 1961 along with five other Nelson originals. Oddly, his composition named Blues and the Abstract Truth does not appear on this album.

Sixty-two years after it was recorded “The Blues and the Abstract Truth” is still Nelson’s most acclaimed record. The album features performances by some serious jazz heavyweights including Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, reedman Eric Dolphy, George Barrow playing baritone saxophone, pianist Bill Evans, bassist Paul Chambers and Roy Haynes on drums, not to mention Oliver Nelson himself on alto and tenor sax.

Nelson was 29 years old when this record was made. He was a native of St. Louis, Missouri and had earned a master’s degree in theory and composition in 1958. He had spent time playing with Louis Jordan, Erskine Hawkins, Kenny Dorham, Louis Bellson, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones and Count Basie prior to recording “The Blues and the Abstract Truth.” He would go on to work as an arranger on large ensemble records by Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Stanley Turrentine, Buddy Rich and Wes Montgomery. He also wrote music for films and television shows including “Ironside,” “Columbo” and “The Six Million Dollar Man.”

Here is a link to the best-known track from “The Blues and the Abstract Truth:”

"STOLEN MOMENTS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 22nd

Although he studied piano and violin as a youngster, Rex Stewart came to fame as a cornet player. He is best known for his eleven-year stint as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Rex Stewart was born in Philadelphia on February 22, 1907.

In the early 1920s Stewart dropped out of high school to join a band called The Ragtime Clowns, and over the next decade would play with some of the biggest bands of the 1920s including Elmer Snowden, Fletcher Henderson and McKinney’s Cotton Pickers. In 1933 Stewart led his own band at the Empire Ballroom in New York City.

In 1934 Rex Stewart was hired by Duke Ellington and stayed with the ensemble until 1945. While working for Ellington, Stewart co-wrote the tunes Morning Glory and Boy Meets Horn. He also produced recording sessions by Ellington sidemen. After leaving the band Stewart led his own small ensemble and was a featured performer on the Jazz at the Philharmonic tours between 1947 and 1951.

During the 1950s Stewart worked in radio and television and also wrote jazz criticism for DownBeat and Playboy magazines. For a while he lived in France and studied at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. Back in the U.S., Stewart hosted radio programs and played in the studio band for The Steve Allen Show on television. He wrote an autobiography appropriately titled “Boy Meets Horn” which was published posthumously. Stewart died from a brain hemorrhage in Los Angeles at the age of 60.

Here is a link to Rex Stewart playing with the host on a 1958 television broadcast of Art Ford’s Jazz Party:

"THERE'LL NEVER BE ANOTHER YOU"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 21st

Although her birth name was Eunice Kathleen Waymon, she was better known by her professional moniker, Nina Simone. The vocalist, pianist, songwriter and civil rights activist was born in North Carolina on February 21, 1933.
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Nina Simone’s initial musical goal was to become a concert pianist and she was talented enough to study with Carl Friedberg at Julliard. However, when she applied for a scholarship to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia her application was denied, an act which Simone attributed to the fact that she was a Black woman. Now living in Philadelphia she did study privately with Curtis piano professor Vladimir Sokoloff. Simone worked as an accompanist and taught private piano lessons during this time. She also took a job playing piano and singing at the Midtown Bar and Grill in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was then that she adopted the name Nina Simone.

Simone played at small clubs throughout the latter 1950s and achieved her first real commercial success with a recording of George Gershwin’s I Loves You Porgy which reached the Billboard Magazine Top 20 in 1958. The following year Simone recorded her first album “Little Girl Blue” on Bethlehem Records. In December 1959 she released a live record titled “Nina Simone at Town Hall,” and was soon a favorite performer on the New York City club scene. On the 1964 album “Nina Simone in Concert” she sang Mississippi Goddam, which Simone referred to as her “first civil rights song.” The song addressed the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama and was banned from airplay in several southern U.S. states.

Following Mississippi Goddam songs addressing racial inequality in America became a significant portion of Simone’s repertoire and “as her political activism rose, the rate of release of her music slowed.” In 1967 she recorded Backlash Blues written by her friend Langston Hughes and in 1968 she sang Billy Taylor’s I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free. On Questlove’s 2021 documentary about the Harlem Cultural Festival in the summer of 1969 Simone can be seen and heard singing her composition To Be Young, Gifted and Black.

In the 1970s Nina Simone lived first in Barbados and then Liberia. She did not record for several years before making the album “Baltimore” for CTI Records. In the 1980s she performed regularly at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London and moved first to Switzerland, then to Paris, and eventually settled in the Netherlands. In 1987 Simone had a big hit record in Europe with My Baby Just Cares For Me. Later in her life, Nina Simone was diagnosed as being bi-polar and also developed breast cancer. She lived the final years of her life in the south of France and died in her sleep on April 21, 2003 at the age of 70.

Here is a link to Nina Simone performing in 1965:

"MISSISSIPPI GODDAM"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 20th

Trumpeter Lew Soloff was born in New York City of February 20, 1944 and played with Machito, Tito Puente and Maynard Ferguson prior to achieving his widest popular fame as a member of Blood, Sweat and Tears from 1968 until 1973. His solo on the song Spinning Wheel has become a classic and the record received a Grammy award. Soloff studied trumpet at Eastman and Julliard.

In addition to his work with the groups mentioned above, Soloff was a long-time member of the Mingus Big Band, the Manhattan Jazz Quintet and was assistant director of the Gil Evans Monday Night Orchestra beginning in 1983. Soloff made frequent guest appearances with other groups including the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the Magic City Jazz Orchestra. He also worked as a sideman on records with George Benson, Carla Bley, Stanley Turrentine, Dizzy Gillespie, Aretha Franklin, Hank Crawford, Frank Sinatra, Herbie Mann and he played on Paul Simon’s “Graceland” album in 1986.

Lew Soloff had the chops not only to play a searing lead trumpet, but also construct and perform intricate improvisations, making him a first call player in New York City for decades. Soloff passed away at age 71 after suffering a heart attack in 2015.

Here is a link to Lew Soloff playing a solo on Spinning Wheel. This is not the original recording, but a performance with a big band recorded in Japan around 1991:

"SPINNING WHEEL"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 19th

On February 19, 1942 U.S. president Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which declared it a “military necessity” to incarcerate more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent, most of whom were American citizens, in hastily constructed camps throughout the western United States. Detainees were only allowed to bring with them what they could carry. This made it necessary to prioritize and only bring your most essential belongings, and for many this meant that they brought musical instruments. In an attempt to achieve some sense of normalcy under these conditions musical groups were formed at all ten relocation camps. At one of the camps, Heart Mountain, located in Wyoming, a well-known musician from Los Angeles named George Igawa created a big band to perform at the camp and eventually beyond its barbed wire boundary.

Prior to the United States entry into World War II, George Igawa was director of a popular Los Angeles-based band called Sho Tokyans that played swing music and standards for Japanese-American communities along the west coast. Once at Heart Mountain, Igawa recruited professional and amateur musicians and even some talented high school students for his group. Musicians in the 19-piece band received a meager salary from the camp’s recreation fund for playing. George Igawa’s band, which became known as the G.I. Orchestra because of its leader’s initials, played both American popular swing music and arrangements by the director. In addition, they performed some traditional Japanese tunes. The ensemble played for dances and other events at Heart Mountain.

Eventually, word of the band reached beyond the confines of the camp and they were permitted to play for events all across the state of Wyoming. In an article on the website nationalww2museum.org the band’s drummer, Jimmie Akiya recalled that “A war bond rally in Powell was the first outside stint we had. It was amazing how they reacted.” That was just the first of many performances by Igawa’s orchestra that was soon playing community events, high school dances and other war bond rallies throughout the state. The G.I. Orchestra’s performances went a long way to prove to the “non-incarcerated world that Japanese Americans were just as American as their European-American counterparts. They were not only playing music, but in their own words were ‘spreading good will’ and expressing their shared humanity in front of an audience who was eager to hear them play.” They were referred to by one newspaper as “our American friends.”

Here is a link to an interview with Joy Terakoa, the vocalist for the George Igawa Orchestra, who speaks about what it was like to live at Heart Mountain and sing with Igawa’s group:

"FOR JOY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 18th

By January 1969 Miles Davis’ “second great quintet” had broken up and he was working with a group made up of Wayne Shorter on soprano saxophone, Chick Corea playing electric piano, Dave Holland on bass and drummer Jack DeJohnette. The last two albums by Davis had hinted at a move toward electrified instruments but it wasn’t until “In a Silent Way” that he fully embraced “a full-blown electric approach.” “In a Silent Way” included contributions from his working group (excepting DeJohnette) and former Davis sidemen Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Ron Carter as well as from keyboardist Joe Zawinul and guitarist John McLaughlin. The album was assembled and edited by producer Teo Macero from a three-hour session at the CBS 30th Street Studio in New York City on February 18, 1969.

The record consists basically of two pieces of music - one on each side of the original vinyl release. Shhh/Peaceful was composed by Davis and Zawinul and Davis share credit for In a Silent Way/It’s About That Time. Each of the two performances were edited by Macero into three distinct parts which have been compared by some to the exposition-development-recapitulation form familiar to classical music fans.

Although current opinion of the recording is nearly unanimously positive, critics were divided at the time of the record’s release in July of 1969. It was Davis’ best-selling record since 1965’s “My Funny Valentine,” reaching the Billboard album chart and topping out at #3 on the jazz chart. Generally speaking, rock critics loved it, and jazz critics felt somehow betrayed because the music didn’t swing and it used electric instruments. Some critics have since even referred to “In a Silent Way” as proto-ambient music.

Here is a link to the second side of “In a Silent Way:”

"IN A SILENT WAY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 17th

Although he was just coming into his own as a musician about the time the big band era was starting to fade, Buddy DeFranco was able to forge a very successful career playing be-bop clarinet and is remembered by many as the leader of the Glenn Miller “ghost band” from 1966 until 1974. Boniface Ferdinand Leonard “Buddy” DeFranco was born in Camden, New Jersey on February 17, 1923.

Raised in South Philadelphia, DeFranco took up the clarinet at the age of nine and won the national Tommy Dorsey Swing Contest at 14. By his mid-20s DeFranco was a member of the Count Basie Septet and led his own groups in the early 1950s that featured Sonny Clark on piano and guitarist Tal Farlow. By 1954 he was recording albums for Norman Granz, and would go on to release 62 albums as a leader during his career. He also recorded with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and with Lionel Hampton in the 1950s.

In the early 1960s DeFranco co-led an innovative quartet with accordionist Tommy Gumina before fronting the “World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, Directed by Buddy DeFranco” for nearly a decade. DeFranco performed with Gene Krupa, Art Blakey, Oscar Peterson, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Buddy Rich, Dizzy Gillespie and Eddie Daniels among others during his more than seventy years in the music business. Buddy DeFranco passed away on Christmas Ever 2014 in Florida.

Here is a link to a 1991 Buddy DeFranco live performance in a sextet setting featuring frequent collaborator Terry Gibbs:

"AFTER YOU'VE GONE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 16th

Reedman Jeff Clayton was born February 16, 1955 in Venice, California and grew up in Los Angeles. As a youngster his mother, a church pianist and organist, encouraged her children to be active in music. Jeff listened to gospel music, R&B and Motown growing up. He did not develop an interest in jazz until becoming a member of his high school jazz ensemble.

Jeff Clayton studied double reeds at California State University - Northridge but left school one quarter short of receiving his diploma when he joined the touring and recording band for Stevie Wonder. After three years with Wonder, Clayton returned to his hometown where he was an active studio musician recording with Gladys Knight, Michael Jackson and Madonna. He also toured with B.B. King, Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra.

In 1977 Clayton would form a quartet with his older brother, bassist John Clayton, and the group recorded two albums. In the early 1980s the two brothers would play together in the Count Basie Orchestra, both under Basie’s direction and, after the pianist’s death, under Thad Jones. In 1985 the brothers joined forces with drummer Jeff Hamilton to form the 20-piece Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra which continues to perform and record to this day. Jeff Clayton was one of the band’s star soloists until his death from liver cancer in 2020.
Jeff was not only a noted performer but also a music educator. He began his teaching career at UCLA in 1988 and later taught at USC, Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Los Angeles. He was very active as a clinician and adjudicator, as well.

Here is a link to Jeff Clayton presenting an entertaining lesson about the blues scale at a jazz festival hosted by the University of Notre Dame in 2014:

"WALKIN' BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 15th

February 15, 1962 was the first day of recording at the Fine Recording Studio in New York City for a new Max Roach album on the Impulse! label that would be called “It’s Time.” Two tracks were cut that day: the title tune and another called Living Room. The record featured Roach on drums along with Clifford Jordan playing saxophone, trumpeter Richard Williams and Seattle resident Julian Priester on trombone. Along with Roach the rhythm section consisted of Mal Waldron at the piano and bassist Art Davis. The record also included performances by a choir under the direction of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson and an appearance by vocalist (and Roach’s wife at the time) Abbey Lincoln on one track. All six pieces on the final album were written and arranged by Roach.

Max Roach supported the civil rights movement in the United States during this period and much of his music reflects that activism. “It’s Time” follows in the footsteps of his 1960 record “We Insist!” which was subtitled “Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite.” Some reviewers have felt that use of the choir on “It’s Time” was overbearing, but other artists of the time were also employing choirs in their work, including Donald Byrd. It could be argued that the choir on “It’s Time” adds an intensity to the performance that underlines the urgency felt by those in the civil rights movement at the time.

Here is a link to the title track from the album, recorded 61 years ago today:

"IT'S TIME"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 14th

Canadian trombonist, composer, arranger and bandleader Rob McConnell was born on Valentines Day 1935 in London, Ontario. After taking up the valve trombone in high school, McConnell went on to study and perform with trumpeters Clifford Brown and Maynard Ferguson. His big band, The Boss Brass, was founded in 1968 and it became McConnell’s primary musical outlet for the next 31 years.

Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass was made up primarily of Toronto area studio musicians and did not include a woodwind section for the first two years of its existence. The inaugural instrumentation employed French horns instead of saxophones. In 1970, though, McConnell added reeds bringing the total number of musicians to 22. The group recorded 31 albums between 1968 and 1998. During that time McConnell and his band were nominated for 17 Juno Awards and won six times. They were also nominated for 16 Grammys and won three including “Best Instrumental Performance by a Big Band” in 1984.

In addition to his work with the Boss Brass, McConnell led a “tentet” and played with and wrote for Moe Kauffman, Dave Frishberg, Mel Torme, Al Grey, Phil Woods and Manny Albam. He was also active as a clinician. Rob McConnell was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1997 and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1998. McConnell passed away from liver cancer in 2010 at the age of 75.

Here is a link to a television appearance by Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass:

"START WITH MRS. BEANHART"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 13th

“On this date in 1932, vocalist Bing Crosby, at just 29 years old, recorded “St. Louis Blues” with the Duke Ellington Orchestra for Columbia Records. The song was written by trumpeter and composer W.C. Handy in 1914 and became a hit for jazz luminaries such as Louis Armstrong and Glenn Miller. Bing’s version with Duke is a study in contrasts — the dark, shadowy harmonies of Ellington’s horn arrangements rendering Crosby’s coppery baritone in a new light.“ (Jazziz Magazine, 2020)

The first recorded version of the tune was made by Charles Prince’s Band on December 18, 1915 and released some two months later on Columbia Records. It has subsequently been waxed by dozens of artists including the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Bessie Smith, the Mills Brothers, Guy Lombardo, Eubie Blake and Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. But, the pairing of the Ellington orchestra with Tacoma-born crooner Crosby was a rare and interesting choice. The record was reportedly one of Louis Armstrong’s favorites, but he recognized similarities between Crosby’s scat singing near the end of St. Louis Blues and his own on an Armstrong recording of Lazy River released just weeks before the Ellington/Crosby side was cut. “The thievery is unmistakable,” said Armstrong.

Here is a link to the 1932 recording:

"ST. LOUIS BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 12th

Stan Getz was one of the most popular and talented saxophonists of the second half of the 20th century. He began playing professionally as the age of 16 and was a member of the Woody Herman Orchestra in the late 1940s. But, Getz was also addicted to heroin and hit his low point in February 1954 when he attempted to rob a drug store while on tour in Seattle. The accompanying photo appeared in The Seattle Times on February 12, 1954. Later that year he wrote a letter to DownBeat magazine about the incident and his addiction. Here are excerpts from that letter:

“What happened in Seattle was inevitable. Me coming to the end of my rope. I shouldn’t have been withdrawing myself from narcotics while working and traveling. With the aid of barbiturates, I thought I could do it. Seattle was the eighth day of the tour and I could stand no more. (Stan you said no excuses.) Going into this drugstore, I demanded more narcotics. I said I had a gun (didn’t).
The lady behind the counter evidently didn’t believe I had a gun so she told another customer. He, in turn, took a look at me and laughed, saying, ‘Lady, he’s kidding you. He has no gun.’ I guess I didn’t look the part. Having flopped at my first ‘caper,’ I left the store and went to my hotel. When I was in my room I decided to call the store and apologize. In doing so, the call was traced and my incarceration followed.”

A Seattle Police officer who had been summoned to the drug store listened in on the saxophonist’s call to the drug store and reported that Getz said, “I’m sorry for the crazy thing I did. I’ve never done anything like that before. I’m not a stick-up man. I’m from a good family. I’m going to commit myself on Wednesday.” According to dangerousminds.net “The cop on the phone spoke up, pretending to be a doctor and asked if he could help. Stan blurted out his life’s story. The “doctor” said he was coming right over to help. Locked in his room, despairing and ashamed, Stan tried to kill himself by swallowing a fistful of barbiturates. The police knocked on his door minutes later and ran him in for booking. A photograph of Stan in the back seat of a patrol car looking sick and scared
was flashed over the news wire services. The overdose of barbiturates took effect minutes after he was locked up and he collapsed. “

Although Stan Getz continued to battle relapses throughout his life, he was able to stay clean and sober for long periods of time and created some of the most memorable music of his era.

Here is a link to Getz playing with John Coltrane, Oscar Peterson, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb during a 1960 appearance on German television:

"HACKENSACK"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 11th

Musician and politician Vic Meyers was born in Minnesota in 1897. He was the fifteenth of sixteen children and went on to become one of Seattle’s most popular bandleaders in the 1920s and 1930s. Meyers’ love of music was inspired by his pianist mother and he learned to play multiple instruments as a youth.

After his family moved to Oregon, Meyers began his professional career as a musician playing drums in a band in Seaside. He eventually started his own ten-piece ensemble, toured the country and was signed by Brunswick Records. His band took up residence first at Seattle’s Trianon Ballroom, and later at the Rose Room in the Butler Hotel. The band did radio broadcasts heard up and down the Pacific Coast and eventually Meyers opened his own club, the Club Victor, on 4th Avenue in the Denny Regrade.

In 1932 Vic Meyers and some of his buddies at The Seattle Times newspaper decided it would be fun and great publicity if Meyers joined that year’s mayoral race in Seattle. Michael Hood of Historylink.org wrote about the campaign in 2007:
“With the help of the wags at the Times, Meyers cooked up gags, publicity stunts, and comically staged photos, and proposed outrageous policies, all of which never failed to make the front page and became the legendary "Clown Prince of Politics" of Seattle political lore.
His most famous stunt was when the candidates were invited to speak three days before the primary at a Shrine Club luncheon at the Olympic Hotel, Meyers arrived in robes in the style of Mahatma Gandhi, wearing a top hat and leading a rented goat. There were stories in Variety and Time magazine; and famous band leader Guy Lombardo, wrote "Here's to Seattle and its next mayor, Vic Meyers."
"I won't tell any lies about my opponent," Meyers said, "if he won't tell the truth about me."
He proposed putting hostesses on the city's streetcars and appointing a City Gigolo. To prove he was against waste, he suggested putting flower boxes around the fire hydrants so as not to waste any water that dripped out.“

As part of the campaign the Times ran the accompanying photograph of Meyers with actress Laura LaPlante who became his campaign manager. Eventually Meyers decided to take politics more seriously and was elected Lieutenant Governor later in 1932, a post he held for twenty years. In 1956 he was elected Washington Secretary of State and held that position for eight years. Vic Meyers passed away in 1991.

Here is a link to Vic Meyers and his Orchestra from a 1924 recording:

"TELL ME WHAT TO DO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 10th

Drummer Chick Webb was born February 10, 1905 in Baltimore, Maryland - or 1907 or 1909 - it depends on the source you consult. They all agree, though, that his birthday was February 10th. When Webb was an infant, he fell down some stairs and the resulting injury progressed to tuberculosis of the spine. A doctor eventually recommended that playing an instrument would “loosen up his bones,” and Webb sold newspapers to earn enough money to purchase a drum set.

Webb played his first professional gig before reaching his teenage years, moved to New York City when he was 17, and was leading his own band in Harlem by 1926. In 1931 his group became the house band at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Webb himself had developed into one of the best of the swing era drummers and his playing influenced many who followed him, including Gene Krupa, Art Blakey, Louis Bellson and Buddy Rich, who referred to Webb as “the daddy of them all.”

During the Chick Webb Orchestra’s reign at the Savoy they regularly took part in tremendously popular “battles” with other bands including those led by Benny Goodman, Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Webb’s ensemble almost always came out the victor. In 1935 Chick Webb began featuring the teenaged Ella Fitzgerald as his vocalist and together they recorded a number of huge hit records in the 1930s, including A-Tisket, A-Tasket.

In 1938 Webb’s health began to seriously deteriorate but he refused to stop playing and touring citing the need to keep his musicians employed during the Great Depression. Eventually, though, he required an operation at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and succumbed on June 16, 1939. After Webb’s passing Ella Fitgerald headed the band for the next three years. In February 1940 more than 7500 people attended a Chick Webb Benefit in his hometown.

Here is a link to the Chick Webb Orchestra playing one of their best-known tunes from a 1934 recording:

"STOMPIN' AT THE SAVOY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 9th

Walter Page was an acoustic bass player with the Count Basie Orchestra and part of the “All-American Rhythm Section.” Prior to his time with Basie, he was the leader of the popular territory band Walter Page’s Blue Devils. Page was born in Gallatin, Missouri on February 9, 1900.
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Walter Page showed an interest in music from a very young age. When he was ten years old he moved to Kansas City with his mother, and it wasn’t long before young Walter could be found playing tuba and bass drum in neighborhood bands. Page took up the string bass when he was a student at Lincoln High School and later studied music education at the University of Kansas. He completed the three-year course of study at KU in one year and then took a job playing with the Bennie Moten Orchestra. He spent three years with Moten before joining Billy King’s Road Show which toured the United States through the auspices of the Theater Owner’s Booking Agency. It was in that band that Page first met bandmates Basie and Jimmy Rushing.

In 1925 Walter Page’s Blue Devils were formed in Oklahoma City and played throughout the southwest for six years before disbanding in. During that time it could be argued that the Blue Devils and Bennie Moten’s group were the two hottest bands in the region. Although he sorely wanted to, Page stated that the two bands never met head to head. Moten did, however, start poaching the best players from Page’s band until the leader himself broke up the Blue Devils and rejoined Moten’s ensemble.

When Moten passed away in 1935 Basie took over the band and Page played in what was dubbed the “All-American Rhythm Section” until 1942. Along with Page on bass and Basie at the piano, the engine room of the Basie Orchestra included guitarist Freddie Green and drummer Jo Jones. Page returned to Basie in 1946 for a three-year stay.

Although best known for his time with the Basie organization and as leader of the Blue Devils, Walter Page also performed as a sideman with Eddie Condon, Jimmy McPartland, Roy Eldridge, Ruby Braff, Vic Dickenson and Buck Clayton. Page died of pneumonia in New York City on December 20, 1957.

Here is a link to a 1929 recording by Walter Page’s Blue Devils:

"BLUE DEVIL BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 8th

Musician Lonnie Johnson was primarily a bluesman who played guitar, banjo and was one of the earliest to experiment with the electric violin. He was born February 8, 1899. Here is a brief article about Mr. Johnson as it appeared in The Syncopated Times:

Lonnie Johnson was a pioneering Blues and Jazz guitarist and banjoist. He started playing in cafes in New Orleans and in 1917 he traveled in Europe, playing in revues and briefly with Will Marion Cook’s Southern Syncopated Orchestra. When he returned home to New Orleans in 1918 he discovered that his entire family had been killed by a flu epidemic except for one brother.
He and his surviving brother, James “Steady Roll” Johnson moved to St. Louis in 1920 where Lonnie played with Charlie Creath’s Jazz-O-Maniacs and with Fate Marable in their Mississippi riverboat bands. In 1925 Johnson married Blues singer Mary Johnson and won a blues contest sponsored by the Okeh record company. Part of the prize was a recording deal with the company.
Throughout the rest of the 1920s he recorded with a variety of bands and musicians, including Eddie Lang, Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five and the Duke Ellington Orchestra. In the 1930s Johnson moved to Cleveland, Ohio and worked with the Putney Dandridge Orchestra, and then in a tire factory and steel mill. In 1937 he moved back to Chicago and played with Johnny Dodds and Jimmie Noone. Johnson continued to play for the rest of his life, but was often forced to leave the music business for periods to make a living. In 1963 he once again appeared briefly with Duke Ellington.

Lonnie Johnson passed away in 1970. Here is a link to a televised performance from 1963:

"ANOTHER NIGHT TO CRY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 7th

Pianist and composer Eubie Blake was born in Baltimore, Maryland on February 7, 1883 and died almost exactly 100 years later on February 12, 1983. During that century Blake became an important figure in Black musical development in the 20th Century, playing ragtime, jazz, composing popular tunes and writing Broadway shows. Blake enjoyed a popular rediscovery of sorts during the ragtime revival of the 1970s.

Eubie Blake began playing pump organ at age four and by 15 he was playing piano in a brothel. In 1905 Blake moved to New York City and began looking for someone to publish his first song Sounds of Africa. Although he was initially unsuccessful in his quest, he did meet composer Will Marion Cook during the process. Years later Blake was finally able to get the song in print, but under the title The Charleston Rag.

After returning to Baltimore, Blake played regularly around town and got his tune Chevy Chase published in 1914. The following year he met Noble Sissle, the man who would become his long-time writing partner. Together they wrote the song It’s All Your Fault for the hugely popular singer Sophie Tucker. Blake and Sissle then wrote the stage show “Shuffle Along” which included the hits I’m Just Wild About Harry and Love Will Find a Way. “Shuffle Along” was the first hit Broadway show with an all-Black cast. It was so popular, in fact, that in 1921 it had three touring companies performing the musical all across the United States. Blake also wrote the shows “Swing It” and “Blackbirds.”

As the popularity of ragtime began to fade in the 1920s, Blake turned to playing jazz. He toured and performed continuously until 1946 he when he decided to take a 23 year break from the music business. Returning to the stage in 1969 at the age of 86, Blake toured the world performing and giving lectures on ragtime and early jazz music. Interest in ragtime was bolstered during the 1970s by the success of the 1973 film “The Sting” which featured a soundtrack of music written by fellow composer Scott Joplin. Blake continued to tour and make television appearances until well into his 90s. In 1979 the musical “Eubie” was produced and Blake himself made several cameo appearances during its run. Blake died in New York City five days after his 100th birthday in 1983.

Here is a link to a 1923 Eubie Blake solo performance seen and heard on an experimental film (one of the first to synchronize picture and sound):

"SWANEE RIVER"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 6th

Bebop pianist Cecil Young’s quartet was recorded at a benefit concert in Seattle in the summer of 1951. The resulting album was called "A Concert of Cool Jazz" and it was released on February 6, 1952, 71 years ago today. The following is an article by Peter Walton about Cecil Young written for blackpast.org in 2007:

Pianist Cecil Young’s quartet exploded onto the Seattle jazz scene in 1950, introducing the rhythmic fire of bebop to an eager new audience.  His quartet’s debut record was immediately successful, and Young, known for his devilish sense of humor as well as his immense musical talents, rose to great but brief regional prominence.
A vaudeville entertainer from New Haven, Connecticut, Cecil Young arrived in Seattle on a Palomar Theater date.  Seeking to break out of the confinements of vaudeville piano, Young soon filled the void left by pianist Dave Henderson at the New Chinatown nightclub.  For the gig Young assembled his quartet of local tenor saxophonist Gerald Brashear, white bassist Traff Hubert, and ex-Detroiter Jimmie Rodgers on drums.  After the New Chinatown gig, Taylor secured a slot at the Elks Club in Seattle’s Chinatown.  The Club had long been a center for local and national jazz performers.
The Cecil Young quartet quickly became a regional sensation.  Commanding breakneck tempos, the quartet’s aggressive rhythm section mesmerized crowds across Seattle, Tacoma, and Yakima.  Young was a modern piano player whose sparse, fierce, and harmonically sophisticated playing propelled his quartet.  Yet Young was also a complete entertainer – delighting audiences with his unique humor and talents as a tap dancer and singer.  In addition to the tenor saxophone, Gerald Brashear was also an accomplished conga player, and he frequently sang scat with Young.  (Brashear’s scat performance on the quartet’s “Who Parked the Car?” seemed to exist in a class by itself.)
When Sid Nathan, the president of King Records, visited Seattle, Young and his manager pitched him the quartet.  Nathan was impressed, and using previously-taped performances from the Ladies Music Club (later the Harvard Exit movie theater) and the Metropolitan Theater, Nathan mastered Young’s debut album.  Released in 1952, Concert of Cool Jazz became a local hit, and its influence reached beyond Seattle, particularly to the San Francisco Bay area.  On the strength of the album the quartet soon signed with the William Morris Agency, booking a national tour.  The tour culminated in a performance at New York’s famed Birdland, where the quartet opened for singer Sarah Vaughan.  The tour proved to be a disappointment, however, as Concert of Cool Jazz failed to catch on nationally and work opportunities steadily declined.  Disappointed and impatient, members of the quartet struggled with drug abuse, and the group soon disbanded.  Cecil Young never returned to Seattle, though he is believed to have performed professionally until his death in the 1970s.
Though it dissolved soon after its initial success, the Cecil Young quartet nonetheless marked a high point for Seattle’s Jackson Street jazz scene in the 1950s.  Soon after the quartet’s peak, a shift in state liquor laws rendered the Jackson Street nightclub community irrelevant, pushing the scene downtown, while the amalgamation of the local Black and white musicians’ unions threatened the sense of Black community that had defined Jackson Street.

Here is a link to a recording by the Cecil Young Quartet:

"RUSHING ON HOME/RACE HORSE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 5th

The third studio album by the 1970s fusion group Weather Report was released on Columbia Records on April 27, 1973. It was recorded in Connecticut, and it took five days to get the six tracks just the way the band wanted them. The album would be named Sweetnighter and three of tunes were written by keyboardist Joe Zawinul, two by sax player Wayne Shorter and one by bassist Miroslav Vitous. February 5, 1973 was the third day in the studio during the week of recording.

Weather Report was formed in 1970 by Austrian jazz musician Joe Zawinul, who had previously played with Cannonball Adderley and Miles Davis. Through numerous personnel changes the band continued playing, touring and recording regularly through 1986. The musicians who played on Sweetnighter included Zawinul, Shorter, Vitous, Herschel Dwellingham and Eric Gravatt on drums, Muruga Booker and Dom Um Romao playing percussion and Andrew White who played both electric bass and English horn.

The record received a lukewarm reception from critics, achieving three-and-a-half stars from the Penguin Guide to Jazz recordings and the pithy comment “"Ask yourself: What kind of a jazz (or rock) (or jazz-rock) group would conceive its sonar identity around electric keyboards and soprano sax? A pretty dinky (not dunky) one, right?” from Robert Christgau. Despite Mr. Christgau's opinion, the band was one of the most important ensembles of the era.

Here is a link to one of the tunes that appeared on Sweetnighter, Zawinul’s 125th Street Congress:

"125th STREET CONGRESS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 4th

On February 4, 1927 saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra could be found in a New York City recording studio cutting sides for Okeh Records. The best known of these was Singin’ the Blues, a 1920 composition by J. Russel Robinson and Con Conrad. The tune was first recorded the year of it’s composition as an instrumental by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band on the Victor label. Another recording was made with lyrics later that same year was released by Aileen Stanley.

The Trumbauer recording included the leader on C melody saxophone, cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, Jimmy Dorsey playing clarinet, Miff Mole on trombone, Eddie Lang on guitar, Paul Mertz at the piano and Chauncey Morehouse on drums. It features solos by Trumbauer, Beiderbecke and Dorsey and is today considered a milestone in jazz recordings. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1977. 20sJazz.com says “Singin’ the Blues is now considered a jazz classic due to Bix and Tram's ability to swing this slow tempo ballad and the record's lasting effects of inspiration on other musicians particularly Lester Young.“ The tune was subsequently recorded by Lionel Hampton, Eddie Condon, Fletcher Henderson and Connie Boswell.

Here is a link to the 1927 Trumbauer record:

"SINGIN' THE BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 3rd

Pianist, composer and vocalist Lil Hardin was born in Memphis, Tennessee on February 3, 1898. She grew up in a house with her grandmother who was a former slave. Lil received her first piano lessons from her third-grade teacher and was schooled in religious and classical music. As she grew up, she developed an interest in popular music, jazz and blues.

Hardin attended Fisk University, an HBCU in Nashville, Tennessee with a strong music program, where she received advanced training. Upon graduation Hardin returned to Memphis but moved to Chicago about a year later. In Chicago her sight-reading skills landed her a job as a sheet music demonstrator at a music store at a salary of three dollars per week. But she was soon heard by Lawrence Duhe, a bandleader recently arrived in the Windy City from New Orleans. Duhe offered Hardin a job in his band at $22.50 per week. Hardin accepted the offer and before long was playing with the group at the De Luxe Cafe, and then at Dreamland where they played on the same bill with singer Alberta Hunter. When King Oliver’s band replaced Duhe’s group at Dreamland Oliver asked Hardin to join with his group and she agreed. It was with Oliver’s band in 1922 that Hardin met Louis Armstrong whom she would soon marry.

Hardin helped Armstrong not only to “citify” his appearance, but to take more control of his career. Feeling that he was not able to grow as a musician playing second cornet with Oliver, she eventually convinced him to leave Oliver’s employ and strike out on his own. In 1924 Armstrong moved to New York City after being offered a chair in Fletcher Henderson’s orchestra playing at the Roseland Ballroom off Times Square. Hardin remained in Chicago and started her own group. Later she would arrange for Armstrong’s triumphant return to Chicago as “The World’s Greatest Trumpet Player” and later played piano on his original “Hot Five” recordings in the mid-1920s.

Lil Hardin and Louis Armstrong began to drift apart in the late 1920s for various reasons and Hardin moved to the east coast where she earned a graduate degree at the New York College of Music. During the 1930s Hardin led an “All Girl Orchestra” that played regularly on coast-to-coast broadcasts for the NBC radio network. She also recorded sporadically as a pianist and vocalist and played for a while with trumpeter Red Allen’s group. After leaving the music business for a while in the 1950s, Hardin was part of a 1961 television project called “Chicago and All That Jazz.” Lil Hardin was playing in Chicago in 1971 on a televised memorial concert after the death of Louis Armstrong when she collapsed at the piano and died of a heart attack in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Perhaps Hardin’s best-known composition is Struttin’ With Some Barbecue.

Here is a link to Lil Hardin playing piano and singing from a 1959 televised performance:

"THE PEARLS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 2nd

On February 2, 1956 Universal Pictures released a (semi)biographical movie about the life of clarinetist Benny Goodman. "The Benny Goodman Story" starred Steve Allen as Goodman and also featured Donna Reed, Herbert Anderson and Sammy Davis, Sr. playing the part of Fletcher Henderson. Anderson played the part of producer John Hammond, an important figure in Goodman’s career. Hammond, however, objected to how he was portrayed in the movie and sued Universal for $50,000.

Although many events in Goodman's life were highly stylized for the picture, it is an interesting movie just to see the swing era stars (and some who pre-date the swing era) who portray themselves in the film. Those stars include Benn Pollack, Gene Krupa, Ziggy Elman, Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson, Martha Tilton, Harry James and “Kid” Ory. Benny Goodman plays the clarinet for the soundtrack while Steve Allen fakes it, but does not appear in the movie. “The Benny Goodman Story” was intended as a follow-up to Universal’s hit “The Glenn Miller Story” made two years earlier and starring Jimmy Stewart as the trombonist.

Here is a link to the original trailer for the movie:

"THE BENNY GOODMAN STORY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - February 1st

Saxophonist Joshua Redman was born in Berkeley, California on February 1, 1969. His father, Dewey Redman, was a well-known jazz saxophonist and his mother was a dancer studying at Berkeley’s Center for World Music. It was at the Center that young Joshua received some of his earliest musical experiences in a variety of musics from various cultures around the world. He began to play the clarinet at age nine and switched to tenor saxophone when he was ten. He played all four years in the award-winning jazz ensemble at Berkeley High School.

In 1991 Joshua Redman graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in Social Studies and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Although he had been accepted to Yale Law School, he took a year off from his studies and moved to Brooklyn, New York and was soon playing with musicians like Brad Mehldau, Roy Hargrove, Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden and Christian McBride. That same year he won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition and decided to pursue a career in music. He was soon signed by Warner Brothers Records and released his first record in early 1993. Later in 1993 his second album, “Wish,” was released and featured the Joshua Redman Quartet that consisted of Redman, Metheny, Haden and drummer Billy Higgins. That record reached #1 on the American jazz sales charts.

Since the mid-1990s Redman has performed with and led a number of small ensembles and has also appeared in the movie “Blues Brothers 200” and on the PBS children’s television program “Arthur.” In 2000 Joshua Redman was named the Artistic Director for the SFJAZZ Collective and worked with that group through 2007. In recent years he has performed with the New Zealand Symphony, James Farm, the Rolling Stones, Yo Yo Ma, Umphrey’s McGee, Stevie Wonder and the Dave Matthews Band. He has also been heard with Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Clark Terry, Quincy Jones, Elvin Jones, Nicholas Payton, and Cedar Walton among many others.

Here is a link to Joshua Redman playing the title tune from his second album live at the 1993 Newport Jazz Festival:

"WISH"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 31st

Bobby Hackett was a cornet, trumpet and guitar player born on January 31, 1915 in Providence, Rhode Island. He was a disciple of Bix Beiderbecke and played with the bands of both Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller during the swing era.

When Hackett was only 23 years old Benny Goodman hired him to recreate Beiderbecke’s solo on the tune I’m Coming Virginia during the “history of jazz” segment at the famous 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. After that performance Hackett played regularly with the Vic Schoen Orchestra and played on the soundtrack of the Fred Astaire movie “Second Chorus,” in which Astaire and Burgess Meredith play friendly rival big band trumpet players.

After a short-lived attempt at leading his own big band, Bobby Hackett played with the Horace Heidt band before joining Glenn Miller. With Miller he not only played trumpet, but also guitar after dental surgery limited his trumpet playing ability for a time. Hackett can be heard as the trumpet soloist on Glenn Miller’s 1941 recording of String of Pearls. Louis Armstrong invited Hackett to play with him on his 1947 Town Hall concert in New York City.

In the 1950s Bobby Hackett he appeared as a regular on Martha Wright’s Packard Showroom television show. He also recorded seven albums as cornet soloist with the Jackie Gleason Orchestra during the decade, all of which were certified gold. He also recorded and toured with Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Jack Teagarden and Eddie Condon. Late in his career, Bobby Hackett performed with both vocalist Teresa Brewer and Dizzy Gillespie. Hackett passed away in the summer of 1976 from a heart attack at the age of 61.

Here is a link to a television performance by the Bobby Hackett Sextet in 1962:

"BILL BAILEY WON'T YOU PLEASE COME HOME"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 30th

Also known as "Little Jazz," Roy Eldridge was a fiery, energetic trumpeter, the bridge between the towering trumpet stylists Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. Some of the great rhythmic drive of Eldridge's later trumpet exploits could be traced to his beginnings on the drums, which he began playing at age six. Eldridge's older brother Joe, who played alto saxophone, was his first teacher. Roy Eldridge was born on January 30, 1911 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In 1930, Eldridge moved to New York, heading straight to Harlem where he gained work with a number of dance bands before joining the Teddy Hill band. By 1935, Eldridge and saxophonist Chu Berry were Hill's principal soloists, and after gigs they would go around town on cutting contests, challenging musicians to see who could play the best. With his lightning speed and awesome range, Eldridge rarely lost. After Hill's band, Eldridge became the lead trumpet in the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, where his upper register abilities were highlighted.

It didn't take long for Eldridge to exert himself as a bandleader, forming his own octet in 1936 in Chicago, a band that included his brother Joe.
By the end of the 1930s, after freelancing with a wide array of bands, Eldridge gained notice as one of the swing era’s most important soloists. In 1941, he joined drummer Gene Krupa's band. Not only did he provide trumpet fireworks for Krupa's outfit, he also sang, recording a memorable duet with the band's female singer Anita O’Day on the tune Let Me Off Uptown in 1941. Later, after Krupa's ensemble disbanded in 1943 and a period of freelancing, he toured with the Artie Shaw band in 1944. Then Eldridge led his own bands, usually small swing groups.

In 1948, Norman Granz recruited Eldridge for his Jazz at the Philharmonic series, an ideal situation since Eldridge was one of the ultimate jam session trumpeters. He toured briefly with Benny Goodman and took up residence in Paris in 1950, where he made some of his most successful recordings. He returned to New York in 1951 and continued freelancing with small bands, including work with Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Ella Fitzgerald and Johnny Hodges. He made notable albums for Verve Records alongside Hawkins and continued freelancing and leading a house band at Jimmy Ryan's club in New York. In 1971, he was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame. A stroke in 1980 stopped him from playing the trumpet, but Eldridge continued to make music as a singer and pianist until his death in 1989. He was named an NEA Jazz Master in 1982 and much of this piece is quoted from his bio on the NEA webpage.

Here is a link to a 1961 performance by Eldridge in a short film:

"SUNDAY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 29th

Drummer Ed Shaughnessy was born across the Hudson River from Manhattan in Jersey City, New Jersey on January 29, 1929. Many people will remember him as the long-time drummer with Doc Severinsen’s Tonight Show band during the years that Johnny Carson hosted that program.

Shaughnessy worked in the 1940s with pianist George Shearing, trombonist Jack Teagarden and tenor saxophonist Charlie Ventura. During the 1950s he played in the big bands of Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey, and in the 1960s he spent time with the Count Basie Orchestra before joining the Tonight Show Band.

Ed Shaughnessy was best known for his work with big bands but also did considerable work in small group settings. He played and recorded with Roy Eldridge, Gene Ammons, Billie Holiday, Shirley Scott, Horace Silver and Charles Mingus. In his many clinic appearances and workshops he spoke about the differences between combo and big band drumming. Like Gene Krupa he sometimes appeared in “drum battles” with Buddy Rich. Shaughnessy did not always confine his drumming to jazz settings and appeared on records with Maria Muldaur, Stephen Bishop, and with the band that played on the PBS television show Sesame Street.

Active until his death from a heart attack, Ed Shaughnessy passed away in 2013.

Here is a link to a 1978 “drum battle” featuring Ed Shaughnessy and Buddy Rich on the Tonight Show:

"ED SHAUGHNESSY AND BUDDY RICH"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 28th

On January 28, 1946 one of producer Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts was presented at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Theater Auditorium. The series had begun a couple of years before and brought together some of the leading jazz musicians of the era to play and jam together. JATP would eventually tour cities across North American and Europe finally ending in 1983. On this January night 77 years ago two of the giants of the saxophone played together on George Gershwin’s Lady Be Good. Those two were Charlie Parker and Lester Young. Fortunately for posterity, the performance was captured and released by Mercury Records. It has since been reissued a number of times, on both vinyl and CD.

Jazziz Magazine has said of the performance: “Bird and Young’s take on this Great American Songbook standard is an exemplary showcase of the era’s prominent jazz styles: swing and bebop. Parker, soloing first, scribbles hard and fast outside the traditional jazz harmonic template, revealing a fleet mind and even fleeter fingers. Young, meanwhile, is cool and laconic, letting his deep-rooted sense of swing and seductive tone do the talking."

Other musicians participating in the JATP concert that evening included Al Killian and Howard McGhee on trumpet, Willie Smith on alto saxophone, Arnold Ross at the piano, bassist Billy Hadnott and Lee Young on drums.

Here is a link to the recording made that night featuring Brid and Prez:

"LADY BE GOOD"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 27th

Vibraphonist and marimba player Bobby Hutcherson was born in Los Angeles on this date in 1941. There was music all around him as he grew up. His sister sang with Gerald Wilson’s orchestra and Bobby’s older brother was friends with Dexter Gordon. His sister introduced him to her boyfriend - reedman Eric Dolphy. Inspired to learn the vibraphone at age 12 after hearing Milt Jackson, Hutcherson was playing professionally by his late teens with Dolphy, Curtis Amy, Carmell Jones and Charles Lloyd. Hutcherson made his first recording in the summer of 1960 with the Les McCann Trio.

By 1962 Bobby Hutcherson was playing with Al Grey and Billy Mitchell in San Francisco and New York City, and in 1963 moved to the Bronx. Shortly after relocating to the east coast, Hutcherson recorded with saxophonist Jackie McLean’s group on Blue Note Records. Soon thereafter Bobby could be found playing with Joe Henderson, Duke Pearson, Grant Green and Lee Morgan. After being signed with the label, Hutcherson made 24 records as a leader for them between 1963 and 2014. During his career he also made records with other labels including Columbia and Landmark Records.

In 1967 New York City rescinded Hutcherson’s cabaret card after he was arrested for marijuana possession in Central Park. This denied him the right to work in any establishment in the city that served alcohol. This event prompted his return the California and there he began working regularly with saxophonist Harold Land. They made seven records together, some of which included sidemen Chick Corea and Joe Sample.

In the 1980s Land and Hutcherson recorded with the likes of Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton and Billy Higgins. In 2004 Hutcherson was a founding member of the SF Jazz Collective where he teamed with Joshua Redman and Nicholas Payton. He played at the grand opening of the SF Jazz Center in 2013 and spent the last decade of his career touring with his own quartet. In a 2013 article in DownBeat magazine about Bobby Hutcherson, author Dan Ouelette wrote that “Hutcherson took the vibes to a new level of jazz sophistication with his harmonic inventions and his blurring-fast, four-mallet runs…Milt Jackson was the guy, but Bobby took it to the next level. It's like Milt was Charlie Parker, and Bobby was John Coltrane." Bobby Hutcherson passed away in 2016 at the age of 75.

Here is a link to Hutcherson playing what may be his best-known composition:

"LITTLE B'S POEM"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 26th

Saxophonist and flutist Mark Lewis was born into a musical family in Tacoma, Washington on January 26, 1958, and was raised on a farm near Gig Harbor. As a youth, Mark spent much of his time investigating his family’s record collection and continued his interest in music studying flute, piano, composition and electronic music at Western Washington University in Bellingham and at Cornish College in Seattle.

In the mid-1970s Lewis began gigging in Seattle at Norm Bobrow’s Jazz at the Cirque Showcase along with the likes of Buddy Catlett and Dee Daniels. One of Lewis’ mentors, drummer Otis Finch, encouraged him to play his music in places other than just his hometown and “in 1978 the 20-year-old saxophonist flew to Europe with a one-way ticket and his alto sax, $500 in his pocket, and virtually no contacts.” Mark Lewis ended up in Rotterdam where he worked regularly with American expatriate musicians and European jazz musicians until the early 1990s. During the 1980s he returned regularly to the United States, though, and was a regular in San Francisco area jazz clubs. When in America, Lewis could be heard playing with Randy Brecker and Bobby Hutcherson and sometimes subbing for Stan Getz.

Today, Mark Lewis lives in Bremerton, Washington to be near his family and keeps a busy schedule teaching, touring and recording. A master improvisor, Lewis has recorded more than 30 albums and has composed a mindboggling catalog of tunes - the number exceeds 1700 titles. He has said “I try to approach each composition, each performance, with knowledge and technique from studying the masters who came before and also the innocence of a child. I hope it keeps the music authentic and genuine.”

Here is a link to a video of Mark Lewis performing one of his compositions live with fellow Pacific Northwest musicians Bill Anschell, Clipper Anderson and Mark Ivester:

"SWAMI'S SONG"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 25th

Composer, arranger, lyricist, producer and tenor saxophonist Benny Golson was born on January 25, 1929. He, along with Sonny Rollins, is one of only two jazz musicians in the famous “Great Day in Harlem” photograph who are still living. He is also, according to his website, the only living jazz artist to have written 8 standards in the jazz repertoire. Among his famous compositions are Killer Joe, I Remember Clifford, Blues March, Stablemates and Five Spot After Dark.

Golson began playing the piano at age 9 and started on saxophone at 14. While attending Franklin High School in Philadelphia, he played with John Coltrane, Percy and Jimmy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, Red Rodney and Red Garland before matriculating at Howard University in Washington, D.C. During the 1950s Benny Golson came to prominence as a sideman in groups led by Tadd Dameron, Art Blakey, Johnny Hodges, Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, but was often noted more as a writer more than as a performer. Dameron had a great influence on Golson’s writing. It was while playing with Hampton at the Apollo Theater in Harlem that Golson learned of trumpeter Clifford Brown’s untimely death in an automobile accident and penned I Remember Clifford in his honor.

Between 1959 and 1962 Benny Golson co-lead the Jazztet with trumpeter Art Farmer before concentrating all of his efforts on composing and arranging for more than a decade. During that time, he contributed music to the television shows “Mannix,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Ironside,” “The Partridge Family” and “M*A*S*H*.” In the mid-1970s Golson returned to playing live on a regular basis and re-formed the Jazztet in 1982.

Among the many accolades he has received, Benny Golson was named a NEA Jazz Master in 1996 and was granted an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music in 1999. Howard University created a prestigious award in his honor, and he was named to the International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame in 2009.

Here is a link to a live recording of Benny Golson playing Killer Joe:

"KILLER JOE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 24th

Widely known for his iconic recording of Night Train, tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest was born January 24, 1920 in St. Louis, Missouri. In his early career he played with Fate Marable, Jay McShann and later with Andy Kirk for six years. Following his time with Kirk, Forrest joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra for a while before leaving in the early 1950s to lead his own small groups. During that decade Forrest also played with Al Grey, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Miles Davis and Count Basie.

On November 27, 1951 Jimmy Forrest went into the studio to make the first recording of Night Train. It was released by United Records on March 1, 1952, and went to #1 on the Billboard Magazine R&B chart that same month. The record remained in the top spot for seven consecutive weeks. The tune was created using parts of an Ellington composition called That’s the Blues, Old Man, which Ellington also included in one of the movements of his Deep South Suite. Forrest shares writing credits for Night Train along with Oscar Washington and Lewis P. Simpkins.

Late in his career Forrest played regularly in New York City with an all-star group that included trumpeter Howard McGhee, pianist John Hicks, bassist Major Holley and with Charlie Persip on drums. He also toured occasionally with Basie during the 1970s. His music was reportedly a favorite of world heavyweight champion Sonny Liston who would play Forrest records during his workouts. Over the course of his lifetime, Jimmy Forrest also played with greats like Jack McDuff, Blue Mitchell, Grant Green, Joe Williams, Bennie Green and Cat Anderson. Jimmy Forrest passed away in Grand Rapids, Michigan in August of 1980 at the age of 60.

Here is a link to that original Jimmy Forrest recording of Night Train:

"NIGHT TRAIN"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 23rd

Although his real given name was Jean, guitarist Django Reinhardt was known by his Romani nickname and was one of the first major jazz artists from Europe. He was born in Belgium on January 23, 1910.

Reinhardt spent most of his early years living in Romani encampments near Paris, France and played multiple instruments in his family’s band. The band was led by his father, a pianist, and included Django and his seven brothers. Django played banjo and violin in addition to guitar. By the age of 15 he was playing professionally in cafes around Paris and made his first recordings as a sideman at the age of 18.

In 1934 he and violinist Stephane Grappelli formed the legendary Quintette du Hot Club de France. This group quickly became known as one of the most innovative, accomplished, influential and respected jazz groups on the continent. The unique combo also included Reinhardt’s brother Joseph and Roger Chaput on guitar and Louis Vola playing the bass. It was one of the only jazz groups to have only string instruments in its lineup. Decca Records released the group’s first recordings in the United States in 1935. The Quintette du Hot Club de France played with American jazz musicians in Europe, as well, including Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter. The group had achieved sufficient fame by 1938 that they played a gig at the London Palladium.

During the German occupation of France during World War II Reinhardt lived and worked regularly in Paris and played on the radio, as well. Although, as a Romani man, he was under constant threat of being moved to a concentration camp as many of his Romani brothers and sisters had been, Django remained free throughout the conflict. This was probably because the Germans were reluctant to incarcerate such a famous and popular figure. Reinhardt attempted to escape occupied France twice, but each time he was captured and returned to Paris.

After the war Django Reinhardt made his first tour of the United States which included a performance with Duke Ellington and a two-night stand at Carnegie Hall. Following the tour he played a regular gig at Cafe Society Uptown in New York City before returning to France in 1947. In his final years Reinhardt developed a reputation for unreliability and would sometimes show up to performances without his instrument. He died suddenly from a brain hemorrhage in 1953 at the age of only 43.

Here is a link to a short video of Django Reinhardt performing in Paris in 1945:


"DJANGO IN PARIS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 22nd

James Louis J.J. Johnson was born on January 22, 1924 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He began piano lessons at the age of 9 and took up trombone at 14. One of the earliest trombonists to embrace be-bop, Johnson demonstrated that the rapid tempos and technical requirements of the genre were within the grasp of an instrument without keys or valves. Dizzy Gillespie once said to Johnson “I've always known that the trombone could be played different, that somebody'd catch on one of these days. Man, you're elected."

J.J. Johnson first played professionally at the age of 17 in a band led by Clarence Love. Later he played with Snookum Russell before being hired for the trombone section in Benny Carter’s big band in 1942. Johnson made his first recordings with that group and was also a participant at the very first Jazz at the Philharmonic concert in Los Angeles in 1944. Beginning in 1945 he began a one-year stint in the Count Basie Orchestra.

Johnson left Basie’s group in 1946 and moved to New York City where he played in bebop combos and sometimes led groups with musicians such as Sonny Stitt, Bud Powell and Max Roach. In 1947 he toured with saxophonist Illinois Jacquet and later that year he recorded with Charlie Parker. By the early 1950s he was recording as a leader on the Blue Note label and also made some records with Miles Davis.

In the mid-1950s J.J. Johnson began a successful partnership with fellow trombonist Kai Winding. “Jay and Kai” toured extensively and recorded several commercially successful albums during the period, and also reunited on occasion in the 1960s and 1980s after their group broke up in 1956. Following that Johnson led small touring groups for several year but did not make a record as a leader after 1964 for more than a decade.

Johnson moved to California and began working seriously as an arranger for other musicians, as well as writing for movie and television soundtracks. While in the Los Angeles area he played in the Cocoanut Grove Orchestra and in the orchestra for the Carol Burnett television variety program. He returned to touring with his own groups in 1987 but soon left the road after his wife suffered a severe stroke. After her passing he again toured with a combo beginning in 1992 and produced five albums as a leader while also working extensively with fellow trombonist Steve Turre and vocalist Abbey Lincoln. He retired from active touring in 1996 and moved back to his hometown of Indianapolis.

Johnson was diagnosed with prostate cancer but wrote a trombone technique book and was the subject of a biography in 2000. Johnson took his own life in February of 2001.

Here is a link to a 1961 performance by J.J. Johnson on European television:

"LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 21st

Deems Tsutakawa was born into one of Seattle’s leading artistic families on January 21,1952.  His father was a renowned sculptor, and his mother was a classical musician.  Named after the prominent music critic and composer Deems Taylor, Tsutakawa began piano lessons at an early age and won an award from the Washington State Music Teachers Association at the age of 9.  Although his early training was in classical music, his time at Franklin High School turned him on to jazz.  After high school Deems briefly studied ethnomusicology at the University of Washington, but left academia to pursue a career as a performing musician. 

Deems began playing in clubs along Jackson Street in Seattle’s International District and recorded his first album in 1976. He began his own record label, J-Town Records, the following year.  His 1983 release, titled simply “Deems,” was chosen by Dr. Herb Wong to be on his “Top 20 Vital Jazz Vinyl” listing in the Jazz Educator’s Journal.  Perhaps his best-known song Is Tough Tofu, found on his 1986 album “Living,” and also released as a single.  In all, Deems Tsutakawa made 18 albums as a leader, still finding time to play with jazz luminaries like Roy Ayres, Kenny G and Julian Priester.  He was also the opening act for shows by Spyro-Gyra, Hiroshima and Maynard Ferguson.  Deems Tsutakawa was very popular in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii, but performed around the world, including in Tokyo and London.

Deems passed away in 2021 after battling cancer.  He is remembered as a happy, funny, creative man who always supported his community, as well as a talented musician and composer.

Here is a link to Deems Tsutakawa’s Tough Tofu:

"TOUGH TOFU"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 20th

For three days in January 1965 beginning on the 20th, the Miles Davis Quintet was in the Columbia records studios in Hollywood recording an album that would be called "E.S.P." The record was named after a song composed by saxophonist Wayne Shorter that appears on the album. The recording was the first by what has become known as Miles’ second great quintet and was the first Davis album with all original compositions by members of the band. That band consisted of Davis and Shorter along with Herbie Hancock at the piano, bassist Ron Carter and Tony Williams playing drums. The name of the tune and the album was reportedly inspired by the fact that “since Wayne Shorter's arrival, the five members of the quintet seemed to communicate by mental telepathy."

There are seven tracks on the album, two of which were made on January 20th - the title track and the Ron Carter composition R.J., which features an interesting nineteen bar form. On the second day they made Carter and Davis’ composition Eighty-One and Hancock’s tune Little One. On the final day of recording the five musicians waxed three tunes: Davis’ Agitation, another Shorter piece called Iris, and a Carter/Davis collaboration named Mood.

The record, which featured a photo of Davis and his then-wife Frances on the outer sleeve, was released by Columbia on August 16, 1965. Despite the groundbreaking music it contained, the album received mixed reviews initially. Trumpeter Kenny Dorham reviewed “E.S.P.” for DownBeat magazine and commented that “Emotionally, as a whole, this one is lacking. It's mostly brain music.” Later reviews have been more complimentary, and at least one critic noted that this was the album where Davis really began to toy with rock influences. Brian Morton wrote in 2005 that “Any suggestion that Miles only began to explore a rock idiom on 1969's “Bitches Brew“ misses the mark by a good four years."

Here is a link to the 1965 recording of the title track from “E.S.P.:”

"E.S.P."

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 19th

January 19, 1962 was the last of three consecutive days spent by trombonist and vocalist Jack Teagarden in Rudy Van Gelder’s Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey studio. Teagarden was there recording an album called “Think Well of Me” that would be released on the Verve label later that year. The record was produced by Creed Taylor. Bob Brookmeyer and Russ Case conducted the string orchestra that backed Teagarden up. Also contributing their skills to the project were Don Goldie on trumpet, guitarist Barry Galbraith, keyboard man Bernie Leighton and bassist Art Davis.

The album has eleven tracks, ten of which are compositions by Willard Robison, a pianist, composer and vocalist that some have compared to Hoagy Carmichael. Aside from Teagarden’s tribute to Robison’s music on “Think Well of Me,” his music has been recorded by Mildred Bailey, Peggy Lee, Billy Eckstein, Nina Simone, Bing Crosby and Holly Cole. The one non-Robison tune on the record is Jimmy McHugh’s Where are You?

Critic Doug Ramsay wrote in Jazz Times magazine that "This is a Teagarden album like nothing else in his 40-year discography. Made in 1962, precisely two years before his death, it reflects much that was important about the man and musician; the uncanny precision and languorous passion of his trombone playing, the intimacy of his singing, his blues core, the quality that never declined even in the weariness of his final years.“

Here is a link to a cut from “Think Well of Me:”

"IN A LITTLE WATERFRONT CAFE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 18th

During the swing era magazines like DownBeat and Metronome regularly polled readers to learn their favorite bands and individual musicians categorized by instrument. These polls skewed heavily toward the most popular white bands and often marginalized Black bands and groups that were playing a purer style of jazz. Esquire Magazine ran a poll in its publication in 1943 that seems to have bucked that trend, and then released a record in December of that year featuring the poll winners. On January 18, 1944 Esquire sponsored the Esquire All-American Jazz Concert featuring many of the same musicians in the “decidedly non-jazz friendly” Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.

The Esquire concert was held to raise funds for the war effort and brought in more than $600,000 toward that end. The evening featured performances by musicians who had won first place in the previous year’s Esquire jazz poll. Benny Goodman, who had been voted the top spot in the clarinet category, was not able to attend. But, those who were there included a who’s who of jazz. Louis Armstrong and Roy Eldridge played trumpet that night, Jack Teagarden was there playing trombone, Barney Bigard appeared on clarinet as did Coleman Hawkins on tenor saxophone. Red Norvo and Lionel Hampton played the vibraphone that night. The rhythm section consisted of Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson at the piano, Al Casey on guitar, bassist Oscar Pettiford and Big Sid Catlett played the drums. Billie Holiday and Mildred Bailey were the vocalists that night. The performance was broadcast live on the NBC Blue Radio Network as well as on Armed Forces Radio for those in the service overseas.

Here is a link to a recording of the concert held in midtown Manhattan on that January night 79 years ago:

"ESQUIRE ALL-AMERICAN JAZZ CONCERT"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 17th

Drummer “Big Sid” Catlett was born in Evansville, Indiana on January 17, 1910. His early music education was provided by a private teacher hired by his mother. Young Sid learned both piano and drum technique at his lessons. Catlett was an important drummer during the swing era and made a successful transition into playing with the beboppers in the 1940s.

After playing with several lesser-known groups, Sid Catlett played with “name bands” throughout the 1930s including those of Benny Carter, Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson and with McKinney’s Cotton Pickers. Between 1938 and 1942 he played with Louis Armstrong and appeared occasionally with Benny Goodman before doing a stint with Duke Ellington in 1945.

Along with his swing band chops, Catlett played with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie at the Town Hall Concert in New York City in 1945. He also made records with Gillespie and appeared with Lester Young and others in the 1944 short film “Jammin’ the Blues,” although his playing was later overdubbed by Basie drummer Jo Jones for the soundtrack.

“Big Sid” Catlett died in March of 1951 after battling pneumonia and finally succumbing to a heart attack backstage at a benefit concert in Chicago. He was only 41 years old.

Here is a link to a video showing Sid Catlett playing drums with bassist John Kirby’s band featuring Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Buster Bailey on clarinet, Russel Procope playing alto saxophone and Billy Kyle at the piano:

"THE GREATEST LITTLE BAND IN THE WORLD"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 16th

On a cold Sunday in early 1938 an event took place at Carnegie Hall in New York City that was a first of its kind - a jazz concert in the hall that had hosted performances by the New York Philharmonic and such luminaries as Richard Strauss, Edward Elgar and Sergei Rachmaninov. James Reese Europe’s Clef Club Orchestra had played popular music at Carnegie Hall, one of the few desegregated venues in the city, as early as 1912. But, On January 16, 1938 Benny Goodman and his Swing Orchestra played the first true jazz concert at Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall was opened in 1891 with a concert conducted by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky a year before the debut of his famous Nutcracker ballet. Some 47 years later producer Sol Hurok presented Benny Goodman and his Swing Orchestra in a one night performance in the 2,760 seat auditorium. Today a performance at Carnegie Hall is much less prestigious than it was at the time as pretty much anyone can book the facility if they have sufficient money. In 1938, though, the mystique of the building was much stronger and there were those who felt that a jazz concert in the hall was paramount to sacrilege. Goodman trumpeter Harry James peeked out at the crowd from backstage before the performance began and reportedly said “I feel like a whore in church.”

The concert began with Goodman’s band playing Don’t Be That Way, a tune that would have been well-known to fans of the group. After a couple of other tunes by the full Goodman orchestra came a “history of jazz” portion of the program that began with a Dixieland ensemble. Then came a jam session on Honeysuckle Rose that featured members of Goodman’s band along with musicians from Duke Ellington and Count Basie’s groups. The evening also included performances by Goodman’s quartet and vocalist Martha Tilton. The finale was a performance of Sing, Sing, Sing.

The concert was recorded by at least three studios and the acetates made by two of the recorders were used to produce a 1950 double album release by Columbia records. It has been subsequently re-released on CD in 1998, 2002 and 2006.

Here is a link to Benny Goodman talking about the concert and a recording of the opening tune for the evening:

"DON'T BE THAT WAY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 15th

The man Modern Drummer magazine called “the founding father of the modern drum set” was also one of the most popular and flashy drummers of the Swing Era. His solo on Benny Goodman’s recording of Sing, Sing, Sing elevated the big band drummer from accompanist status to important solo voice. This man, Gene Krupa, was born in Chicago on January 15, 1909.

Krupa was the youngest of nine children. His parents were Polish immigrants and Gene grew up attending parochial schools in Chicago. Krupa’s parents wanted him to become a priest, but after spending a year at St. Joseph’s College in Indiana, he decided the priesthood was not in his future.

Gene Krupa started playing professionally in Wisconsin during the 1920s and made his first recording in 1927 with Red McKenzie’s band, the same year he began playing with Thelma Terry and her Playboys, one of the first mixed-gender jazz bands led by a woman. The Playboys were the house band at Chicago’s Golden Pumpkin nightclub and toured extensively throughout the mid-west and on the east coast. Krupa appeared on six recordings by the ensemble in 1928.

At the end of 1934 Krupa caught on as the drummer in Benny Goodman’s newly formed big band stayed with him until shortly after the legendary 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. Then, Krupa left the group to form his own successful orchestra. His solos with Goodman are considered the first commercial recordings of extended drum solos. Perhaps the most famous tune by the Gene Krupa Orchestra is Drum Boogie, which was co-written by Krupa and trumpeter Roy Eldridge.

Krupa disbanded his ensemble after being jailed for a short period of time on a trumped-up drug charge. Afterwards he returned briefly to Goodman’s band and also played with Tommy Dorsey. In the 1950s he often appeared on the Jazz at the Philharmonic tours during which producer Norman Granz would stage “drum battles” between Krupa and Buddy Rich. The 1952 Carnegie Hall contest was recorded and released as an album on the Verve label. The two drummers would appear on televised variety shows to recreate the battles throughout the 1950s and recorded two studio albums together during the decade.

Over the final two decades of his life Gene Krupa most often led trios and quartets that played regularly at the Metropole in New York City. Krupa also appeared as himself in several movies, including 1941’s “Ball of Fire,” “The Benny Goodman Story” and “The Glenn Miller Story.” In 1959 actor Sal Mineo portrayed Krupa in “The Gene Krupa Story.” Krupa also participated in several Goodman reunions during this time. Gene Krupa passed away on October 16, 1973 from heart failure at the age of 64.

Here is a link to Gene Krupa performing on an early 1970s television program with a band led by vibraphonist and fellow Goodman alumnus Lionel Hampton:

"SING, SING, SING"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 14th

It may come as a surprise to some in progressive Seattle to learn that until the late 1950s there were two musician’s unions in the city - one for white musicians and one for minority musicians.

The American Federation of Musicians Local 76 was founded in 1898 and rebuffed attempts at membership by Black, Latin and Asian musicians for years before the non-white musicians in town formed their own local in 1918. The rejection of minority musicians for membership in unions was common practice across the United States at the time. This, of course, limited the ability of those musicians to land jobs in the more upscale venues in the city, and those were the ones that paid the most. On January 14, 1958 reconciliation began as the two Seattle musician’s unions agreed to merge into one.

Peter Blecha wrote a fascinating piece on the relationship between the musician’s unions in Seattle for historylink.org in 2013 that chronicles the history leading up to the merger of American Federation of Musicians Local 76 and Local 493. Here is a link to that article:

"SEATTLE'S MUSICIAN'S UNION"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 13th

Trombonist, composer, arranger and bandleader Melba Liston was born in Kansas City on January 13, 1926. She was the first female trombone player to play in the big bands of the 1940s, outside of the “all-girl” bands of the era. An excellent trombonist, Liston was also a fine arranger and spent much of the latter part of her career writing for others.

Melba Liston began playing trombone at age 7 and was largely self-taught. She achieved sufficient skill after a year of playing to appear on local radio in her home town. At age 10 she moved to Los Angeles and attended school with Dexter Gordon and befriended a young Eric Dolphy. By the time she was 17 she had decided on a career in music and joined the big band led by Gerald Wilson.

In 1947 Liston recorded with Dexter Gordon and the following year took a chair in the trombone section of Dizzy Gillespie’s big band. Over the next several years she wrote for and played with Count Basie and Billie Holiday before leaving the road to spend time teaching music. In 1956 she returned to the Gillespie band for two U.S. State Department tours before recording with Art Blakey the following year. In 1959 she went to Europe with the band Quincy Jones put together for the stage show “Free and Easy.” That group, which included Seattleites Floyd Standifer, Buddy Catlett and Patti Brown, recorded an album in Paris in 1960.

During the 1960s Liston was much in demand as an arranger. She wrote for Motown Records and worked extensively with pianist Randy Weston. She also played on records by Milt Jackson, Clark Terry and Johnny Griffin. In 1964 she was instrumental in the establishment of the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra.
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In the 1970s Melba Liston was an arranger for Stax Records and while there worked with Joe Sample, Wilton Felder and Paul Humphreys before moving to Jamaica to teach for six years. In the 1980s she returned to the United States and led her own band until suffering a stroke in 1985. The stroke ended her playing career, but she continued to write music. Liston was named an NEA Jazz master in 1987.

Although she was a tremendously talented musician and arranger, she battled the inequalities of being a Black woman in a male-dominated industry. In his article in the Black Music Research Journal, Emmett G. Price III wrote, "It was clear that she had to continually prove her credentials in order to gain suitable employment as a musician, composer, and arranger. She was not paid equitable scale and was often denied access to the larger opportunities as a composer and arranger." Melba Liston passed away after a series of strokes in 1999.

Here is a link to Melba Liston as the featured soloist with the Quincy Jones Band playing in Switzerland in 1960:

"MY REVERIE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 12th

Today we celebrate the birth dates of two Northwest saxophone icons. William George “Rams” Ramsay was born in Centralia, Washington on January 12, 1929, and Hadley Caliman was born three years later in Idabel, Oklahoma. Bill Ramsay and Hadley Caliman both went on to make significant impacts on the regional jazz scene.

Caliman (top left photo) was raised in rural Oklahoma by his mother before moving to Los Angeles with his father at age 10. He attended Jefferson High School and learned music from Art Farmer. During his career, Caliman played with Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Don Ellis, Gerald Wilson, Earl Hines and Jon Hendricks. He also performed with Carlos Santana, the Grateful Dead and in a jazz-rock group led by Ray Draper. He moved to Cathlamet in southwest Washington state shortly after releasing his first album as a leader in 1971. Later Hadley Caliman taught at the Cornish College of the Arts until his retirement in 2003, while leading small groups at jazz venues in the Seattle area throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. Caliman died from liver cancer in 2010.

Bill Ramsay (top right photo) has played with a number of “name” bands over the years, including the bands of Benny Goodman, Maynard Ferguson, Ray McKinley, Buddy Morrow, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Les Brown. He has also played with Thad Jones, Cab Calloway, Gene Harris and Quincy Jones. During the 1980s Ramsay led his own big band at Parnell’s jazz club in Seattle. He has also been a member of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra since its inception in 1995.

Below are links to Hadley Caliman playing live at the Cellar Jazz Club in Vancouver, B.C., and Bill Ramsay featured during a big band performance of The Midnight Sun Never Sets at the Centrum festival in Port Townsend, Washington:

"HADLEY CALIMAN"

"BILL RAMSAY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 11th

On January 11, 1949 pianist, composer and musical mentor Lennie Tristano had a group in the studio making a record that was released as a 78 on the New Jazz label. On that date they recorded a Tristano composition dedicated to one of his favorite students, alto saxophonist Lee Konitz. The tune was called Subconscious-Lee.

Tristano, who earned a master’s degree in music, began teaching music, and specifically jazz improvisation in the early 1940s in Chicago before moving to New York City in 1946. His groups made some interesting recordings in the late 1940s and early 1950s before Tristano decided to dedicate his energies to teaching rather than performing in the mid-1950s. Some critics have said that Tristano’s music was cold and unemotional, while others have indicated that his innovations bridged the gap between bebop and later cool and free jazz playing.

Along with Tristano’s piano and the alto saxophone of Konitz, guitarist Billy Bauer is heard on the record, as is bassist Arnold Fishkin and drummer Shelly Manne. The song became one of twelve eventually making up a Prestige album that, on other tracks, also featured performances by tenor man Warne Marsh and pianist Sal Mosca. Tristano’s music of the period has been described as “forging a heady approach to Charlie Parker's innovations, full of lithe and at times super-fast solo lines, Tristano and his favorite pupil Konitz in particular nurtured an introverted, wan, yet still swinging alternative to the frenetic muscle of bebop."

Here is a link to the Lennie Tristano Quintet’s recording of Subconscious-Lee made 74 years ago today:

"SUBCONSCIOUS-LEE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 10th

Drummer, composer and jazz icon Max Roach was born on January 10, 1924. What follows is quoted from a 2021 posting on Frank Beacham’s Journal (www.beachamjournal.com):

A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He worked with many top jazz musicians, including Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Billy Eckstine, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Clifford Brown, Eric Dolphy and Booker Little. Roach also led his own groups and made numerous musical statements relating to the African American civil rights movement.

Born in the Township of Newland, Pasquotank County, North Carolina, which borders the southern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp, Roach's family moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York when he was four years old. He grew up in a musical home, his mother being a gospel singer.
He started to play bugle in parade orchestras at a young age. At the age of 10, he was already playing drums in some gospel bands. In 1942, as an eighteen-year-old fresh out of Boys High School, he was called to fill in for Sonny Greer with the Duke Ellington Orchestra when they were performing at the Paramount Theater.

In 1942, Roach started to go out in the jazz clubs of the 52nd Street and at 78th Street & Broadway for Georgie Jay's Taproom (playing with schoolmate, Cecil Payne). His first professional recording took place in December, 1943, supporting Coleman Hawkins.

Roach's most significant innovations came in the 1940s, when he and the jazz drummer, Kenny Clarke, devised a new concept of musical time. By playing the beat-by-beat pulse of standard 4/4 time on the "ride" cymbal instead of on the thudding bass drum, Roach and Clarke developed a flexible, flowing rhythmic pattern that allowed soloists to play freely. The new approach also left space for the drummer to insert dramatic accents on the snare drum, "crash" cymbal and other components of the trap set. By matching his rhythmic attack with a tune's melody, Roach brought a newfound subtlety of expression to his instrument.

"When Max Roach's first records with Charlie Parker were released by Savoy in 1945," jazz historian Burt Korall wrote in the Oxford Companion to Jazz, "drummers experienced awe and puzzlement and even fear." One of those awed drummers, Stan Levey, summed up Roach's importance: "I came to realize that, because of him, drumming no longer was just time, it was music."

Roach died in the early morning on August 16, 2007 in Manhattan.

Here is a link to the Max Roach Quartet playing live in Paris. The trombonist is Seattleite Julian Priester and the saxophonist is Stanley Turrentine:

"DRUM SOLO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 9th

Nicknamed “Klook,” percussionist Kenny Clarke was an innovator who changed the way future jazz drummers would play set forever after. He pioneered the use of the ride cymbal for keeping time, and the use of the bass drum for “dropping bombs” instead of playing “four on the floor” as was common during the swing era. Kenny Clarke was born January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Clarke was orphaned around age 5 and began to play drums at the urging of one of his teachers at the Coleman Industrial Home for Negro Boys where he lived. He turned professional at age 17 and moved to New York City four years later. In 1939 he was playing in Teddy Hill’s band along with friend Dizzy Gillespie. While in Hill's band he performed at the Apollo Theater and at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

By the early 1940s Clarke was the house drummer at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem, the site of countless after-hours jam sessions where bebop was born. These jam sessions often included Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Christian, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker and Bud Powell, among others.

In 1943 Kenny Clarke was drafted into the U.S. Army. He married vocalist Carmen McRae in 1944 during basic training and subsequently went AWOL for four months. After his capture he was sent to Europe where he was a part of Special Services and provided musical entertainment for the troops. Upon his discharge in 1946 Clarke joined Dizzy Gllespie’s big band for eight months where he worked in the rhythm section that would eventually go on to form the beginnings of the Modern Jazz Quartet. He also worked regularly on 52nd Street in New York and with Fats Navarro, Sonny Stitt, Tadd Dameron and Coleman Hawkins. Clarke played on some of the sessions for Miles Davis and Gil Evans’ “Birth of the Cool” and participated in the first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954.

Kenny Clarke moved to Paris in 1956 where he regularly worked with both French jazz musicians and touring artists from the United States like Davis, Stan Getz and Dexter Gordon. He also performed on Davis’ groundbreaking soundtrack for the movie “Elevator to the Gallows.” In 1961 he joined with Belgian pianist Francy Boland to form the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band which was one of the most respected groups of the era. Clarke’s drumming was subtle, but important to the sound of the band.

Clarke suffered a heart attack in 1975 but was able to return to performing after a period of recovery. He taught briefly at the University of Pittsburgh in his hometown in 1979 and passed away after a second heart attack on January 26, 1985. Kenny Clarke was named an NEA Jazz Master in 1983 and to the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1988.

Here is a link to a video of Kenny Clarke performing on Italian television:

"BEBOP"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 8th

Bassist Chuck Metcalf was born on January 8, 1931 in Seattle. Both of his parents were music teachers and young Chuck started playing piano and violin while still in elementary school. By the time he was 12 his mother was dismayed by his interest in playing boogie-woogie instead of concentrating on the classics. At 15 he was encouraged to try his hand at the acoustic bass. That was the same year he started listening to the records of Charlie Parker and became enamored with the bebop scene.

Metcalf attended the University of Washington and became a part of the jazz scene on campus, even though there was no formal jazz music program at the school yet. He started gigging at local clubs and played with other up-and-coming local musicians including Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson and Buddy Catlett. Metcalf graduated with a degree in architecture and worked as an architect during the 1950s while continuing to play on weekends.

In the 1960s Metcalf decided to pursue a career in music full-time and got jobs touring with Anita O’Day, Joe Venuti and others. He also taught with Joe Brazil in the emerging jazz program at Garfield High School. In 1972 he moved to San Francisco where he continued work as a professional bassist and recorded with vocalist Mark Murphy before relocating to New York City in 1979. He spent much of the year 1980 on tour with Dexter Gordon before returning to Seattle to work with Ernestine Anderson, Bert Wilson, Jim Pepper, Frank Morgan and his own quartet.

Chuck Metcalf’s first record as a leader, “Live in Seattle,” was released in 1987, and he made three more albums over the next decade and a half. He also appeared on five albums with reed man Bert Wilson during the 1980s and early 1990s including “Live at the Bellevue Jazz Festival” and “Live at Caffe Starbucks.” He also made records with pianists Overton Berry and Primo Kim. Chuck was married to vocalist Joni Metcalf and the two often hosted jam sessions at their Seattle home. Chuck Metcalf passed away in 2012 after a battle with cancer.

Here is a link to a duet performance with Chuck Metcalf and saxophonist Mark Lewis from 2010:

"LIVE JAZZ"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 7th

Best known to jazz fans as the co-composer of the classic Manteca, Chano Pozo was born in Cuba on January 7, 1915 and came to America in 1947. Although he was killed in a Harlem bar fight less than two years after his arrival in New York City, his influence in the development of Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz is still felt today.

Born into poverty, Pozo’s given name was Luciano Pozo Gonzalez and he showed an early interest in playing drums. His neighborhood was rough and Pozo, who was big for age, was often in trouble. At one point he spent time in a youth reformatory. Although Chano had a reputation as a tough guy, he was also well-known for his skill as a singer, dancer, drummer and for the music he contributed to religious celebrations, including music he created for Carnival.

By the time Pozo was in his 20s he was developing quite a reputation as a talented musician and entertainer, but he experienced discrimination in Cuba because of his dark skin. In 1947 he was encouraged by Mario Bauza to try for a better life and immigrated to the United States. Once in America, it was Bauza that introduced Pozo to Dizzy Gillespie who wished to add a conga player to his band.

Shortly after his arrival in New York City, Chano Pozo made the first commercial recordings of rhumbas, cumbias and guaguancos in the U.S. In September of 1947 Pozo was featured with Dizzy Gillespie’s band at Carnegie Hall and later on a tour of Europe. Together Gillespie and Pozo wrote the Latin jazz standards Tin Tin Deo and Manteca and often performed the George Russell tune Cubana Be, Cubana Bop. During his time in America, Pozo also performed and recorded with Ben Webster, Illinois Jacquet, Charlie Parker and Machito.

Chano Pozo was shot and killed on December 2, 1948 in a Harlem bar called the El Rio by a bookie named Eusebio Munoz. He was interred in Havana.

Here is a link to a video of Dizzy Gillespie talking about Chano Pozo and Manteca:

"CHANO POZO AND MANTECA"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 6th

Barry Altschul was born in New York City on January 6, 1943. He began as a
self-taught drummer and has gone on to become one of the most prominent hard bop and free jazz players on the scene during the past 50 years.
After studying with Charlie Persip in the 1960s, Altschul first gained widespread notice playing with Paul Bley before joining the group Circle in 1969. Besides Altschul, Circle consisted of Chick Corea playing keyboards, Dave Holland on bass and reedman Anthony Braxton.
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In the 1970s Barry Altschul was a member of Anthony Braxton’s avant-garde quartet along with Holland, trumpet and flugelhorn man Kenny Wheeler and trombonist George E. Lewis. Their performances and recordings featured Altschul playing a wide variety of percussion instruments. He also performed with more straight ahead players like Lee Konitz and Art Pepper.
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Barry Altschul recorded a dozen albums as a leader between 1977 and 2015, and also appeared on records by Sam Rivers, Chick Corea, Buddy Guy, Julius Hemphill, Roswell Rudd, Dave Holland and Kenny Drew. Altschul is still performing regularly today at age 79.

Here is a link to a Barry Altschul drum solo during a performance with violinist Billy Bang and bassist Joe Fonda in Switzerland in 2009:

"BARRY ALTSCHUL DRUM SOLO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 5th

On January 5, 2000 the Northwest jazz community was shocked and saddened by the untimely death of trumpet player and music educator Roy Cummings. Born in Yakima, Cummings grew up in Tacoma and attended Lincoln High School there. He was an important figure in the region’s music scene for decades after his graduation from the University of Washington in 1961. He taught thousands of students as the trumpet professor and chair of jazz studies at his alma mater.

After earning degrees in music and music education Cummings played at the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962, and with both the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera. He also performed with Tony Bennett, Dionne Warwick, Johnny Mathis, Wayne Newton and Mannheim Steamroller. Active in the musician’s union, Cummings booked musicians to play for countless shows and events in Seattle.

In 1970 he returned to the University of Washington School of Music as the trumpet instructor and in 1975 became the director of the Studio Jazz Ensemble. That same year he became musical director for the Seattle Seahawks NFL team. In 1979 he was named chair of jazz studies at the UW, a post he held until 1993. In 1998 he was elected to the Washington Music Educators Hall of Fame.

Clarence Acox, long time music teacher at Seattle’s Garfield High School, had this to say about Cummings: "He affected people's lives on a variety of levels—intellectual, spiritual and creative.“

Here is a link to the University of Washington Studio Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Roy Cummings performing during the Kent-Meridian Jazz Festival at the Seattle Opera House in January of 1977:

"BODY AND SOUL"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 4th

English guitarist and jazz fusion pioneer “Mahavishnu” John McLaughlin was born in Yorkshire on January 4, 1942. The man that has been called the “best living guitarist” by Jeff Beck, and the “world’s greatest guitarist” by Pat Metheny, was born into a family of musicians. McLaughlin took up the instrument at age 11, and by the time he was in his 20s he was giving guitar lessons to Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page.
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During the 1960s McLaughlin played with groups like Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, the Graham Bond Organisation (with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker) and with Brian Auger. He also did studio work in London. In 1969 he moved to the United States and played with Tony Williams’ Lifetime as well as on several Miles Davis albums including "In a Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew." His debut album as a leader, “Extrapolation,” was also released in 1969.

In the U.S. McLaughlin became a first call studio musician and played with Joe Farrell, Wayne Shorter, Larry Coryell, Carla Bley, Carlos Santana, Stanley Clarke, Buddy Miles and the Rolling Stones. In 1979 he was a member of a short-lived trio with Tony Williams and Jaco Pastorius called the Trio of Doom that performed at the Havana Jazz Festival.

Perhaps John McLaughlin’s best-known project was the fusion group the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Along with McLaughlin’s guitar, the band originally included Jerry Goodman on electric violin, Jan Hammer playing keyboards, bassist Rick Laird and drummer Billy Cobham. Personality conflicts and musical differences precipitated personnel changes after their first three albums, but their performances were tremendously complex technical displays combining electronic jazz, rock and Eastern and Indian musics. In the 1970s McLaughlin also led a group called Shakti which focused on Indian classical music.

During his career, McLaughlin has collaborated with the London Symphony Orchestra, with flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia and appeared in the movie “’Round Midnight” with Dexter Gordon. He has appeared at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival and with Elvin Jones and Joey DeFrancesco.

Here is a link to John McLaughlin performing at the New York City Blue Note Jazz Club with Chick Corea, Victor Wooten and Lenny White:

"YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 3rd

Floyd Standifer, one of the musicians that helped to establish the Seattle jazz scene, was born in Wilmington, North Carolina on January 3, 1929, but his family moved to a farm near Gresham, Oregon when young Floyd was seven. His father was a minister and his mother taught school. Floyd played tuba in high school, while teaching himself to play trumpet and saxophone and playing drums in a Portland WPA band during the depression.

After his father was transferred to a church in Seattle’s Central District in 1946, Floyd enrolled at the University of Washington to major in physics. Around the same time he fell in with a group of young musicians that met at the Madison Street YMCA that included Quincy Jones, Buddy Catlett, Ray Charles and Ernestine Anderson. Soon Standifer announced that he wanted to pursue a career as a musician, a decision that did not initially please his father.

Standifer became a regular on Seattle’s Jackson Street jazz scene playing at clubs like the Black and Tan, the Washington Social Club, Birdland and Sessions. Standifer recalled those days by saying, “The weekend started on Thursday and it didn't stop until Monday morning about eight o'clock.”

​After becoming established as a force on the local jazz scene during the 1950s, he was one of several Seattle musicians that was contacted by his old friend Quincy Jones in 1959 to come to Europe and play in a big band he was forming there. Pianist Patti Brown and bassist Buddy Catlett also answered that call. The band, which also included Melba Moore, Clark Terry, Jerome Richardson and Phil Woods, was recorded live at the Alhambra Theater in Paris on February 14, 1960. A remastered CD of that performance was released by Qwest Records in the mid-1990s.

In 1962 Floyd Standifer was back in Seattle playing at the World’s Fair and gigging with the likes of jazz violinist Joe Venuti and playing regularly at Pampas, El Gaucho and the New Orleans Creole Restaurant in Pioneer Square. Later in his career he was a member of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra. He also recorded two albums as a leader. Standifer made a significant contribution to jazz education in the region teaching at the Cornish College of the Arts, Olympic College and the University of Washington. Floyd Standifer passed away in 2007.

Here is a link to Standifer playing trumpet with a number of Northwest jazz heavyweights at the Starbucks corporate headquarters:

"NORTHWEST JAZZ LEGENDS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 2nd

Drummer Nick Fatool was born in Millbury, Massachusetts on January 2, 1915. He was one of the more popular drummers of the 1940s playing with many of the name big bands of the swing era, and later became a prolific studio musician in Los Angeles.

Fatool first played professionally in the mid-1930s in New England before catching on with the Joe Haymes band. By 1937 Fatool was touring with Don Beston’s Texas-based territory band. Then he played for a bit with cornetist Bobby Hackett. He got his big break, however, in 1939 when Benny Goodman hired him as the drummer for his orchestra, filling the chair that had previously been occupied by Gene Krupa.  After leaving Goodman, Fatool played with Artie Shaw, Alvino Rey, Claude Thornhill, Jan Savitt and Les Brown during the 1940s.

Nick Fatool moved to Los Angeles in 1943 and began doing work as a studio musician, particularly at the newly founded Capitol Records starting in 1944. He recorded with a plethora of famous names including Billy May, Johnny Mercer, Frank Sinatra, Jack Teagarden, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Red Nichols and Ray Anthony. In addition, he performed with Harry James, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Eddie Condon, Joe Venuti, Bing Crosby, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Christian and Hoagy Carmichael. Beginning in 1949 he played regularly with Bob Crosby and his Bobcats and became associated with the traditional jazz revival in the 1950s and 1960s playing with Pete Fountain and the Dukes of Dixieland.

Although he only recorded once as a leader (in 1987), Nick Fatool was active as a drummer into the 1990s. He passed away in 2000 at the age of 85.

Here is a link to Nick Fatool playing in 1986 with a group led by bassist Bob Haggart in Cork, Ireland:

"BIG NOISE FROM WINNETKA"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - January 1st

Vibraphonist Milt Jackson, best known for his years with the Modern Jazz Quartet, was born on New Year’s Day 1923 in Detroit, Michigan. Jackson started playing guitar when he was seven and piano at age 11. While attending Miller High School he played percussion, performed on violin and sang in the choir. Jackson became interested in learning vibraphone after hearing Lionel Hampton play with Benny Goodman’s group.

Dizzy Gillespie heard Milt Jackson play when the vibraphonist was 22 years old and hired him to join his sextet. Soon thereafter, Jackson was playing with Gillespie’s big band and then with ensembles led by Charlie Parker, Howard McGhee, Thelonious Monk and Woody Herman. The rhythm section in the Gillespie big band included Jackson, John Lewis on piano, Ray Brown playing bass and Kenny Clarke at the drums. The four began playing gigs on their own around 1950 as the Milt Jackson Quartet. By 1952 they had changed the name of the group to the Modern Jazz Quartet and Percy Heath had replaced Brown on bass. When Clarke left for Europe in 1955 Connie Kay became the new drummer and that lineup would continue until the MJQ broke up in 1974.

The MJQ reformed in 1981 and continued to play as a group until 1993. When not playing with that combo, Milt Jackson, known for his “unapologetically swinging” improvisation, toured with his own group. Jackson, known as “Bags,” also performed and recorded with Dinah Washington, Stanley Turrentine, Roy Eldridge, Quincy Jones, Benny Carter and Count Basie. Jackson received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music in 1989. He passed away from liver cancer in 1999 at the age of 76. The accompanying photo was taken during a performance in Seattle around 1980.

Here is a link to a 1994 performance of Bag’s Groove:

"BAGS GROOVE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 31st

Trumpeter and bandleader Jonah Jones was born Robert Elliott Jones on December 31, 1909 in Louisville, Kentucky. He began as a saxophonist but switched to trumpet at an early age. He reportedly acquired the nickname “Jonah” from a music instructor that stuttered when pronouncing Jones’ last name.

In the 1920s Jones played on riverboats on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers before joining up with the Horace Henderson orchestra in 1928. In the 1930s and 1940s he played with the bands of Jimmie Lunceford, Benny Carter, Fletcher Henderson and spend a decade as a member of the Cab Calloway band. He also was heard performing with jazz violinist Stuff Smith and with soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet.

In the 1950s Jones formed his own quartet which achieved popular success with up-tempo renditions of tunes like On the Street Where You Live. In 1958 his combo appeared on a television special headlined by Fred Astaire and in 1960 they won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.

During the 1970s Jones was quite popular in Europe, and especially in France where he appeared at the Nice Jazz Festival in 1978. Jones continued to perform into the 1990s and was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of fame in 1999. Jonah Jones passed away in the year 2000 at the age of 90.

Here is a link to Jonah Jones and his quartet from a 1957 recording for Capitol Records:

"ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 30th

Gordon Goodwin is a pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger and bandleader. Based in Los Angeles, Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band has been performing and producing recordings for more than two decades. Goodwin was born in Wichita, Kansas on December 30, 1954.

Goodwin wrote his first big band chart, Hang Loose, while he was in the seventh grade. He attended college at Cal State - Northridge where he studied with Joel Leach and Bill Calkins. After college Goodwin worked as a musician at Disneyland. Eventually he was commissioned by the Disney Corporation to compose a musical featuring current and past members of the Mouseketeers.

He started a big band made up of fellow southern California studio musicians that featured his compositions and arrangements in 1999.To date they have recorded a dozen albums and Goodwin’s charts are very popular among high school and college jazz ensembles. Goodwin has won two Grammy awards (including one for the score to the movie “The Incredibles”) and has been nominated for seven more. In addition, Gordon Goodwin has won two Daytime Emmy awards for music.

During his career Goodwin has written for and worked with musicians like Ray Charles, John Williams, Idina Menzel, Leslie Odom, Jr., Sarah Vaughan, Natalie Cole and Quincy Jones. He also hosts a nationally syndicated radio program called “Phat Tracks with Gordon Goodwin.”

Here is a link to Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band playing live at Disneyland:

"HIT THE GROUND RUNNING"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 29th

Musician and bandleader Billy Tipton was born in Oklahoma City on December 29, 1914. Tipton led one of the more unusual lives of any of the people we have featured in this column. Assigned female gender at birth, Tipton began to identify as male around 1933 and by 1940 was living life as a male in both his musical and personal life.

Tipton was born Dorothy Lucille Tipton to parents who divorced when she was four. Dorothy was sent to live with an aunt in Kansas City and had developed an interest in music, and specifically jazz, by high school. She learned to play piano and saxophone but was refused membership in the school band because it was for boys only. Shortly after finishing high school and returning to Oklahoma, Tipton was playing and touring with the Banner Playboys, a western swing band popular in the southwestern United States.
​
As to the decision to live full time as a male Historylink.org reports that “…one biographer, Sally Lehrman, hypothesized was that the act was likely ‘a concession to the economic pressures of the Great Depression and the reality that women jazz musicians didn’t get jobs.’ Diane Wood Middlebrook, another writer who wrote of Tipton’s double life, added that ‘In order to keep playing jazz, without suffering from discrimination or judgment, Dorothy continued to live as a man for the rest of her life.’”

In 1949 Tipton was playing piano in George Meyer’s band that performed regularly at the Boulevard Club in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho sharing the bill with groups like the Ink Spots and Billy Eckstein’s orchestra. By 1951 Tipton had a solo piano gig at the Elk’s Club in Longview, Washington before forming his own trio. In 1956 the trio was signed to a recording contract with Tops Records and made two albums with the label. Both were released in 1957. Following the success of the two records, Tipton and his trio were offered gigs at the Holiday Hotel in Reno, Nevada and as the opening act for Liberace. Tipton declined both offers and moved to Spokane, Washington where his trio had a weekly gig.

By the late 1970s Tipton retired from performing due to worsening arthritis and concentrated more on work as a talent broker. By 1989 Tipton’s health was declining rapidly and he refused to see a doctor, assuming he was experiencing symptoms of emphysema due to a lifetime as a heavy smoker. In fact, he was suffering from a hemorrhaging peptic ulcer which eventually killed him. While paramedics worked on him it was discovered that Tipton was physically female, a development which "came as a shock to nearly everyone, including the women who had considered themselves his wives, as well as his sons and the musicians who had traveled with him. “

Following Billy Tipton’s death there was a good deal written and said about him in the popular media and his life has inspired numerous plays, musical compositions and documentaries, as well as the name of the Seattle-based musical group The Tipton Sax Quartet.

Here is a link to a cut from the Billy Tipton Trio from one of their mid-1950s recordings:

"DON'T BLAME ME"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 28th

In April of 2015 the Jazz Journalist’s Association named Seattle club owner Mack Waldron a Seattle Jazz Hero. He owned and operated Tula’s Restaurant and Jazz Club in the Belltown neighborhood for 26 years until it was forced to close in September 2019 due to real estate development in the area. Mack Waldron was born on December 28, 1941.

Waldron began life in Kilgore, Texas and played jazz in high school and also at Kilgore Junior College before joining the U.S. Navy. While in the service, Waldron joined the band and eventually was promoted to bandleader. At the time of his retirement he was stationed at the Sand Point Naval Air Station in Seattle, his wife’s hometown. Waldron always wanted to own a jazz club and opened Tula’s after leaving the Navy. The club was named after his wife.

Tula’s Restaurant and Jazz Club was an important venue in the Seattle jazz ecosystem because it presented local musical talent seven nights per week. There were occasional performances by national figures like Roy Hargrove and Wynton Marsalis (who ranked the club as one of the ten best in the United States), but more often than not the stage would be filled with musicians from the Pacific Northwest, both professional and amateur. Trumpeter Thomas Marriott said that “Tula’s was one of the last venues where being local was an asset rather than a liability. If you worked at Tula’s as a sideman, they would probably give you an opportunity to have a night of your own.”

Tula’s also featured local high school and college musicians. Waldron said that “Seattle has a wealth of good high-school band directors and music teachers. The parents are also very supportive of music education. We have a wonderful education system here. It’s very exciting to participate and I feel like I’m contributing something to further young musicians in the Seattle area.” Mack Waldron was indeed a jazz hero to countless musicians and music lovers in the region.

Here is a link to the Axiom Quartet playing live at Tula’s in 2016:

"SPIRAL"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 27th

Bassist and author Bill Crow was born in Othello, Washington on December 27, 1927 and grew up in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland. He learned piano from his mother and began playing trumpet in the fourth grade. In the sixth grade he switched to baritone horn which he played all the way through high school, garnering soloist honors at Seattle high school band conferences.

Crow’s interest in jazz was fueled by his high school band director. Crow has written that “My school music teacher, Al Bennest, introduced me to jazz by playing Louis Armstrong's record of West End Blues for me.  I found more jazz on the radio, and began looking for records.  My paper route money, and later, money I earned working after school in a print shop and a butcher shop went toward buying jazz records.  I taught myself the alto saxophone and the drums in order to play in my high school dance band.”

After high school Bill Crow attended the University of Washington and then joined the U.S. Army in 1946 and played in the 51st Army Band at Fort Lewis and later the 2nd Army Band in Maryland. After being discharged, Crow returned to his studies at the UW and gigged around the Seattle area. In 1950 he moved to New York City and studied with Lennie Tristano and hung out at Birdland with friends like Dave Lambert. He worked in the Adirondacks in the summer of 1950 which is where he started to play the bass. By the end of the summer, he returned to New York City with sufficient skill to begin playing gigs on bass.

Soon Crow was playing gigs with Glen Moore, the Dave Lambert Singers, and Stan Getz before taking a job with the Claude Thornhill Orchestra. Following that he played with Marian McPartland, Terry Gibbs and Gerry Mulligan. Crow writes that “Between jobs with Mulligan, I often worked with the Gene DiNovi Trio, the Al Cohn and Zoot Sims Quintet and the Clark Terry and Bob Brookmeyer Quintet. And I played one concert at Lewisohn Stadium with Duke Ellington's orchestra, one of the biggest thrills of my life.“ Bill Crow has also played at the Seattle World’s Fair and with Benny Goodman, Phil Woods, Quincy Jones, Mel Torme, J.J. Johnson, Bud Freeman, Scott Hamilton, Jim Hall and Lee Konitz, among countless others.

In addition to his prolific playing career, Bill Crow has authored two insightful and entertaining books about jazz and the people who play it. The first was titles “Jazz Anecdotes” (1990), and the second was “From Birdland to Broadway” (1992).

Here is a link to Bill Crow talking a little about folks he’s worked with and playing a bit, too:

"YARDBIRD SUITE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 26th

“John Scofield’s guitar work has influenced jazz since the late 70’s and is going strong today. Possessor of a very distinctive sound and stylistic diversity, Scofield is a masterful jazz improviser whose music generally falls somewhere between post-bop, funk edged jazz, and R & B.” Scofield was born on December 26, 1951.

“Scofield was born in Ohio but raised in suburban Connecticut, Scofield took up the guitar at age 11, inspired by both rock and blues players. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. After a debut recording with Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker, Scofield was a member of the Billy Cobham-George Duke band for two years. In 1977 he recorded with Charles Mingus, and joined the Gary Burton quartet. He began his international career as a bandleader and recording artist in 1978. From 1982–1985, Scofield toured and recorded with Miles Davis. His Davis stint placed him firmly in the foreground of jazz consciousness as a player and composer.”

“Since that time he has prominently led his own groups in the international jazz scene, recorded over 30 albums as a leader (many already classics) including collaborations with contemporary favorites like Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, Eddie Harris, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Bill Frisell, Brad Mehldau, Mavis Staples, Government Mule, Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano and Phil Lesh. He’s played and recorded with Tony Williams, Jim Hall, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Dave Holland, Terumasa Hino among many jazz legends. Throughout his career Scofield has punctuated his traditional jazz offerings with funk-oriented electric music. All along, the guitarist has kept an open musical mind.”

“Touring the world approximately 200 days per year with his own groups, he is currently an Adjunct Professor of Music at New York University.” (Biography from johnscofield.com)
​
Here is a link to the John Scofield Trio performing in Italy:

"LAWNS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 25th

Flugelhornist Dmitri Matheny was born on Christmas Day 1965 in Nashville, Tennessee and was raised in Georgia and Arizona. Dmitri began piano lessons at age 5 and started to play trumpet when he was 9. At 18 he took up flugelhorn and has been on the jazz scene now for more than thirty years.

Matheny attended the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and graduated magna cum laude from the Berklee College of Music in 1989. He took private lessons from Carmine Caruso in New York City and became a protege of Art Farmer. Farmer convinced Matheny to devote all his energies to the flugelhorn and not concern himself with the trumpet.

After spending time doing studio work on the west coast, Matheny moved to New York City and made his debut at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall at age 29. Critics compared his performances favorably to Miles Davis, Chet Baker and Farmer. For the past quarter century Matheny has toured extensively, performing in 21 countries in North America, Asia and Europe. He has performed with Larry Coryell, Tommy Flanagan, Billy Higgins, Joe Lovano, James Moody, Max Roach, Billy Taylor, Bobby Watson and Bud Shank. In addition to his work in the jazz field, Dmitri has also performed with the O’Jays, The Temptations, The Four Tops and Martha Reeves.

Today Matheny leads the Dmitri Matheny Group which is described by All About Jazz as “an all-star jazz band featuring some of the most accomplished musicians in the western United States.” He also is a prolific composer and a dedicated music educator having held teaching positions at several institutions. He also makes regular appearances at clinics and festivals leading masterclasses and workshops for young musicians. Matheny now lives in Centralia, Washington.

Here is a link to a KNKX studio performance by Dmitri Matheny with some leading northwest jazz players:

"PERFECT PEACHES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 24th

The tremendously influential trumpeter Woody Shaw was born on Christmas Eve 1944 in Laurinburg, North Carolina, but his family moved to New Jersey when he was only one year old. Shaw’s parents were both musical and young Woody started playing the bugle when he was nine years old. He played in several drum and bugle corps in his youth, but trumpet was not his preferred in instrument when he began music studies in school. Here is Shaw from a 1978 interview:
“The trumpet was not my first choice for an instrument. In fact, I ended up playing it by default. When we were asked what we wanted to play in the Eighteenth Avenue School Band, I chose the violin, but I was too late since all the violins were taken. My second choice was the saxophone or the trombone, but they were also all spoken for. The only instrument that was left was the trumpet, and I felt why did I have to get stuck with this "tinny" sounding thing. “

Shaw quickly fell in love with the trumpet, though, and ended up studying trumpet performance at Newark Arts High School while playing pick-up gigs on the side and still managing to be successful enough academically to skip two grades. Newark Arts High School already boasted an impressive group of musical alumni including Wayne Shorter, Sarah Vaughan and Melba Moore.

After school Woody Shaw worked with Willie Bobo, Chick Corea, Joe Farrell and as a sideman for Eric Dolphy. Following Dolphy’s death in 1964 Shaw toured Europe with some of his fellow Dolphy bandmates and ended up settling in France. In 1965 he started recording with Blue Note Records. He appeared on albums with Horace Silver, Jackie McLean, Herbie Hancock, Bobby Hutcherson and Booker Ervin. He also toured with drummer Max Roach.

In the 1970s Shaw spent some time as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and also began recording as a leader on Columbia Records. During this period he played with Ron Carter, Bennie Maupin, George Cables, Anthony Braxton, Lenny White and Arthur Blythe.

Shaw’s health began to decline in the 1980s, due not in small part to his long-time use of heroin. By the latter part of the decade he was nearly blind due to a degenerative eye disease and was confined to a wheelchair, too. In February 1989 he was struck by a subway car in Brooklyn, New York and the resulting injuries required the amputation of his left arm. He was hospitalized for three months and put on a respirator. He finally succumbed on May 10, 1989 at the age of 44.

Here is a link to Woody Shaw playing live in 1979:

"THEME FOR MAXIME"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 23rd

Trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker was born in Yale, Oklahoma on December 23, 1929. Baker started his musical journey playing trombone but switched to trumpet because it was easier for him to hold. His family moved to Glendale, California when he was a youth and he attended Glendale High School for a while before dropping out at age 16 to join the U.S. Army. After his discharge he studied music at El Camino College in Los Angeles, but dropped out during his sophomore year to reenlist in the army. He played in the Sixth Army Band at the Presidio in San Francisco. While in the bay area he frequented jazz clubs like the Black Hawk and Bop City. After leaving the army a second time in 1951 he devoted his life to a career in music.

Chet Baker played with Stan Getz, Vido Musso and Charlie Parker before joining the Gerry Mulligan Quartet in 1952. The drummer-less combo featured intricate interplay between Mulligan’s baritone saxophone lines and those of Baker’s trumpet. This stood in contrast to most bebop groups where the melody was played in unison by the horns before launching into the solo section. Their recording of My Funny Valentine, and Baker’s solo in particular, was a hit. For many, the sound of this group is the epitome of the west coast jazz sound of the 1950s.

Soon, however, the group was disbanded when Mulligan was imprisoned on drug charges and Baker formed his own group that released a number of successful records between 1953 and 1956. During this period Baker beat both Miles Davis and Clifford Brown for Best Trumpet in both DownBeat and Metronome magazines. In 1954 the album “Chet Baker Sings” was released on the Pacific Jazz label and, though critics have debated the quality of Baker’s singing ever since, he continued to sing for the remainder of his career. Baker also began to appear in a handful of Hollywood movies during this period, too.

Throughout his career Baker struggled with drug abuse issues and at some points this aspect of his life overshadowed the music he was making. He was jailed and hospitalized on numerous occasions throughout the 1960s both in the United States and in Europe. In 1966 he was beaten outside the Trident restaurant in Sausalito, California in what was most likely a drug deal gone bad. Several of his teeth were broken and his trumpet embouchure was ruined. Unable to play trumpet, Baker worked at a gas station for three years until he could purchase dentures and reestablish his embouchure to begin playing again.

Chet Baker enjoyed a career resurgence in the late 1970s and 1980s playing much of the time in Europe. He made a record in 1983 with Elvis Costello, and in 1986 released a successful album called “Chet Baker: Live at Ronnie Scott’s London” with Costello and Van Morrison playing a set of jazz standards. In addition, Costello talks with Baker about his life.

On May 13, 1988 Chet Baker was found dead on the street below the open window of his second story Amsterdam hotel room. Drugs were found in his system as well as in the hotel room leading to years of speculation about the cause of his demise. The death was ruled an accident by Dutch officials.

Here is a link to the 1952 recording of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet recording of My Funny Valentine featuring Chet Baker on trumpet:

"MY FUNNY VALENTINE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 22nd

After leaving King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band in 1924 and heading to New York City with his new wife Lil Hardin, Louis Armstrong joined up with Fletcher Henderson’s band at the Roseland Ballroom. Armstrong switched from cornet to trumpet to better fit in sonically with his section mates. He also started making recordings in New York including Cake Walking Babies (From Home) with a group called The Red Onion Jazz Babies on December 22nd of 1924. It was released on the Gennett label about two months later.

Cake Walking Babies (From Home) was written by Henry Troy, Chris Smith and Clarence Williams, and the Red Onion Jazz Babies recording was the first time the song had been put to wax. The band was a sort of “supergroup” of early jazz stars and consisted of Louis Armstrong on trumpet, Sidney Bechet on soprano saxophone, Charlie Irvis playing trombone, Lil Armstrong at the piano and Buddy Christian on banjo. There is also a vocal chorus by Clarence Todd and Alberta Hunter, although Hunter goes by the pseudonym Josephine Beatty.

The Red Onion Jazz Babies were not together long as a band, but their recordings offer a glimpse into what was going on with the most talented jazz musicians of their time, now nearly a century ago. Armstrong and Bechet had only started making records the year before, so this record offers a fascinating opportunity to hear two of the greatest jazz musicians of all time in the early stages of their careers.

Here is a link to the Red Onion Jazz Babies record made 98 years ago today:

"CAKE WALKING BABIES (FROM HOME)"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 21st

Trombonist, cellist, composer, author and music educator David Baker was born in Indianapolis on December 21, 1931. A fine musician and composer, Baker is best known for his contributions to growth of jazz music education as the founder of the jazz studies program at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, and for his many books and articles about jazz pedagogy. His students have included Michael and Randy Brecker, Chris Botti, Peter Erskine, Jeff Hamilton and Jamey Aebersold.

Baker attended Crispus Attucks High School, one of three segregated Black high schools in Indianapolis. Along with Baker, alumni of the school include trombonist J.J. Johnson, guitarist Wes Montgomery and basketball great Oscar Robertson. After graduation Baker played trombone professionally with Johnson, Montgomery and Slide Hampton, as well as in the bands of Lionel Hampton, Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson and George Russell.

In 1953 Baker received a severe facial injury in an automobile accident that effectively ended his career as a trombonist. Although he would take up the cello as a primary instrument, he focused on teaching from that point on. Baker completed a bachelor’s degree in Music Education in 1953 and earned a master’s the following year, both at Indiana University. He also attended the Lenox School of Jazz in Massachusetts in 1959 and 1960 on scholarship.

In 1966 Baker became just the second Black professor in the music department at his alma mater. For a number of years he was the only jazz instructor on the faculty. The jazz studies program at Indiana was approved as a degree program in 1968, becoming one of only about a dozen colleges in the United States that offered jazz studies as an academic discipline at the time. Baker served as chair of jazz studies from 1968 until 2013 growing the program into one of the most distinguished in the world.

Baker also wrote 70 books and more than 400 articles on jazz and music pedagogy. His compositions, of which there are more than 500, often fall into the “third stream” category, marrying jazz and classical music elements. Baker received an Emmy award in 2003 for the score to “For God and Glory,” a PBS documentary and was nominated for a Grammy in 1979. He was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2000 and a “Living Jazz Legend” by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2007. In addition, Baker was director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra from 1991 until 2012. Baker passed away due to complications from Parkinson’s disease in 2016 at the age of 84.

Here is a link to one of Davis Baker’s compositions:

"SCREAMIN' MEEMIES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 20th

By December of 1944 soprano saxophonist and clarinetist Sidney Bechet had not been in the studio for about a year. On the 20th of that month he returned to the studio to record on the Blue Note label for the second time. This session produced the slow blues recording called Blue Horizon, and Bechet’s six chorus improvisation on clarinet has been described in the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD as “a solo of structural perfection and exquisite grace.”

Bechet was born in New Orleans on May 14, 1897, the son of a Creole shoemaker and amateur flautist. Mostly self-taught, young Sidney was playing clarinet by the age of 6, and in his teens he played with renown trumpeters Freddie Keppard and Bunk Johnson, clarinetist Lorenzo Tio and cornet player Joe “King” Oliver.

When Bechet was 22 he moved to New York City to play in Will Marion Cook’s Syncopated Orchestra. Soon after joining, the group traveled to London and played  at Royal Philharmonic Hall. It was at about this time that Bechet discovered the soprano saxophone and began to play it almost exclusively. Bechet liked to musically dominate the groups he played in, and his huge sound on soprano often competed with trumpet players in terms of volume. Bechet was also noted for his use of broad vibrato.

Bechet’s combative and sometimes erratic personality often hindered his musical career and he spent time behind bars in both England and France. After returning to the United States he made his first recordings in 1923 and 1924 with pianist Clarence Williams. He then returned to Europe where he was a member of the Revue Negre featuring Josephine Baker.

Referring to Bechet’s Blue Horizon, Peter Coles has written that “it’s not just one of the greatest blues performances, but must also be one of the greatest laments that has ever been produced in music of any kind. It’s absolutely pure sadness – there’s no bitterness, anger or resentment about it – and it develops through the stately choruses into a sense of great pride and even, ultimately, of triumph.”

Here is a link to the recording made 78 years ago today:

"BLUE HORIZON"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 19th

There is some debate about the correct year of birth for Joe “King” Oliver. Some records indicate it was 1881. Others claim 1884 or 1885 as his birth year. But, all agree that Oliver was born in Aben, Louisiana on December 19th. Oliver was a major star in early jazz and Louis Armstrong once said that “if it had not been for Joe Oliver, jazz would not be what it is today.”

After his family moved to New Orleans, young Oliver started studying trombone, but eventually switched to cornet. Joe Oliver played in various musical ensembles between 1908 and 1917, very often in the infamous Storyville district of New Orleans. For a while he co-led a popular band with trombonist “Kid” Ory. 

In 1918 Joe Oliver moved to Chicago after the U.S. Navy closed Storyville putting many New Orleans musicians out of work. In 1920 he formed a band at the Dreamland dance hall in Chicago that toured the west coast and returned to Chicago in 1922. That year the band added personnel and became known as Joe “King” Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. Musicians included Oliver on cornet, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, Honore Dutrey playing trombone, Lil Hardin at the piano, Bill Johnson on string bass, “Baby” Dodds on drums and a second cornetist Oliver brought up from New Orleans to join the group named Louis Armstrong. They had a regular gig at Lincoln Gardens on Chicago’s south side and many musicians, both Black and white, made the pilgrimage there to hear what was probably the hottest jazz band in America. In 1923 the band became nationally known as they made records for Okeh, Gennett, Paramount and Columbia, including the iconic Dippermouth Blues.

After the band broke up in 1924 Armstrong and Hardin got married and moved to New York, while Oliver formed a nine-piece ensemble he called King Oliver and his Dixie Syncopators. They played at the Plantation Cafe until 1927 when Oliver took the band to New York. That group subsequently broke up because the individual musicians could make more money playing freelance gigs there.

King Oliver’s career began to decline in the late 1920s. He suffered from gum disease which made it increasingly difficult for him to play cornet as it progressed. Oliver was offered jobs at both the Savoy Ballroom and the Cotton Club in Harlem, but lost both jobs because he held out for more money than the venues were willing to pay him. He eventually ended up stranded in Savannah, Georgia without sufficient funds to move on, even after pawning his best suits and his instrument. He was working as a custodian at a pool hall in Savannah when he passed away from untreated arteriosclerosis in April of 1938.

Joe Oliver was a mentor and an important influence on later cornet and trumpet players like Muggsy Spanier, Tommy Ladnier and Louis Armstrong and Oliver’s use of mutes was groundbreaking. His 1923 recordings with the Creole Jazz Band are a wonderful example of the collective improvisation style brought to Chicago by New Orleans musicians during that period.

Here is a link to King Oliver’s 1923 recording of Dippermouth Blues:

"DIPPERMOUTH BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 18th

Seattle jazz impresario Norm Bobrow was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 18, 1917 and grew up in Westchester County. During his life Bobrow was a concert promoter, radio disc jockey, club owner, newspaper columnist, musician and bandleader. Norm Bobrow was one of the first to promote jazz music as culture and not merely a popular diversion.

Norm Bobrow’s family moved to Seattle from the east coast in 1936 and Norm enrolled at the University of Washington where he started the Husky Hot Club. The group promoted swing music and particularly the band of Gaylord Jones that played in the style of Jimmie Lunceford.

Only two years after the legendary Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall Concert, Norm Bobrow presented the first formal jazz concert on the west coast February 4, 1940 at Seattle’s Metropolitan Theater. He followed that up by producing a concert by “Fats” Waller at the Moore Theater the following year.

After spending time in the U.S. Army during World War II, Bobrow returned to Seattle and hosted radio programs on KING and KRSC while continuing to work as a concert promoter. In 1946 he produced a concert featuring a 17-year-old singer from Garfield High School named Ernestine Anderson. Another historic concert put on by Bobrow was in 1952 and headlined Charlie Parker, Chet Baker and Dave Brubeck. He also organized the Stan Getz Seattle concert after which Getz was infamously arrested after attempting to rob a drug store.

In 1955 Bobrow opened a nightclub called the Colony Club. It was there that he began to promote vocalist Pat Suzuki, whom he would eventually marry. In the 1960s he hosted a KING-TV entertainment and interview program while continuing his work as a concert promoter. Norm Bobrow played jazz on Seattle radios stations well into the 1990s and passed away from cancer in April of 2008 at the age of 90.

Here is a link to Norm Bobrow’s one-time wife and singer Pat Suzuki:

"HOW HIGH THE MOON"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 17th

Composer, arranger, trumpet player, singer and bandleader Sy Oliver was born in Battle Creek, Michigan on December 17, 1910. During his sixty-year career Oliver wrote T’aint What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It), Yes, Indeed!, Opus One and Well, Git It! and worked with some of the most popular musical organizations of the day.

Oliver’s mother was a piano teacher and his father played several instruments including saxophone. Sy left home at the age of 17 to go on the road with Zach Whyte and his Chocolate Beau Brummels. He played trumpet and was known for his growling style and use of muted effects. He also was sometimes featured on vocal numbers. In 1933 he joined the Jimmie Lunceford band and played with them for six years. During that time he made many recordings with the band, often singing on the records. He also wrote the band’s theme song For Dancers Only.

Sy Oliver became one of the most visible Black men working with a white band when he was hired by Tommy Dorsey in 1939. Oliver was mostly responsible for writing the band’s up-tempo “hot” tunes, while fellow arranger Alex Stordahl primarily focused on the ballads. Oliver also occasionally sang with the Dorsey band, including a duet with white female vocalist Jo Stafford on 1941’s Yes, Indeed! Oliver’s arrangement of On the Sunny Side of the Street was a big hit for Tommy Dorsey.

After leaving Dorsey’s employ in 1946, Oliver worked as a freelance arranger and musical director for Decca Records. While at Decca Oliver worked with Louis Armstrong and Peggy Lee. In 1961 he collaborated with Frank Sinatra on an album tribute to their former boss, Tommy Dorsey.

In 1974 Oliver started a ten-year nightly run at the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City which concluded when he retired in 1984. Sy Oliver passed away in May of 1988 at the age of 77.

Here is a link to the 1941 recording of Yes, Indeed! with Sy Oliver singing with Jo Stafford and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra:

"YES, INDEED"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 16th

Today is the birthday of jazz trumpeter, composer and producer Thomas Marriott. A graduate of Clarence Acox’s outstanding music program at Seattle’s Garfield High School, Marriott has gone on to become one of the most respected names in jazz.

Marriott followed up winning the 1999 Carmine Caruso Jazz Trumpet Competition by playing with the bands led by Tito Puente and Chico O’Farrill, and becoming the featured jazz soloist for three world tours with Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau Band. He also performed and recorded with the likes of Rosemary Clooney, Charlie Hunter, Stix Hooper, Michael Feinstein and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra.

Since returning to his hometown in 2004, Marriott has recorded 13 albums for Origin Records, including his 2009 record “East-West Trumpet Summit” which reached #1 on the national jazz radio airplay charts. His 2010 album “Constraints and Liberations” received critical acclaim in DownBeat magazine. In addition to his own records, Marriott has produced for other musicians including saxophonist Hadley Caliman and trumpeter Ray Vega. He also was the featured soloist with the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra for 20 years.

In addition to his playing, Thomas Marriot has served on the Board of Governors of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and the Board of Directors of Earshot Jazz. In 2021 he founded the non-profit Seattle Jazz Fellowship with “goals of building the local jazz community, increasing mentorship and lowering barrier to access the music as a performer and listener.”

Here is a link to Thomas Marriott playing with other Pacific Northwest jazz musicians during a studio session for KNKX radio:

"BOTH SIDES OF THE FENCE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 15th

One of jazz music’s most innovative bandleaders and educators was born on December 15, 1911 in Wichita, Kansas. His name was Stan Kenton and his influence is still heard in the compositions and arrangements played by jazz ensembles to this day. Kenton is also at least in part responsible for the tremendous growth of jazz programs in middle schools, high schools and colleges during the 1960s and 1970s.

Kenton’s family moved from Kansas to Colorado and then to the Los Angeles suburb of Bell, California during his youth. By the time he was a teen attending Bell High School, Stan Kenton was already playing solo piano gigs in a local eatery for fifty cents per night plus tips. Around the same time, he formed his own eight-piece band called The Bell Tones and began writing arrangements. After spending time playing piano and touring with territory bands throughout southern California, Nevada and Arizona he finally got his big break when he was hired by Gus Arnheim in 1936. It was as the keyboard man with Arnheim that Kenton made his first recordings.

After leaving Arnheim, Kenton would work as a studio musician with NBC in Los Angeles while continuing to study piano and taking composition classes. In 1940 he formed his first band. The group struggled in the early years, although they did have a regular gig at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Newport Beach, California in 1941, and as the band on the Bob Hope radio show during 1943 and 1944. They started to gain popularity after being signed by the new Capitol Records label in 1943 and with their popular record Eager Beaver.

When Pete Rugolo was hired as the band’s staff arranger in 1945, he was given free reign and began to incorporate classical and Afro-Cuban influences into the music the band played. By 1947 the band was touring and experiencing financial and popular success as the “Artistry in Rhythm” band. After a brief hiatus Kanton returned with a larger ensemble known as the “Progressive Jazz” orchestra. This group was followed by additional incarnations including the “Innovations in Modern Music” group that was 39 pieces strong and included 16 string players. Kenton achieved his greatest popularity in the middle of the 1950s with such albums as “Kenton in Hi-Fi” and “Cuban Fire!”

In the early 1960s Kenton reformed his ensemble again, this time including a mellophonium section. Mellophoniums are essentially bell-front French Horns and added a unique texture to the standard big band sound. They recorded a very popular album of Christmas arrangements that was released in 1961. In 1970 Kenton left Capitol Records to form his own label and publishing concern, Creative World headed by trombonist and composer/arranger Bob Curnow.

One of Stan Kenton’s lasting legacies is his support of jazz education. Every summer beginning in 1959 he sponsored what became known as the Stan Kenton Summer Jazz Clinics. They featured members of his orchestra along with leading music educators and musicians working with young players to help them develop the skills necessary to achieve success as a jazz musician. In 1968 Kenton was on the committee that formed the National Association of Jazz Educators.

Here is a link to a 1972 televised performance of Stan Kenton and his Orchestra in London:

"A LITTLE MINOR BOOZE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 14th

Trumpet and flugelhorn player, educator, composer and arranger, instrument designer and writer. Clark Terry was all of these things. He was born on December 14, 1920 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Clark Terry’s first instrument was valve trombone and he played in a United States Navy band during World War II. His first high profile gig after the war was in the Charlie Barnet band. In 1948 he joined Count Basie’s group and played with him until 1951 when he was recruited by Duke Ellington. He played with Ellington throughout most of the 1950s and was frequently a featured soloist. In 1960 he played with Quincy Jones, who he had mentored during frequent visits to Seattle while playing with Basie.

From 1962 through 1972 Terry was a member of the Tonight Show Band and a staff musician for NBC television. During his time with the group, he turned his unique “mumbling” scat singing style into a feature that he would perform for the rest of his career. In addition to playing at NBC, Terry also co-led a group with trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. In addition, he performed with J.J. Johnson and has a long musical relationship with Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson. In 1967 he performed along side Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins, Teddy Wilson with Jazz at the Philharmonic.

Over a career that lasted more than 70 years, Clark Terry performed for eight U.S. presidents, was named to DownBeat magazine’s Hall of Fame and received 16 honorary doctorates. Terry was named a NEA Jazz Master in 1991. Terry passed away in February 2015 while in hospice care for advanced diabetes.

Here is a link to a Clark Terry performance of his unique Mumbles:

"MUMBLES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 13th

In 1907 the Danish Brotherhood in America, Seattle Lodge #29 hired architect Victor Voorhees to design and Hans Pederson to build Washington Hall at the corner of 14th Avenue and Fir Street in Seattle. The purpose of the building was to provide meeting space for the fraternal group and living space for recent immigrants. It also included a performance space for lodge social events that could also be rented for performances, and, over the years, some of the most notable jazz musicians performed there. The building was completed and opened for business the following year.

Since 1908 the building has changed ownership and several times but has consistently hosted performances by some of the biggest stars in music. Duke Ellington and his Orchestra performed on the Washington Hall stage as did Billie Holiday. The Count Basie band played there, too. Social activists like Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. DuBois spoke from its podium. Marian Anderson sang in Washington Hall. Its ballroom has hosted Yiddish theater presentations, Filipino Youth Club dances, boxing matches and was the original home of Seattle’s On the Boards theater company. In addition, artists as diverse as Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Costello, Macklemore, David Byrne and Mark Morris have performed there.

Washington Hall was purchased by Historic Seattle in 2009. It was renovated and reopened the following year. The three-story brick building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 13, 2010.

Here is a link to a short tour of the building hosted by former Washington Secretary of State Ralph Munro:

"MY FAVORITE PLACES - WASHINGTON HALL"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 12th

Once described by music critic Robert Christgau of The Village Voice as “probably the best drummer in the world,” Tony Williams was born on December 12, 1945 in Chicago. Williams grew up in Boston and began playing drums when he was quite young. He was playing professionally with saxophonist Sam Rivers when he was only 13 years old. By age 16 he was playing with another well-known saxophonist, Jackie McLean.

Tony Williams became known world-wide when he was chosen by Miles Davis to play drums in what became known as Davis’ “Second Great Quintet” in 1963. Williams was still only 17 when he first sat down to play the drums with Davis, Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter. Williams pre-dated Wayne Shorter’s arrival in the band and initially played with George Coleman and sometimes Sam Rivers on saxophone. Davis lauded Williams’ importance to that innovative ensemble in his autobiography.

At the same time he was playing with Davis, Williams recorded two albums on the Blue Note label and worked on several records as a sideman at that label, too. He can be heard on albums by Herbie Hancock, Grachan Moncur III, Charles Lloyd, Kenny Dorham and Eric Dolphy.

Williams left Davis’ employ in 1969 and that same year formed his own group called Tony Williams Lifetime. It featured John McLaughlin on guitar and Larry Youngs playing organ along with former Cream bassist Jack Bruce. This was a pioneering group in the jazz-fusion realm, and they released their first album, “Emergency!,” in 1969 on the Verve label.
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In the mid-1970s Williams reunited with Hancock, Shorter and Carter along with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard to form the group V.S.O.P that recorded for Columbia and toured for several years. In 1979 Williams played with McLaughlin and bassist Jaco Pastorius at the Havana Jazz Festival. This performance by the short-lived group that called themselves the “Trio of Doom” was released on CD in 2007.

In the 1980s Tony Williams returned to Blue Note Records and released a series of albums for them. During his career Williams also played with Chet Baker, Hank Jones, McCoy Tyner, Stanley Clarke, Carlos Santana, Yoko Ono and Wynton Marsalis. During the last decades of his life Tony Williams lived and taught in the San Francisco Bay area. He died after suffering a heart attack following routine gallbladder surgery in 1997. Tony Williams was only 51 years old.

Here is a link to a recording of the “Trio of Doom” made in 1979:

"DARK PRINCE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 11th

One of the most influential pianists in jazz during the second half of the Twentieth Century, McCoy Tyner was born in Philadelphia on December 11, 1938. Best known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet between 1960 and 1965, Tyner had a long and successful solo career, as well.

McCoy Tyner was encouraged to play the piano by his mother and family friend Bud Powell. He began to study piano and music theory at the Granoff School of Music when he was 13. Before joining Coltrane’s group at age 22, Tyner played briefly with saxophonist Benny Golson and trumpeter Art Farmer in a band called the Jazztet.

During his five years with John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner appeared on twenty albums with the saxophonist including “My Favorite Things,” "Live at the Village Vanguard," “Impressions” and “A Love Supreme.” Tyner also recorded three records as a leader in a trio setting during this period. He also recorded as a sideman on several Blue Note records during the 1960s, but was often not credited on the album due to his contractual obligations with the Impulse! label.
After leaving Coltrane, Tyner formed a new trio and recorded several albums with Blue Note that could best be classified as falling into the hard bop genre. He also began to incorporate African and Asian musical elements into his music. Some have described McCoy Tyner’s playing in the 1970s as “innovative jazz that was neither fusion nor free jazz.”

McCoy Tyner was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2002 and received five Grammy awards during his lifetime. He also received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music. Tyner recorded more than 80 records as a leader during his career. He passed away on March 6, 2020.

Here is a link to a McCoy Tyner solo piano performance of John Coltrane’s Giant Steps from a German performance in 1996:

"GIANT STEPS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 10th

Seattle area reed man, arranger and bandleader John Holte was born on December 10, 1943 in Massachusetts. He was one of the leaders of the west coast swing band revival of the 1970s.

Over the years John Holte formed and led several bands in the Pacific Northwest including The New Deal Rhythm Band (pictured), Swingland Express, The John Holte Swing Band and Radio Rhythm Orchestra. The New Deal Rhythm Band was formed in in 1972 and played regularly at the District Tavern on Roosevelt Avenue in Seattle’s University District. The NDRB appeared in a film about jazz violinist Joe Venuti. The band’s first female vocalist was Cheryl Bentyne, who left the group in 1979 to join Manhattan Transfer.

After turning over leadership of the NDRB to Jerry Ranger, Holte formed Swingland Express which included Seattle jazz mainstay Ronnie Pierce. That band played a regular Monday night gig at the G Note Tavern on 85th Street as well as gigging regularly throughout the region. Swingland Express broke up in 1980.

Holte’s next enterprise was the John Holte Swing Band that performed regularly at the University Towers Hotel and the Old Ballard Firehouse. They were also heard at the Bite of Seattle and Bumbershoot. John Holte’s final ensemble was The Radio Rhythm Orchestra which he created in the late 1980s. Even though Holte passed away in 2003, the band still performs and plays many of Holte’s arrangements under the leadership of bass player Pete Leinonen.

Here is a link to a video of a performance by the John Holte Swing Band playing at the Tacoma, Washington Sheraton Hotel on New Year’s Eve 1984:

"JOHN HOLTE SWING BAND"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 9th

Donald Byrd was born in Detroit, Michigan on December 9, 1932. His father was a minister and his mother introduced him to jazz music. He got his first trumpet from his brother. Donald Byrd became good enough on his instrument that he was invited to play with Lionel Hampton while he was still attending Cass Technical High School. He went on to have a career that successfully bridged the gap between jazz, soul, funk and R&B music. Byrd was also an important music educator.

After being discharged from the United States Air Force in the early 1950s, Byrd studied music at Wayne State University and then earned a master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. In 1955 Donald Byrd replaced Clifford Brown in the Jazz Messengers led by drummer Art Blakey. He left the group after about a year and began to record as a sideman with many of the leading jazz players of the time including Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane. Byrd and Pepper Adams formed a quintet in 1958 and they played together for three years.

In 1961 Donald Byrd released the album “Royal Flush” which featured a 21-year-old Herbie Hancock on piano. During the first part of his career, Byrd’s playing fell squarely into the hard bop category, but as the 1960s progressed his music moved more into the soul-jazz area. By the 1970s he was incorporating rock, R&B and soul elements into his performances and in 1973 he teamed up with the Mizell brothers to produce the album “Black Byrd.” It was the top selling album on the Blue Note label for years and the title track made an appearance on both the Billboard magazine R&B and pop charts.

Byrd established the fusion group The Blackbyrds made up of students at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Byrd was teaching music there while earning a law degree. Later Byrd taught at North Carolina Central University and earned his Ph.D. in Music Education from teacher’s College at Columbia University. Hancock has said of Byrd “He has always nurtured and encouraged young musicians. He's a born educator, it seems to be in his blood, and he really tried to encourage the development of creativity.“

Late in his long career as a performer, Donald Byrd returned to a more straight-ahead style. During his life Donald Byrd played with Eric Dolphy, Sonny Clark, Hank Jones and Jimmy Smith, among many others. He passed away in 2013 at the age of 80.

Here is a link to a mid-1960s recording by Donald Byrd that includes performances by Hank Mobley, Cedar Walton and Billy Higgins:

"EL DORADO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 8th

One of the giants of the mighty Hammond B-3 Organ, Jimmy Smith, was born on December 8, 1925 (or 1928 by some accounts) in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He was a jazz musician whose records regularly appeared on the top 40, even in an era dominated by rock and roll. Although the electric organ had been used in jazz prior to Smith, his improvisation and juxtaposition of a soul-jazz feel and rapid single note bebop lines, along with the combination of the B-3 with a Leslie tower made him perhaps the most influential organist in the history of jazz.

When Jimmy Smith was nine years old he won a contest on a Philadelphia radio station playing boogie-woogie on the piano. He had started teaching himself to play when he was six. In the late 1940s, after spending some time in the U.S. Navy, Smith attended the Royal Hamilton College of Music and the Leo Ornstein School of Music. In the early 1950s he could be found playing regularly around the Philadelphia area.

Smith switched to performing on organ full time in 1954. He bought a Hammond organ and rented warehouse space in which to practice. After hearing Smith play in a club, Alfred Lion signed him to his Blue Note label and Jimmy released five albums in his first year under contract. He quickly became known as one of the most promising young stars on the jazz scene. Smith stayed with the label for eight years and produced the hit albums “The Champ,” “Home Cookin’” and “Back at the Chicken Shack.”

In 1962 Jimmy signed with Verve Records. While there he recorded with small groups and also in big band settings. He played with Oliver Nelson, Kenny Burrell, George Benson, Wes Montgomery and Lalo Schifrin. His live performances were nearly always in a trio setting with guitar and drums. During the 1970s Smith owned a Los Angeles club where he played and recorded regularly.

During the 1980s and 1990s Jimmy Smith recorded with Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, The Beastie Boys, B.B. King, Etta James, Dr. John and Dee Dee Bridgewater. He also performed and recorded with protege Joey DeFrancesco. Jimmy Smith died of natural causes at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona in 2004.

Here is a link to Jimmy Smith performing live on German television:

"THE CAT"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 7th

Louis Prima was born in New Orleans on December 7, 1910. Prima’s mother made sure that each of her children had an opportunity to play a musical instrument and young Louis began on the violin. Louis’ older brother played cornet, and one summer while he was away in Texas, Louis began teaching himself to play it. When he was in high school, he played in the band and was influenced by hearing Louis Armstrong. By the time he was a senior in high school Louis Prima decided that he would pursue a career as a professional musician.

Prima’s professional career began slowly as he played in some local bands and eventually decided to try his luck in New York City. Although he was Italian-American, Prima was sometimes denied jobs because club owners thought he was Black. In 1934 he started his own group. Louis Prima and his New Orleans Gang got a regular gig at the Famous Door on 52nd Street and began recording for the Brunswick label. They produced a few minor hits in the mid 1930s. One of those hits was his 1936 recording of Sing, Sing, Sing, a song Prima wrote and which would later become a monster hit for Benny Goodman.

In 1939 first lady Eleanor Roosevelt invited Prima and his band to play at the president’s birthday party at the White House. They did perform and the ensuing publicity greatly enhanced their visibility. By the mid-1940s his band was doing very well and was touring and recording regularly. In 1948 Louis Prima hired a new singer for his band, a woman named Keely Smith. She and Prima would not only marry but would produce a series of extremely popular records over the next decade.

In 1954 Louis Prima and Keely Smith became a regular attraction at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas. During the decade Prima recorded some of his most popular songs including I Ain’t Got Nobody, Just a Gigolo and That Old Black Magic which stayed on the top 40 for two months. After having relocated their home base to The Desert Inn, Prima and Smith were invited to perform at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration party in 1961. Unfortunately, constant touring and performing took a toll on their marriage and Smith and Prima divorced that same year. In 1967 Louis Prima supplied the voice of the orangutan King Louis in the Disney film “The Jungle Book.” Prima continued performing until his death in 1978.

Here is a link to Louis Prima and Keely Smith performing one of their best-known numbers during a 1959 television appearance:

"THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 6th

For many jazz fans pianist Dave Brubeck is the face of west coast jazz. His quartet was one of the most popular jazz groups of the 1950s and 1960s and they recorded some of the most recognizable music of the period. Their 1959 Columbia record “Time Out” was the first jazz album to sell more than a million copies. Dave Brubeck was born on December 6, 1920 in Concord, California.

Dave Brubeck grew up on a cattle ranch and took his first piano lessons from his mother. He went to college to study veterinary medicine, but, at the urging of one of his professors, changed his major to music. After graduating in 1942 Brubeck served in Patton’s Third Army in Europe during World War II. After volunteering to play piano at a Red Cross show Brubeck was heard by some influential brass. He was asked to start a band and created “The Wolfpack Band” which was one of the first racially integrated musical organizations in the United States military.

After four years in the Army, Brubeck returned to the San Francisco Bay Area and began gigging. He formed a trio and an octet and made some records for San Francisco-based Coronet Records. The records sold well, but the label was not able to remain solvent. Brubeck’s masters were sold to Fantasy Records where he continued to record eventually being signed by Columbia.

In 1951 Brubeck formed his quartet with saxophonist Paul Desmond. They had a regular gig at San Francisco’s Black Hawk and also toured college campuses where the group attained a substantial following. Brubeck’s quartet continued to play together with occasional personnel changes until the late 1960s. They became known for their musical excursions into odd meters, such as with Desmond’s Take Five and Brubeck’s Unsquare Dance and Blue Rondo a la Turk.

Later in his career Brubeck focused more on classically inspired music, often with a religious theme. In 1968 Brubeck composed The Gates of Justice, a cantata which combined Biblical verses with the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In the 1970s Brubeck toured with a group that featured his sons. Brubeck was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement and garnered several honorary degrees from universities around the world. Dave Brubeck continued to play and record up until his death in 2012 one day short of his 92nd birthday.

Here is a link to a video of his best-known quartet lineup playing in Japan, with Desmond on alto saxophone, Eugene Wright on bass and Joe Morello at the drums:

"KOTO SONG"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 5th

Brian Bromberg is a bassist who performs regularly on both acoustic and electric. To date he has released 26 albums as a leader. Brian Bromberg was born in Tucson, Arizona on December 5, 1960.

Because Brian’s father and older brother were both drummers, he began his musical life playing the drums, but switched to bass in high school when introduced to the instrument by the orchestra director. He took learning the bass very seriously and followed a rigorous practice schedule. Before he graduated high school Bromberg was gigging several nights per week with bands playing a variety of genres.

In 1979 the bassist for pianist Bill Evans heard Brian Bromberg and recommended him to saxophonist Stan Getz who auditioned and hired Brian. Although he had only played bass for about six years, at the age of 19 Bromberg found himself touring as the bass player with one of the best-known saxophonists in the world.

Bromberg recorded his first album as a leader in 1986. His earliest projects fell into the “smooth jazz” category and received significant airplay on radio stations featuring that format. In 1990, though, he recorded “It’s About Time: The Acoustic Project” which fell squarely into the mainstream jazz category. Since that time he has played both electric and acoustic basses in various settings including with Freddie Hubbard and Ernie Watts. Bromberg also plays the rare piccolo bass in lieu of using guitars on many of his records.

Brian Bromberg remains active not only as a performer, but also as a clinician, an instrument designer and as a record producer. He has received producer credits on eight top ten hits. Bromberg’s most recent record, “A Little Driving Music,” was recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic and features 12 original compositions by the bassist along with a cover of Walking on Sunshine.

Here is a link to a video of Brian Bromberg performing on “The Sound Room” for WEEU radio in Reading, Pennsylvania:


"THE SOUND ROOM"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 4th

Singer, songwriter and producer Cassandra Wilson was born in Jackson, Mississippi on December 4, 1955. Her father was a music educator and her mother was an elementary school teacher who held a Ph.D. in Education. Cassandra began classical piano lesson at age 6 and played clarinet in the school band. She also taught herself guitar and began writing her own songs. During college she sang with local bands. After she graduated from Jackson State University with a degree in Mass Communications she moved to New Orleans. Once there Wilson was mentored by Alvin Batiste and Ellis Marsalis and they soon convinced her to move to New York City to pursue a career in music.

Once in New York, Cassandra Wilson became associated with the M-Base collective which included musicians like Steve Coleman, Geri Allen and Greg Osby. She honed her skills with ear-training lessons from trombonist Grachan Moncur III. Wilson released her first solo album, “Point of View,” in 1986 on the JRT label. Since then, she has released an additional 18 albums as a leader. In addition, she has appeared on records by such diverse artists as Wynton Marsalis, The Roots, Regina Carter, Terri Lyne Carrington, Elvis Costello, the Count Basie Orchestra, Angelique Kidjo and Charlie Haden.

Cassandra Wilson has won two Grammy awards, has been selected Best Female Vocalist by DownBeat magazine three times and has received the Spirit of Ireland Award from the Irish Arts Centre. In addition to her earned doctorate from Milsaps College, she has received honorary doctorates from the Berklee College of Music and The New School. She was also named an NEA Jazz master in 2022. In addition she was named “America’s Best Singer” by Time magazine in 2001. Critic Gary Giddens has described Wilson as “a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack [who has] expanded the playing field by incorporating blues, country, and folk music into her work.“

Here is a link to a song from her 2015 album “Coming Forth by Day:”

"DON'T EXPLAIN"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 3rd

Francisco Raul Gutierrez Grillo was born in Havana, Cuba (or maybe Tampa, Florida) on December 3, 1909 (or maybe 1908 or 1912 or 1915). Despite the confusion surrounding the place and year of his birth, Grillo grew up to be one of the most important figures in the early Latin jazz movement using his stage name Machito.

In his youth Machito played in several bands in Havana before moving to New York City in 1937. His first gig in New York was as a vocalist with the Havana Stars, although he worked with several bands including Xavier Cugat’s group. In 1940 Machito started his own band, the Afro-Cubans which featured a typical swing-era big band instrumentation but added a bongo player. Machito hired multi-instrumentalist Mario Bauza as his musical director and they had a minor hit in 1941 with a song called Sopa de Pichon, a slang reference to “pigeon soup” a joke amongst Caribbean immigrants to New York about not having enough to eat.

The Afro-Cubans were the first group to combine Afro-Cuban rhythms and jazz improvisation in a big band setting. In 1947 Machito’s band shared the stage with the Stan Kenton Orchestra for a concert at New York’s Town Hall and Machito played maracas on Kenton’s hit recording of The Peanut Vendor. In 1948 Machito recorded with Charlie Parker and the next year he played at Carnegie Hall on a program with Lester Young, Bud Powell, Coleman Hawkins and Duke Ellington. A young Willie Bobo started as a teenage Machito fan who volunteered to move equipment for the band in the late 1940s and eventually became an important part of the Latin jazz scene himself.

The Machito Afro-Cubans were trend setters in the field of Latin Jazz and set the standard for future bands in the genre, including those of Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez. All three bands were regular performers at the Palladium Ballroom on Broadway at 53rd in New York, and Machito’s band played an annual summer residency in the Catskills for more than two decades. Musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, George Shearing, Parker and Kenton all cited Machito and his orchestra as major influences.

Machito was honored when New York City named the intersection of East 111th Street and 3rd Avenue “Machito Square” in 1984. Machito passed away that same year.
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Here is a link to the Machito Afro-Cubans performing live on Japanese television in the early 1960s:

"Live in Japan"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 2nd

Wynton Kelly was born in Brooklyn, New York the son of Jamaican immigrants on December 2, 1931. He began playing piano when he was four years old and went on to lead his own small combos and play in groups led by others, most notably Miles Davis.

Kelly began his professional career when he was 15 touring with the Ray Abrams R&B band. He made his recording debut as the keyboard man on Cornbread, a 1948 #1 hit by saxophonist Hal Singer. After spending time performing with “Hot Lips” Page and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. Kelly’s first record as a leader was a trio outing called “Piano Interpretations” released by Blue Note Records in 1951. That same year Kelly was the accompanist for vocalist Dinah Washington, and played with Lester Young and Dizzy Gillespie in 1952 before being drafted into the United States Army where he became musical director of the Third Army Travelling Show.

After his time in the service was over, Wynton Kelly played with Charles Mingus, Benny Golson, Billie Holiday, Cannonball Adderley, Johnny Griffin and Sonny Rollins before joining up with the Miles Davis ensemble in January of 1959. Red Garland had been the pianist for Davis but had a bad habit of showing up late for gigs. One night it was time for the show to start and Garland was missing again. Kelly was at the club and Miles asked him to sit in. When Garland finally arrived Davis told him “Wynton’s got the gig,” and that’s how Kelly ended up with Miles. He stayed on with the band until 1963.

After leaving the Miles Davis group Kelly started a trio with two other ex-Miles players, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb. They toured and had a recording contract with Verve Records. The trio stayed together until Chambers’ death in 1969. Kelly suffered from epilepsy throughout his life and died in a Toronto hotel room in 1971 from an apparent seizure.
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Here is a link to a cut from the 1965 album “Smokin’ at the Half Note” by the Wynton Kelly Trio and guitarist Wes Montgomery:

"UNIT 7"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - December 1st

John Francis Anthony “Jaco” Pastorius is proclaimed by many as the greatest electric bassist in jazz history. Of the seven bass players in the DownBeat Hall of Fame, he is the only one who specialized in the electric bass. Troubled by drug addiction and mental health issues, Pastorius’ short but brilliant career is still highly influential to musicians today. Jaco Pastorius was born on December 1, 1951 in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

By the time he was eight years old, Jaco’s family had moved to Florida and he spent many of his days at the beach and playing sports. He started his musical journey as a drummer but, after a wrist injury received while playing football required surgery and limited his ability to play the drums, he started on bass. He first tried the acoustic bass, but after a while switched to electric bass. By the time he was in his teens he was playing bass with Wayne Cochrane and the C.C. Riders.

In the early 1970s Pastorius was teaching bass at the University of Miami and began a friendship with fellow faculty member and guitarist Pat Metheny. Metheny appeared on Pastorius’ debut album in 1974 along with pianist Paul Bley and drummer Bruce Ditmas. In return, Pastorius played bass on Metheny’s first record “Bright Size Life” in 1976. That same year Jaco released “Jaco Pastorius” on the Epic label. That record features Michael and Randy Brecker, Herbie Hancock, Hubert Laws, Wayne Shorter and Davis Sanborn as sidemen.
After a concert by the group Weather Report Pastorius introduced himself to keyboardist and group leader Joe Zawinul. He reportedly said “I'm John Francis Pastorius III. I'm the greatest bass player in the world.” Zawinul asked for a demo tape and, sufficiently impressed with what he heard, asked Jaco to join the band in 1976. Pastorius joined in time to appear on the album “Black Market” and remained in the group until 1982.

Warner Records signed Pastorius in 1981 and he produced a big band record that year called “Word of Mouth” which received a good deal of positive reviews but did not sell well. The band included Tom Scott, Wayne Shorter, Michael  Brecker, Herbie Hancock, and Peter Erskine. While on tour in Japan, Pastorius’ increasingly odd behavior alarmed band members and he was soon after diagnosed as being bipolar. By the mid-1980s Jaco found it difficult to find work and was sometimes homeless. He died at the age of 35 after being beaten up by a bouncer behind a night club in Florida. He died several days later from a brain hemorrhage resulting from the beating.

Here is a link to a track from Pastorius’ 1981 record “Word of Mouth:”

"LIBERTY CITY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 30th

Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke wrote the song In a Mist and recorded it as a solo piano performance in 1927. He had to be coaxed into making the record and it was released on the Okeh label. Eleven years later another notable recording of the tune was made by trumpeter Bunny Berigan and his group on November 30, 1938.

After spending time doing studio work in New York City, in the mid-1930s Bunny Berigan played trumpet in the immensely popular Benny Goodman Orchestra. He recorded several memorable solos with Goodman including on King Porter Stomp and Blue Skies. In 1937 Berigan left to form his own big band which he led until his death in 1942 at the age of 33.

In 1937 Berigan had asked his chief arranger Joe Lippman to begin work on a suite of six tunes associated with Beiderbecke and by 1938 the band was playing them at live performances and on the radio. After some convincing of the powers that be at Victor Records that such tunes could sell, at the end of November they went into the studio and waxed In a Mist. It was released in early 1939 with another Lippman arrangement of a song associated with Beiderbecke on the B side - Walking the Dog. The band includes Ray Coniff on trombone, Georgie Auld playing tenor saxophone and Buddy Rich at the drums.

Here is a link to the Berigan recording of In a Mist made 84 years ago today:

"IN A MIST"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 29th

In the mid-1960s trumpeter and flugelhorn player Chuck Mangione was a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and recorded two albums with them. Mangione was in the chair that had previously been filled by such jazz trumpet luminaries as Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Kenny Dorham and Freddie Hubbard. A decade later he was one of the most popular solo artists in the world releasing a series of records that made their mark on both the jazz and pop charts. Chuck Mangione was born in Rochester, New York on November 29, 1940, 82 years ago today.

Early in his career Chuck Mangione worked with his pianist brother and released three albums as The Mangione Brothers on Riverside Records. Chuck studied at the Eastman School of Music in his hometown before joining the Jazz Messengers. From 1968 until 1972 he served as the director of the Eastman Jazz Ensemble.

Chuck Mangione’s big breakthrough came with the 1973 record “Land of Make Believe” which received significant airplay. It was Chuck’s eighth album as a leader and featured his brother Gap, Jon Faddis on trumpet and vocalist Esther Satterfield. Three years later, Marngione’s composition Chase the Clouds Away was featured at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.

Mangione reached the pinnacle of his popularity with the huge success of the 1978 album “Feels So Good,” and its title track which reached #4 on the U.S. pop charts. The song was #1 on the Billboard magazine adult contemporary charts. That same year Mangione composed the soundtrack for the movie “Children of Sanchez.” His performance of the title tune won him a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

In addition to his career as a musician, Chuck Mangione has also appeared as an actor in Magnum P.I. and had a recurring role as a voice actor in the animated television series “King of the Hill” where he played himself in cartoon form.

Here is a link to Chuck Mangione’s best-known song:

"FEELS SO GOOD"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 28th

Saxophonist Gato Barbieri was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina on November 28, 1932. He rose to prominence in the free jazz movement of the 1960s and is also known for his Latin jazz recordings.

Barbieri played clarinet and alto saxophone while working with fellow Argentinian Lalo Schifrin in the late 1950s. By the early 1960s he was performing in Europe and made several recordings with trumpeter Don Cherry. Influenced by the recordings of John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Albert Ayler, Barbieri moved in the free jazz and avant-garde circles. He played with Charlie Haden’s Liberation Jazz Orchestra in 1969 and contributed to Carla Bley’s 1971 record “Escalator Over the Hill.”

In 1972 Gato Barbieri won a Grammy for his film score for the film “Last Tango in Paris.” Barbieri wrote the music and played the saxophone solos while Oliver Nelson conducted the orchestra. Later in the decade, Barbieri signed with A&M Records and began to play in more of a soul jazz style. Two of his most popular records of the period were produced by trumpeter and A&M Records co-founder Herb Alpert.

Barbieri more or less disappeared from the music scene from the mid-1980s until the mid-1990s as he cared for his wife who was battling cancer. She passed away in 1995 and Barbieri returned to performing shortly thereafter, often playing in a more “smooth jazz” style. Gato Barbieri released 31 albums as a leader during his career and played as a sideman on more than a dozen more. He passed away from pneumonia in 2016.

Here is a link to Gato Barbieri and guitarist Carlos Santana performing a tune that was a hit for both artists:

"EUROPA"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 27th

Maria Schneider has won multiple Grammy awards in her career as one of the most important contemporary jazz composers and band leaders. She was born in Windom, Minnesota on November 27, 1960.

Schneider graduated from the University of Minnesota where she studied music theory and composition in 1983. After earning a master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1985, she spent time studying with composer and trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. Then Schneider went to work as assistant and music copyist for Gil Evans. While in that position she worked with Evans on a tour with Sting and in writing the music for the movie “The Color of Money.”

Schneider formed her first band with then-husband John Fedchock in 1988. That band was short-lived but she began the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra in 1992 and they played a regular gig at the New York City jazz club Visiones until the club closed in 1998. Between 2005 and 2019 Schneider’s band played an annual Thanksgiving week gig at the Jazz Standard in New York and has toured regularly throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia.

A tireless advocate for musician’s rights and enforcement of copyright laws, Schneider filed suit against You Tube in 2020 claiming that the online video giant violated small copyright holders' rights by denying them access to content ID.
Maria Schneider has won seven Grammy awards, has been named best arranger, best composer and best big band in the Down Beat magazine annual critics poll eight times and was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2019. She regularly conducts clinics and workshops around the world and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 2013,

Here is a link to part of a live performance by the Maria Schneider Orchestra in Vienna, Austria in 2011:

"JAZZ IM KONZERTHAUS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 26th

Nesuhi Ertegun was the son of the Turkish ambassador to the United States. From an early age he showed an interest in American jazz and by the time he was in his early 20’s Nesuhi was promoting jazz concerts around Washington, D.C. When his father died in 1944 and the rest of his family returned to Turkey, Nesuhi moved to California and married the owner of a jazz record shop. He helped run the store and also founded his own record label, Crescent Records. Nesuhi Ertegun was born on November 26, 1917 in Istanbul.

Ertegun founded Crescent Records for the purpose of recording New Orleans jazz legend and trombonist Kid Ory’s Creole Jazz Band and did so in 1944. Ertegun recorded mostly traditional jazz stars throughout his time with Crescent and later at Jazz Man Records and these records were a significant force in the New Orleans revival of the 1940s. He also made records with Bill Daily, Mutt Carey, Jimmy Noone and Turk Murphy.

In the early 1950s Nesuhi Ertegun taught the first jazz history course for academic credit offered at a major U.S. university when he was hired at UCLA. Later in the decade he joined Jerry Wexler and Nesuhi’s brother Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic Records in New York City. He became vice president in charge of jazz at the label. While there he produced landmark albums by John Coltrane, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Charles Mingus, Herbie Mann, Mose Allison, Lee Konitz and Ornette Coleman. He also did work outside the jazz realm producing records for Ray Charles, The Drifters, Bobby Darin and Roberta Flack. In 1971 Nesuhi left Atlantic to form what is now known as Warner Music Group where he remained until his retirement in 1987.

Nesuhi was the first president of the National Association of recording Arts and Sciences which awards the Grammys. He and his brother Ahmet were also co-founders of the New York Cosmos soccer club, the most successful NASL side of the 1970s. Nesuhi died in 1989 at the age of 71 and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, as well as receiving a Grammy award for lifetime achievement in 1995. The Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame at Lincoln Center in New York City was named for him in 2004.

Here is a link to a cut from a Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh album from 1955 produced by Nesuhi Ertegun:

"TOPSY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 25th

Paul Desmond began playing clarinet at the age of 12 and continued with the instrument throughout his high school years. It was while majoring in English at San Francisco State College that he began to play the alto saxophone. He would go on to become a leading figure in the west coast cool jazz movement as the reed man in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and as the composer of Take Five. Desmond was born Paul Emil Breitenfeld on November 25, 1924 in San Francisco.

Desmond’s father was a pianist, organist and composer and played in silent film theaters when his son Paul was a child. He wrote the song The Last Long Mile, which was one of the most popular tunes in America during World War I. His son served three years in the United States Army during World War II and played in the Army band.

After being discharged at the end of the war, Desmond began gigging around the San Francisco Bay area. He occasionally played with pianist Dave Brubeck whom he had met when they were both musicians in the service. While the two initially did not get along, by 1951 they were the founding members of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and worked together until Brubeck broke up the group in 1967 to concentrate on composing. That group, along with bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello, became one of the most popular jazz ensembles of their era, earning airplay not only on jazz radio programs, but on mainstream media, as well. They were especially popular with college audiences and their 1959 Columbia album “Time Out” remains one of the best-selling jazz records of all time.

In addition to his work with Brubeck, Desmond also played with baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, trumpeter Chet Baker, vocalist Carmen McRae, guitarist Jim Hall and the Modern Jazz Quartet. Throughout his adult life Desmond was a heavy drinker and a chain smoker and these habits took a serious toll on his health. He passed away from lung cancer in 1977 at the age of 52. He is remembered for his light and lyrical tone on the alto saxophone. Desmond said he tried to sound like “a dry martini.”

Here is a link to Paul Desmond’s most famous composition as played by the Dave Brubeck Quartet live in 1964:

"TAKE FIVE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 24th

Probably best known for his work with Benny Goodman, pianist Teddy Wilson was born on November 24, 1912 in Austin, Texas. During his career he also played with Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and worked as a leader for more than fifty years. Wilson was one of the first Black musicians to be featured with predominantly white groups.

Teddy Wilson studied piano at the Tuskegee Institute and had early gigs with Speed Webb, Louis Armstrong and Benny Carter before being hired to play piano in Benny Goodman’s trio in 1935. The group later expanded to a quartet including Wilson, Goodman on clarinet, drummer Gene Krupa and vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. This group played during intermissions at performances by the hugely popular Benny Goodman Orchestra during the mid and late 1930s.

After leaving Goodman's employ Wilson briefly led his own big band but spent most of his time working in small group settings with some of the giants of the swing era including Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, Lester Young, Buck Clayton and Red Norvo. He also was supportive of left-wing causes and played at fund raising events for Russian War Relief during World War II. Wilson appeared as himself in a few films and was for a time the music director for the Dick Cavett television program.

Later in life Teddy Wilson taught at Julliard and received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music in 1979. Wilson was known for his light touch and elegance at the piano and was influential for many later keyboard artists. He died of cancer in 1986 at the age of 73.

Here is a link to Teddy Wilson playing the standard All of Me with his trio:

"ALL OF ME"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 23rd

On November 23, 1955 Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers were playing a gig at the Cafe Bohemia in New York’s Greenwich Village. The evening’s music was recorded for Blue Note Records and released as an album in April of 1956.

“At the Cafe Bohemia, Volume 1” was the first of two volumes of music recorded live on that November night. They are the only two live recordings made by the original lineup of the Jazz Messengers. That group consisted of Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Hank Mobley playing tenor saxophone, Horace Silver at the piano, bassist Doug Watkins and Art Blakey on drums.

Produced by Alfred Lion, the original release of the record includes five tracks and a spoken introduction by Blakey. The songs on Volume 1 are Soft Winds, The Theme, Minor’s Holiday, Alone Together and Prince Albert. A 2001 re-issue of the album included three additional tracks: Lady Bird, What’s New? and Deciphering the Message.

The Jazz Messengers started as a collective in the early 1950s. Drummer Art Blakey either led or co-led the group for more than 35 years. It became known to some as “the greatest jazz university in the world,” and many up-and-coming jazz artists passed through the group over the decades including Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, Chuck Mangione, Wynton Marsalis and Terence Blanchard.

Here is a link to a cut from the album recorded that night 67 years ago today:

"MINOR'S HOLIDAY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 22nd

Hoagy Carmichael was born in Bloomington, Indiana on November 22, 1899. Carmichael trained as a lawyer at Indiana University but is known as one of the 20th Century’s most successful composers and one of America’s first singer-songwriters. His music is known to millions today just as it was during a great part of the last century.

In addition to his success as a composer Carmichael also sang and played piano on records, on radio and television and in the movies. Carmichael made hundreds of records between 1925 and his death in 1981. Perhaps his best-known and most recorded song is Stardust, which he first recorded on Halloween 1927 along with a group he assembled that included Bix Beiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer and the Dorsey brothers. The song has been covered by such luminaries as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Artie Shaw and Willie Nelson.

Carmichael appeared in a number of popular movies including “To Have and Have Not,” “The Best Years of our Lives” and “Young Man with a Horn.” He also appeared regularly on radio and television. His final public performance was on a CBS Television special with country artist Crystal Gayle in 1981.

A brief list of his compositions includes Stardust, Up a Lazy River, Georgia on My Mind, Heart and Soul, Rockin’ Chair, Skylark, Riverboat Shuffle, Lazybones and the Oscar winning song In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening.

Here is a link to that first 1927 recording of Stardust. Carmichael plays the piano. There is no vocal as the lyrics to the song were not written until two years after this record was made:

"STARDUST"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 21st

One of the most influential saxophonists of all time was tenor man Coleman Hawkins. Although there were tenor saxophonists in jazz before Hawkins, he was the first to develop a style specific to the instrument and not just imitate clarinet technique. He was born on November 21, 1904 in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Coleman Hawkins, sometimes known by the nicknames “Hawk” or “Bean,” spent time in Chicago and Topeka, Kansas during his youth and studied music theory at Washburn College in Topeka while still attending high school. He played some piano and cello as a youngster and began his saxophone studies at the age of 9. By the time he was 15 he was playing gigs around eastern Kansas. He toured with Mamie Smith’s Jazz Hounds from 1921 until 1923 at which time he took up residence in New York City and became a member of the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra where he stayed until 1934.

Hawkins recorded with many of the most important musicians of the 1920s and 1930s such as Ben Webster, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Django Reinhardt and Benny Carter. In 1939 Coleman Hawkins made one of the most significant recordings in jazz history when he went into the studio and cut Body and Soul for the Victor label. On the record Hawkins plays two choruses but eschews the melody almost completely except for the first four measures. The rest of the record is total improvisation and has been cited by many as the first “tremors” of the bebop era. Although some called the recording an “afterthought” at the session, Hawkins had in fact been playing the tune as an encore at live performances for some time prior to cutting the record.

Hawkins led a big band briefly during the 1940s and was the leader on the record that some consider the first bebop recording. It was made on February 16, 1944 and featured Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Pettiford and Max Roach. Hawkins also recorded with a then-unknown young pianist named Thelonious Monk. Always challenging himself by associating with young musicians, Hawkins recorded with John Coltrane in 1957 and sometimes toured with the Jazz at the Philharmonic series.

Coleman Hawkins is mentioned with regularity as an important influence by musicians to this day and his 1939 recording of Body and Soul is still studied by students in jazz programs around the world. He passed away from liver disease in 1969.

Here is a link to that legendary 1939 recording:

"BODY AND SOUL"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 20th

Composer, arranger and music educator Ralph Mutchler was born on November 20, 1929 in Northwood, North Dakota. The youngest child of a farming family, Ralph took piano and saxophone lessons in his youth. He began playing sax in his older brother Jim’s dance band at 15, and when Jim was drafted into the military Ralph took over as leader of the band. The Ralph Mutchler Orchestra was popular in the upper plains states and allowed its director to develop skills as a composer, arranger and band leader at a young age.

Mutchler attended North Dakota State College in Fargo and then spent time in the military after his graduation. He was assigned to the Sixth Armored Division Band at Fort Leonard Wood where he became assistant director and led the dance band. He also attended the U.S. Naval Musical School in Washington, D.C., during which time two of Mutchler’s arrangements were recorded on major labels.

After his time in the military, Ralph Mutchler did graduate work at Northwestern University while gigging regularly in Chicago. After earning his master's degree, Mutchler was hired in 1960 as the band and jazz band director at Olympic College in Bremerton, Washington. While there he wrote more than 500 arrangements for jazz band and marching and pep band. For many years he was the primary arranger for the University of Washington Husky Marching Band, as well.

Upon Mutchler’s arrival at Olympic College he took over the one-year-old Olympic College Jazz Festival and grew it into an annual three-day event that hosted up to 80 jazz ensembles and served as a model for the jazz festivals that began to appear at educational institutions around the country in the 1960s and 1970s. Mutchler invited his friends and colleagues to act as adjudicators and clinicians at the Olympic College festival and that roster included Quincy Jones, Lou Marini, Gary Burton, Doc Serverinsen and Stan Kenton. Kenton hired Mutchler, now with a doctorate from Colorado State, to teach at the annual Kenton clinics. Mutchler was also an active member of the National Association of Jazz Educators formed in Seattle in 1968.

During its run from 1960 to 1974 the Olympic College Jazz Festival became one of the premier festivals in the United States, and Mutchler’s program at O.C. was one of the early powerhouses in college jazz education. Mutchler retired from teaching in 1982 and passed away three days short of his 60th birthday in 1989.

Here is a link to a youth jazz ensemble performing one of Ralph Mutchler’s arrangements:

"HAPPY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 19th

Legendary trombonist Tommy Dorsey always celebrated his birthday on November 19th, although records in the Pennsylvania county of his birth show that he was actually born eight days later than that in the year 1905. Tommy’s father, a coal miner and amateur cornetist, instilled a love for music in his children and, along with Tommy’s mother Tess, saw a career in music as a way for them to escape a life in the mines. Along with his older brother, reed man Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy did in fact escape and became one of the leading band leaders of the Swing Era.

When Tommy was 15 his family moved to Lansford, Pennsylvania where “Pops” Dorsey became a music teacher and the director of the town band. Both Tommy and Jimmy played in that group and others in the area. In the early 1920s the Dorsey brothers were quite intrigued with the emergence of jazz and were influenced by groups like The Original Dixieland Jazz Band and soon formed their own group called The Wild Canaries. Soon both brothers were hired to play in a band called the Scranton Sirens that travelled to New York City to make records for the Okeh label in 1923. A year later Tommy was playing for Jean Goldkette, one of the most successful of the early big band leaders. In January 1925 Tommy Dorsey played on Bix Beiderbecke’s first recording session as a leader, and two years later they would both be playing in the most successful popular music organization of the era, the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.

In the early 1930s both Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey were finding lots of work as studio musicians in New York City. In 1934 they were convinced to start their own big band by Glenn Miller who became the arranger and musical director for the ensemble. Although successful, the band didn’t stay together long as Tommy’s legendary short temper and Jimmy’s drinking pushed the two apart. Eventually, in 1935 Tommy walked off the stage during a gig at the Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, New York and soon the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra became Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra while Tommy went off to form his own group.

The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra debuted October 1, 1935 at the French Casino in New York. Over the next year the band was selling records, touring and making regular appearances on radio programs. They were receiving positive reviews from the critics and had several #1 records. Eventually Tommy would create an ensemble within the big band called the Clambake Seven that would play small group jazz. Many bands of the era were classified as “sweet” bands that specialized in romantic ballads, or “hot” bands that played more up-tempo music. The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra was equally adept in both areas and one of the most popular groups of the era. Some great musicians passed through the band including Buddy Rich and Frank Sinatra.

In the 1940s Tommy would briefly add a string section to his orchestra along with a harpist and dual pianos. Some memorable recordings were made by this larger group, but it became economically unfeasible to continue with that instrumentation. In the 1950s the Dorsey Brothers would reunite to host a television variety program on NBC which gave Elvis Presley his first national exposure.

One of Tommy Dorsey’s lasting legacies is that he proved that the trombone could be a lyrical, melodic instrument and not just be used as a novelty in jazz. Dorsey passed away in his sleep in 1956.

Here is a link to a 1943 performance by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra during the era during which they featured a string section. Also seen is a 28-year-old Buddy Rich on drums:

"WELL GIT IT"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 18th

Don Cherry may be best remembered for his long association with free jazz icon saxophonist Ornette Coleman, but he also had a long career as a solo artist and was a pioneer in the area of world fusion music. Cherry, who almost always played a “pocket trumpet,” was born on November 18, 1936 in Oklahoma City.

Cherry’s mother, a pianist, was of Native American descent (Choctaw) and his father, a trumpet player, was Black. His father owned a night club in Oklahoma City which hosted performances by Charlie Christian and Fletcher Henderson. When young Don was four or five years of age his family moved to Los Angeles where his father worked tending bar at a jazz club on Central Avenue.

As a teenager Don Cherry would skip his high school classes to go to another high school that had a jazz band so he could sit in with them. By the 1950s Cherry was becoming a regular on the L.A. jazz scene and occasionally sat in with Art Farmer’s group, sometimes at the piano. One time he attended a jam session at Eric Dolphy’s home where he met Clifford Brown, who for a time mentored Cherry.

Don Cherry’s big break came in 1958 when he appeared on a record as a member of Ornette Coleman’s groundbreaking group. He stayed with Coleman for several years, but also played with John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp and Sun Ra. He did side projects with Coleman bandmates Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell. He released his first record as a leader for the Blue Note label in 1966.

During the 1970s Cherry began to concentrate his efforts in the emerging world fusion genre, incorporating instruments and concepts from Africa, India and the Middle East into his music. He recorded three albums for ECM in the latter part of the decade and the early 1980s along with Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos and tabla and sitar player Collin Walcott. Don Cherry passed away in 1995 due to liver cancer.

Here is a link to a live performance by Cherry with Herbie Hancock playing a Thelonious Monk composition:

"BEMSHA SWING"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 17th

Although trombonist Roswell Rudd was conversant in all jazz sub-genres, he is best known for his work as an avant-garde and free jazz musician, and for his work in the world music realm. Rudd was born in Connecticut 87 years ago on November 17, 1935.

While a student at Yale University, Roswell Rudd played in a Dixieland band during the mid-1950s. The group, Eli’s Chosen Six, made two albums. After graduation Rudd worked with a number of well-known avant-garde musicians including Cecil Taylor, Steve Lacy and the New York Art Quartet. He was also heard with Larry Coryell, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri and had a longstanding musical relationship with saxophonist Archie Shepp.

In addition to his work as a performer, Rudd spent time working with ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax on his Cantometrics and Global Jukebox projects. He also taught ethnomusicology at the University of Maine and at Bard College. He could be found teaching master classes and conducting workshops around the globe.

Roswell Rudd spent a good deal of time in Africa and worked extensively with musicians from Mali. He also recorded with the Mongolian Buryat Band in 2005. Rudd recorded 26 albums as a leader or co-leader and received two Grammy nominations. He was voted Best Trombonist in the 2010 DownBeat Critics Poll. Roswell Rudd passed away from prostate cancer in 2017.

Here is a link to the title track from his 1967 record “Everywhere,” recorded for the Impulse! label:

"EVERYWHERE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 16th

Diana Krall was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada on November 16, 1962. She began playing piano at the age of four and played with her high school jazz band. By the time she was 15 she was playing professionally on Vancouver Island and received a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music where she studied from 1981 to 1983. Following that she lived in Los Angeles for a time studying with her mentors bassists Ray Brown and John Clayton who convinced Krall that she should sing as well as play the piano.

To date, Krall has released 17 albums as a leader and has sold more than 15 million records worldwide. She is the only jazz singer to have eight albums debut at #1 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. Nine of her albums have been certified gold, three have gone platinum and seven of them have been multi-platinum sellers. Billboard magazine named Diana Krall the second greatest jazz artists of the first decade of the 21st Century.

Krall has collaborated with Tony Bennett, Ray Charles and her husband, singer-songwriter Elvis Costello. She has explored a wide variety of material during her career including music from Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Nat “King” Cole, The Eagles and Elton John. She has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Victoria (Canada) and is an officer of the Order of Canada. Krall’s career is going strong today, and she is one of the most popular jazz artists on the planet.

Here is a link to a live performance by Diana Krall and her group:

"FLY ME TO THE MOON"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 15th

Jerome Richardson played pretty much all the woodwind instruments: soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, alto flute and piccolo. During his six-decade career he played with his own combos, with big bands and as a sideman on a tremendous number of recordings by jazz and non-jazz artists alike. Jerome Richardson was born on November 15, 1920 in Oakland, California.

Richardson began his musical journey playing alto saxophone when he was 8 years old. By 14 he was performing publicly and after high school attended San Francisco State College. While serving in the military during World War II he sometimes played in a big band directed by Count Basie sax man Marshall Royal. After the war he toured with the big bands led by Lionel Hampton and Earl Hines before moving to New York City where he gigged with Cootie Williams, Lucky Millinder, Gerry Mulligan, Chico Hamilton and Gerald Wilson.
In 1960 Richardson could be found touring Europe with Quincy Jones’ band and he was an original member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. One of his best-known compositions is Groove Merchant, which was recorded by that ensemble. Richardson kept an active studio schedule in the late 1960s while playing with the Jones/Lewis organization, as well.

In 1971 Jerome Richardson relocated to southern California where he worked as a studio musician for most of the remainder of his life. He released five albums as a leader between 1959 and 1997 and appeared on more than one hundred records as a sideman between 1955 and 1992. He played with artists as varied as Cannonball Adderley, Gene Ammons, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Etta James, Blue Mitchell and Oliver Nelson, as well as on records by Steely Dan, the Bee Gees and Earth, Wind and Fire. Jerome Richardson died of heart failure in 2000.

Here is a link to a piece on Richardson’s first record as a leader released in 1959:

"LYRIC"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 14th

Patriarch of a great New Orleans musical family, pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis was born on November 14, 1934. He played saxophone during high school, but switched to piano while attending Dillon University. He later attended Loyola University of New Orleans for graduate work. Ellis Marsalis had a fine career as a pianist, but also taught at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts where his students included Donald Harrison, Harry Connick, Jr., Terence Blanchard and Nicholas Payton. He had several children that have gone on to notable careers in the music world, as well, including Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason. As a family they received the NEA Jazz masters Award in 2011.

Ellis Marsalis began performing professionally during the 1940s and recorded 20 albums as a leader. In addition, he worked with Nat and Cannonball Adderley, Al Hirt, Eddie Harris, David “Fathead” Newman and Marcus Roberts. He also appeared on records by the Count Basie Orchestra, Gerald Wilson, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and with his musician sons. Ellis also taught at the University of New Orleans and Xavier University of Louisiana.

Marsalis received an honorary doctorate from Tulane University in 2007 and was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2018. The Berklee College of Music also granted him an honorary doctorate that same year. Ellis Marsalis passed away in April of 2020 due to complications from Covid-19.

Here is a link to a performance by the Ellis Marsalis Quartet at the 2012 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival:

"TWELVE'S IT"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 13th

Pianist and bandleader Bennie Moten was born in Kansas City, Missouri on November 13, 1893. He led one of the most successful early territory bands in the American Midwest and helped to develop the riff style of playing that became so prevalent in the 1930s.

Moten was organizing bands in the Kansas City area while still in his 20s. His group made their first recording for Okeh Records in 1923. These records show the influence of Joe “King” Oliver’s popular group, then playing in Chicago. After signing with Victor Records in 1926, though, the band's recordings began to show more of an influence from groups like Fletcher Henderson’s ensemble in New York.

In 1929 Moten added new musicians to his group: Walter Page playing bass, Oran “Hot Lips” Page on trumpet and Count Basie at the piano. The change to Page’s walking bass lines from the previous use of a tuba for the bass line being played mostly with a “2-feel” made a tremendous difference in the music. Moten also added singer Jimmy Rushing to his group.

In 1932 the band recorded prolifically and used Eddie Durham arrangements on tunes like Milenburg Joys, Toby and Moten Swing for Victor. After Moten’s death following a failed tonsillectomy in 1935, the band reorganized under the leadership of Count Basie and went on to create important music for decades. The core of the early Basie orchestra, however, was made up of the players from the Moten band that preceded them.

Here is a link to the 1932 Victor recording of Bennie Moten’s Orchestra playing a song named for the bandleader and featuring an intro by their piano player Count Basie:

"MOTEN SWING"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 12th

Perhaps best remembered as an important soloist in the Count Basie band, trumpeter Buck Clayton was born on November 12, 1911 in Parsons, Kansas. His career would take him to some pretty exotic places, and he would be associated with some of the biggest names in jazz.

Although he began piano lessons at the age of six, Clayton did not take up the trumpet until he was in his teens. By his early 20s he was briefly a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Living in Los Angeles at the time, he led a band called The 14 Men from Harlem. By 1934 Clayton was living in Shanghai and leading a group called The Harlem Gentlemen, but returned to the United States in 1937 to accept an offer to play with Willie Bryant’s organization in New York. However, on his way across the country from California he stopped in Kansas City and was persuaded by Count Basie to stay and play with his band at the Reno Club there. He stayed with Basie for six years and, when the band moved their operations to New York City, Clayton was able to pick up additional work playing with Lester Young and Billie Holiday.

In 1943 Clayton was drafted into the military which ended his time playing with Count Basie. After his discharge in 1946 he did continue to write arrangements for Basie as well as for Benny Goodman and Harry James. Around that same time, he began an association with Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic tours. In the 1950s Buck Clayton began to spend more and more time working in Europe and toured with Mezz Mezzrow’s group. Over the next several years he would tour and record in the UK, in Japan and in Australia.

Buck Clayton underwent lip surgery in 1969 and did not return to playing until three years later. He finally gave up playing altogether in 1979 after participating in a U.S. State Department concert tour of Africa. After his playing days were through, he continued to write and arrange and taught at Hunter College in New York City. Buck Clayton died in his sleep in 1991 at the age of 80.

Here is a link to a television appearance by the Buck Clayton All-Stars that features some of Clayton’s old bandmates from the Basie orchestra:

"OUTER DRIVE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 11th

Vocalist Ernestine Anderson was born in Houston, Texas on this date in 1928. During her career in music Anderson would become one of the most recognized jazz singers of her time and be nominated for Grammy awards four times.

Growing up in Texas her family listened to a lot of blues records and Ernestine cited the big bands coming through her hometown as an additional influence on her musical interests. She specifically mentioned the Erskine Hawkins, Jimmie Lunceford, Billy Eckstein and Count Basie bands in a 1998 interview. Anderson would sing along with her parent’s blues records and was entered in a talent contest at the age of 12. She knew only two songs and when the accompanist asked what key she wanted she said “C.” It turned out that C was not a good key for her, so she improvised around the melody and afterwards one of the musicians told her that she was a jazz singer.

At the age of 16 Ernestine Anderson’s family moved to Seattle, Washington where she attended Garfield High School. While still in her teens she began singing with the “Bumps” Blackwell band in Seattle that also included Quincy Jones on trumpet and Ray Charles playing piano. Shortly thereafter she went on tour with the Johnny Otis band and by 1952 she was singing with Lionel Hampton. The following year she relocated to New York City and in 1955 appeared on a Gigi Gryce album. In 1958 she made her first album as a leader in Sweden and the next year she was named a “New Star” by DownBeat Magazine.

Anderson spent much of the 1960s living and working in Europe because popular tastes in the United States made it more difficult for jazz musicians to find work. She made a comeback in the United States starting at the 1976 Concord Jazz Festival which resulted in a contract with the Concord label and a string of eleven successful and critically acclaimed records over the following 15 years. In 1993 she was back in Seattle and signed with Qwest records, owned and operated by her old friend from high school days Quincy Jones. She continued to work and record over the next two decades and established herself as one of the great vocal talents of her era. Ernestine Anderson passed away in Seattle in 2016 at the age of 87.

Here is a link to a live performance of an Ernestine Anderson favorite from 1984:


"NEVER MAKE YOUR MOVE TOO SOON"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 10th

Tenor saxophonist Houston Person was born on November 10, 1934 in Florence, South Carolina. He has had a long and productive career playing hard bop, swing and soul jazz.

Person studied music at South Carolina State College prior to serving in the United States Air Force. While in the Air Force he played in a legendary band in West Germany that featured Don Ellis, Cedar Walton and Eddie Harris. After his discharge, he continued his music studies at the Hartt College of Music in Hartford, Connecticut.

Houston person first made a name for himself in the early 1960s playing in organist Johnny Hammond’s group. It was there that he began a long musical relationship with vocalist Etta James. Person released his first album as a leader on the Prestige label in 1966. In the ensuing years he has released more than 75 additional records. He has also worked as a sideman with many luminaries including Ron Carter, Lena Horne, Lou Rawls, Horace Silver, Grant Green and Richard “Groove” Holmes. Today Person lives in Newark, New Jersey and is still active on the scene.

Here is a link to Houston Person playing a song often associated with his friend Etta James in a trio setting:

"AT LAST"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 9th

One of the true characters in jazz history was clarinetist and saxophonist Mezz Mezzrow. He is probably better known today for the things he did off the bandstand rather than the music he made. His given name was Milton Mesirow and he was born on November 9, 1899 in Chicago.

Mezzrow is referred to as a “juvenile delinquent” by his biographer and he claims that it was in jail and reform schools that he learned to play jazz and blues. Although born into a Jewish family, by the time he was in his 20s Mezzrow had adopted Black culture as his own. He was a well-known figure on the Chicago jazz scene of the 1920s and was friendly with “King” Oliver, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke. Mezzrow made his first records in 1933 when he led The Mezz Mezzrow Orchestra, a diverse group made up of Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson, Willie “The Lion” Smith and Max Kaminsky. The following year Mezzrow appeared on record with Fats Waller.

Beginning around 1938 Mezzrow began making a series of recordings that helped spur the “New Orleans Revival.”  Many of these records were made with soprano saxophonist and friend Sidney Bechet. In the mid-1940’s Mezzrow started his own record label which most often released records featuring the owner. After appearing at the Nice Jazz festival on the French Riviera in 1948, Mezzrow moved to that country and continued to organize bands there, often made up of American expatriate musicians or Americans on tour in Europe.

Mezzrow is known not only for his involvement with the music business, but also for his advocacy for marijuana. He was not only an advocate but as early as the 1920s he was supplying some of the biggest names in jazz with marijuana, most notably Louis Armstrong. He was so associated with cannabis that “Mezz” became a slang term for marijuana among musicians of the time.

Although Mezzrow’s recordings were made on 78 rpm records, several compilations of his work have been released in the years after his passing. Mezz Mezzrow died in Paris in 1972. In 2015 a New York City jazz club was opened and named in his memory.

Here is a link to a 1947 recording made by the Mezzrow Bechet Quintet on Mezzrow’s label:

"WHERE AM I?"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 8th

Guitarist Russell Malone has worked with Jimmy Smith, Harry Connick, Jr., Diana Krall, Benny Green and many others during his career. He first picked up a toy guitar when he was four years old and has gone on to become a leading jazz guitarist. Russell Malone was born on November 8, 1963 in Albany, Georgia.

Malone is mostly self-taught and remembers being inspired by seeing a televised performance by George Benson when he was young. After he first gained wide notice while playing with organist Jimmy Smith in 1988, Malone spent the early 1990s playing with Harry Connick, Jr. That three-year partnership ended when he joined the Diana Krall Trio in 1995 and was part of the group that produced three Grammy-nominated albums, one of which, “When I Look in Your Eyes,” won a Grammy. Malone followed that up by appearing with pianist Benny Green on a series of records in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Russel Malone has released 15 albums as a leader since 1992 and appeared as a sideman with David Sanborn, Houston Person, Ray Brown, Natalie Cole, Sonny Rollins, Diane Reeves and The Chieftains. He often appears in trio and quartet settings.

Here is a link to Russel Malone playing a Juan Tizol classic:

"CARAVAN"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 7th

New Orleans trumpet icon Al Hirt was born on November 7, 1922. Although Hirt always claimed that he was not a jazz trumpeter much of his best-known work was done with jazz and swing bands. Son of a policeman, Hirt was given his first trumpet at age 6 and played with the Junior Police Band and at Jesuit High School. He was playing professionally in his teens before leaving his hometown to study with former Sousa soloist Frank Simon at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.

During World War II Hirt was a bugler in the United States Army. After the war he played in several name swing bands including those led by Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Ina Ray Hutton. Starting in 1950 Al Hirt played lead trumpet in the Horace Heidt band for several years before returning to his hometown. Once back in New Orleans Hirt played in several bands and started his own group that played at Dan’s Pier 600 on Bourbon Street until the early 1960s. During that time he was signed to RCA Records and recorded 22 albums that charted during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1962 Hirt opened his own club in the French Quarter where he played until 1983.

In 1964 Al Hirt released an album called “Honey in the Horn” that featured perhaps his best-known song, a cover of Alan Toussaint’s Java. The single of Java earned Hirt a Grammy award and sold more than a million copies. 1964 was a big year for him as it also saw the release of two other big selling singles, Cotton Candy and Sugar Lips. In 1966 he played the theme music for the television show “The Green Hornet,” which was a Billy May arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee.

In 1967 Hirt was one of the original investors in the New Orleans Saints, an NFL football team. He was the featured soloist with the marching bands from Grambling State University and the University of Arizona during the halftime show of Super Bowl I in Los Angeles.

In 1970 Hirt was injured when he was struck in the mouth by a heavy object that was thrown at him while he performed on a float at a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans. The injury required 12 stitches in his jaw, but he was able to return to performing and played Ave Maria for Pope John Paul II when he visited New Orleans in 1987. Al Hirt passed away from liver failure at the age of 76 in 1999.

Here is a link to Al Hirt playing a medley of his best-known songs in 1987:

"AL HIRT MEDLEY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 6th

Sometime in 1939 the Benny Goodman Orchestra had to fly from Los Angeles to Atlantic City, New Jersey for a gig. Vibraphonist Lionel Hampton had never flown on an airplane before and was a little bit nervous about the flight. While waiting on the tarmac for the plane to taxi before take-off Hampton was absentmindedly whistling a tune “to keep his mind off the impending flight.” Goodman asked him what the tune was, and Hampton replied, “I don’t know. We can call it Flying Home, I guess.” The next night Goodman played the tune for the first time, and on November 6, 1939 the Goodman sextet went into the studio to record Flying Home.

Although many may be more familiar with the big band recording with the famous solo by saxophonist Illinois Jacquet made by Hampton’s band in May of 1942, the Goodman record was the first time Flying Home was ever put to wax. That first recording also features a memorable solo by guitarist Charlie Christian. Eventually Sid Robin would contribute lyrics to the original tune and many notable covers would be recorded. Later versions of the song were recorded by Harry James, Chris Connor and Ella Fitzgerald. Flying Home also appears in a sequence of the 1992 movie “A League of Their Own.” As for the reluctant air passenger Hampton - he liked it so much it became the theme song for his big band after he left the Goodman organization.

The personnel on the November 6, 1939 recording are Benny Goodman on clarinet, Lionel Hampton at the vibraphone, Charlie Christian playing guitar, Fletcher Henderson on piano, Artie Bernstein on bass and the drummer was Nick Fatool.

Here is a link to the Benny Goodman Sextet’s first recording on Flying Home, made 83 years ago today:

"FLYING HOME"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 5th

On November 5, 1976 pianist Keith Jarrett played a concert in Kaikan Hall in Kyoto, Japan. It was the first of eight solo piano concerts Jarrett gave in Japan during that month. He performed in Kyoto, Tokyo, Nagoya, Sapporo and Osaka. Five of the concerts were recorded in their entirety for ECM Records and released as a ten-record set in January of 1978. Jarrett named the tour the “Sun Bear Concerts” after seeing a sun bear, native to Japan, in a zoo during the tour.

Jarrett first came to prominence in the mid-1960s as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, although he did not remain with that ensemble long due to disagreements with the leader. Later Jarrett, a native of Allentown, Pennsylvania and an alumus of the Berklee College of Music, played with Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden and Charles Lloyd before releasing his first album as a leader in 1967. In 1968 he was hired by Miles Davis and played keyboards in that band along with Chick Corea for three years. Since that time Jarrett has expressed a preference for playing acoustic piano and regards electronic instruments as “toys.” His solo album “The Koln Concerts” released in 1975 became the best-selling piano recording of all time.

Keith Jarrett’s biographer Ian Carr has written that the Sun Bear Concerts are “a monumental record of Jarrett's work at a crucial stage of his development…There are amazingly few dead or dull patches, and all five concerts seem related like a massive suite. The improvisation also seems much more organic than on the earlier live solo albums...There are more new colors and new rhythms... and the music tends to evolve rather than to chop and change.”

Here is a link to a segment of that first Sun Bear Concert in Kyoto played 46 years ago today:

"KYOTO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 4th

Jeff Lorber was born in a Philadelphia suburb on November 4, 1952. He has gone on to have a successful career as a keyboardist, composer and producer that has spanned more than four decades.

Lorber began piano studies at the age of 4 and attended the Berklee College of Music in the early 1970s. While there he played with guitarist and future Miles Davis sideman John Scofield. He later moved to Vancouver, Washington across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon.

His first group, Jeff Lorber Fusion, released their debut album on Inner City Records in 1977. The group played a jazz-funk fusion inspired by Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and the band Weather Report. Lorber played multiple keyboards in the group. On their fourth album, 1980’s “Wizard Island,” the group introduced a little-known saxophonist from Seattle named Kenneth Goerlick, who would soon become known as Kenny G.

During the 1980s Lorber’s group came under increasing pressure from their record label to produce more pop-oriented songs featuring vocalists much to the leader’s dismay. In fact, in 1986 he began a seven-year hiatus from the music business. Even though his records were meeting with commercial success, he was not happy with the direction he was being forced to take the music.

In addition to his work with Jeff Lorber Fusion, Lorber has released 13 albums as a solo act, as well as 4 with the trio Jazz Funk Soul. Lorber received six Grammy nominations prior to winning his first in 2018 for the album “Prototype.”

In 2004 Jeff Lorber was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease and received a kidney transplant. His wife was the donor. Since that time Lorber has been a spokesman for the PKD Foundation, raising money and awareness about the disease.

Here is a link to a track from the 1980 Jeff Lorber Fusion record “Wizard Island:”

"CITY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 3rd

Jane Monheit is a vocalist born on New York’s Long Island on November 3, 1977. Jane was drawn to jazz music and Broadway musicals from an early age. Today she is one of the most successful jazz vocalists in the business.

Jane’s father played banjo and guitar, while her mother was a singer that introduced her to many of the great jazz vocalists including Ella Fitzgerald. Monheit was singing professionally while still in high school and later attended the Manhattan School of Music. She studied with Peter Eldridge, one of the founders of the New York Voices. In 1998 Jane was the runner-up at vocal competition sponsored by the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.

Jane Monheit released her first album, “Never Never Land” in the year 2000. In the ensuing years she has released an additional ten albums as a leader and appeared on two albums with David Benoit. In 2016 Monheit released the first record on her own label called Emerald City Records. The album was “The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald,” which included arrangements and performances by trumpeter Nicholas Payton. Monheit’s vocals were featured in the 2010 movie “Never Let Me Go,” as well. She is considered by many critics to be one of the premier interpreters of the Great American Songbook on the scene today.

Here is a link to a 2014 performance of the Burton Lane tune How About You? from a studio session for radio station KPLU:

"HOW ABOUT YOU?"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 2nd

Many jazz fans are familiar with the name Rudy Van Gelder. It appears as the audio engineer on some of the most important recordings in jazz history including Sonny Rollins’ “Saxophone Colossus,” Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” and John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme.” As the New York Times obituary read at the time of Van Gelder’s death in 2016, he “was an engineer and not a producer. He was not in charge of the sessions he recorded; he did not hire the musicians or play any role in choosing the repertoire. But he had the final say in what the records sounded like, and he was, in the view of countless producers, musicians and listeners, better at that than anyone.”

Van Gelder was born on November 2, 1924 in Jersey City, New Jersey and played trumpet as a youth. He also passed the exams to become a ham radio operator while in his teens and was interested in sound recording equipment.

After high school he attended the Pennsylvania College of Optometry and worked for several years as an optometrist by day and a recording engineer by night. He used all the money he made in optometry to build his own recording studio and was recording local musicians when he came to the attention of Blue Note Records owner Alfred Lion in 1952. Lion appreciated the intimate nature of Van Gelder’s recordings and the attention to detail shown in his process. He did everything from setting up microphones and running cable in the studio to the actual recording, mixing and mastering of each project.

After Blue Note started using Van Gelder word of his talent spread in the business. By 1959 he was able to build and open his own studio in the basement of his Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey home. He also quit the optometry business and became a full-time recording engineer. Soon he was doing recording sessions not only for Blue Note, but also for the Prestige and Impulse! labels. In the 1970s he was primarily associated with the CTI label and engineered such albums as Grover Washington, Jr.’s “Mister Magic” and a series of popular Bob James records. Van Gelder was one of the first to embrace digital recording techniques.

“I think I’ve been associated with more records, technically, than anybody else in the history of the record business,” Van Gelder told The New York Times in 1988. He passed away in 2016 at the age of 91 leaving a tremendous legacy of recorded jazz for generations of listeners to enjoy.

Here is a link to a 1994 interview with Rudy Van Gelder:

"RUDY VAN GELDER ON SIMPLY JAZZ"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - November 1st

Grammy Award winning and Academy Award nominated pianist and composer Roger Kellaway was born on November 1, 1939. Native to Massachusetts, Kellaway is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and, aside from his career as a jazz pianist, has composed music for television, movies, ballet and stage productions. Perhaps his best-known composition is Remembering You, the closing theme from the 1970s television series “All in the Family.”

Kellaway began studying piano at the age of 7 and played percussion and bass in his high school orchestra. His first professional jobs after leaving the New England Conservatory were as a bass player. By the age of 22, though, he was living in New York City and was one of the most sought-after studio pianists in town. He recorded with Sonny Rollins, Wes Montgomery, Oliver Nelson, Ben Webster and Clark Terry, and was for a time the accompanist for Lena Horne.

By the mid-1960s Roger Kellaway had moved to Los Angeles and was not only performing, but also writing and conducting film scores. To date he has written 29 film scores and received an Oscar Nomination for Barbra Streisand’s “A Star is Born” in 1976.

In 1970 the Roger Kellaway Cello Quartet was formed with cellist Edgar Lustgarden. Their 1972 album “Come to the Meadow” achieved a good deal of commercial success. The group also included Chuck Domenico on bass and Emil Richards playing the drums. Some have pointed to this record as a major influence on early “New Age” music artists.

Now in his 80s, Kellaway continues to work as prolifically as ever and has often teamed up with clarinetist Eddie Daniels on musical projects.

Here is a link to the title track from “Come to the Meadow:”

"COME TO THE MEADOW"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 31st

Ethel Waters was a singer and actress that often performed jazz as well as pop and gospel music. Her career began when she was asked to sing two songs at a party when she was 17 years old and went on to making records and appearances on Broadway, in movies and on television. Three of her records have received Grammy Hall of Fame Awards. Ethel Waters was born on October 31, 1899 in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Waters’ birth was the result of a rape of her teenaged mother, and she was raised in poverty by her grandmother and several aunts and uncles. She attended a Halloween party at a nightclub in 1916 (her 17th birthday) and was persuaded to sing two songs. So impressive was her performance that she was offered a job singing at the Lincoln Theater in Baltimore. Three years later Waters was on Broadway in the play “Hello 1919!” In between she spent time on the Black vaudeville circuit, performing with a carnival and singing at an Atlanta club on the same bill as Bessie Smith.

During the 1920s Ethel Waters lived in New York City and was an important part of the Harlem Renaissance. She made her first record with the Cardinal label in 1921 and became a major star at Black Swan records, the first major record label owned and operated by African Americans and featuring Black musicians. During the decade Waters was the highest paid Black recording artist in the world. For a time she was also the highest paid performer on Broadway, appearing in 20 productions between 1919 and 1956. In 1925 she was signed by Columbia Records and her first big hit for them was Dinah, a record that has been selected for the Grammy Hall of Fame, along with her 1933 recording of Stormy Weather and her theme song, 1929’s Am I Blue?

Ethel Waters first appearance on screen was in the 1929 movie “On with the Show” and made ten additional movies. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1949 for her work in the movie “Pinky.” Waters also hosted a very early television program in 1939 and later was the star of the first nationally televised weekly series with a Black lead when she played the title role in “Beulah” in 1950.

For much of Waters’ later career she concentrated on gospel music and often toured with the Billy Graham Crusade. Ethel Waters passed away due to multiple health problems in 1977 at the age of 80.

Here is a link to Ethel Waters singing her signature song in the 1929 movie “On with the Show:”

"AM I BLUE?"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 30th

The youngest of eleven children in his family, Ildelphonso “Poncho” Sanchez was born October 30, 1951 in Laredo, Texas. He would grow up to be one of the most influential figures in modern Latin jazz.

Sanchez was exposed to Afro-Cuban music and bebop as a child and started his musical journey playing the guitar. Later he taught himself to play flute and drums while he was in high school. He also found a passion for singing as the lead vocalist for a local R&B group. In his teens Sanchez decided to focus his instrumental skills on playing the congas.

One of young Pancho’s musical idols was vibraphonist Cal Tjader and he got an opportunity to sit in with Tjader’s band when he was 24. Tjader was so impressed with his skills that he soon hired Sanchez as part of his group. Sanchez played congas with Tjader from 1975 until the leader’s death in 1982. Tjader was influential in getting Sanchez a recording contract with the Concord label for whom Poncho recorded 19 albums. He won a Grammy award for Best Latin Jazz Performance for his 1999 record “Latin Soul.”

Aside from Tjader, Poncho Sanchez has also collaborated with Hugh Masakela, Art Pepper, Mongo Santamaria, Clare Fischer, Benny Golson, Woody Herman and Tower of Power. He has recorded 37 albums as a leader and continues to be "among the most influential percussionists in jazz."

Here is a link to Poncho Sanchez and his group playing live at the Catalina Jazz Club in Los Angeles:

"YESTERDAYS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 29th

Zoot Sims was born John Haley Sims into a family of vaudeville performers on October 29, 1925. Growing up in California, Sims played the clarinet and spent time listening to the records his older brother collected, including those by Lester Young and Ben Webster. Those records inspired Sims to pursue a career playing saxophone and he was soon a regular in the jazz clubs along Central Avenue in Los Angeles. It was there that he was heard by Benny Goodman who hired Sims giving him his first high-profile gig.

After playing with Goodman Sims was hired by Woody Herman to be a part of his “Second Herd,” also known as the “Four Brothers” band. Along with fellow saxophonists Stan Getz, Herbie Steward and Serge Chaloff, Sims was one of the legendary “Four Brothers,” who took their name from a Jimmy Giuffre piece written for them

After leaving the Herman band, Sims moved to New York City and did freelance work before landing a chair in the sax section of the Stan Kenton Orchestra. His time with that group was short lived, though, as he disliked the way the group was run as well as the dearth of space for improvisation in the heavily orchestrated arrangements.

For a while after quitting the Kenton band Sims lived in California and worked as a housepainter. Gerry Mulligan looked him up and offered him a job with his group. The time with Mulligan reinvigorated Sims’ career and by the mid-1950s Sims was working as a leader in small group formats and recording profusely. He released ten records in 1956 alone.

Zoot Sims continued to perform throughout the 1960s and 1970s including a reunion with the Herman band. By the early 1980s his health was beginning to decline, and he was diagnosed with cancer. He continued to perform up until his death in 1985.

Here is a link to a quartet performance led by saxophonist Zoot Sims:

"ZOOT'S THEME"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 28th

Avant-garde vocalist and music educator Jay Clayton was born on this date in 1941 in Youngstown, Ohio. Born Judith Colantone, Clayton played piano and accordion as a youth and attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, graduating with a degree in music education in 1963.

After college, Clayton moved to New York City and became involved in the avant-garde jazz scene there. She worked with Steve Lacy, Muhal Richard Abrams, Jane Ira Bloom and George Cables, among many others. In 1967 Clayton and her husband, drummer Frank Clayton began a loft concert series in their home which featured some of the leading avant-garde performers.

In 1982, Jay Clayton moved to Seattle to take a position building the jazz vocal program at the Cornish College of the Arts, a position she held for 20 years. She also has led clinics and workshops at Princeton University, the New School in New York, the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and at the Banff Centre in Canada. Clayton has released 17 albums as a leader and also appeared on records by John Cage and Charlie Haden.
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Here is a link to a 1978 performance by Jay Clayton with pianist Kirk Nurock:

"MY FUNNY VALENTINE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 27th

Born Lee Brown in Newark, New Jersey on October 27, 1919, but better known by his stage name, Babs Gonzales was a bebop vocalist, poet and self-published author. Gonzales was a trained pianist and drummer but preferred to concentrate on his singing. He felt that bebop had much to offer, but was not being accepted by the general public, and made it one of his goals to try and bridge that gap.

The name “Babs” was given to him because his two older brothers were known as “Big Babs” and “Middle Babs," and he was known as “Little Babs.” The surname Gonzales was taken on because he was hospitalized in 1944 with appendicitis and “didn’t want to be treated as a Negro.”

Babs Gonzales worked with the Jimmie Lunceford, Charlie Barnet and Lionel Hampton big bands before settling in New York City where he became involved with the bebop scene. Dizzy Gillespie taught Gonzales about the melodies and harmonies being used in the music and “opened the music up” to him.

Gonzales formed a group called Three Bips and a Bop in the late 1940s and they recorded a number of singles on the Blue Note, Capitol and Apollo labels. Notable musicians who appeared on those records included Tadd Dameron, Wynton Kelly and Sonny Rollins with whom Gonzales struck up a life-long friendship. The most successful of those records was Oop-Pop-a-Da, which was later covered by Gillespie.

Gonzales continued to record as a leader throughout the 1950s and 1960s while also appearing as a guest vocalist on recordings with James Moody, Jimmy Smith and Johnny Griffin. In the late 1950s Gonzales briefly owned a nightclub in Harlem and was always hard at work connecting musicians to one another and helping them get recording contracts. He intermittently lived in Europe during that period.

Babs Gonzales authored two books: 1967’s “I Paid My Dues - Good Times…No Bread” and “Movin’ on Down de Line” in 1975. These books combine autobiographical material as well as colorful anecdotes about characters he knew. The books have been described as “more colorful than accurate.” He also published a bebop dictionary that he sold at gigs. Babs Gonzales died of cancer in 1980.

Here is a link to one of his best-known tunes, from a recording by Three Bips and a Bop:

"OOP-POP-A-DA"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 26th

Tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh was born in Los Angeles on October 26, 1927. He was the son of a famous Hollywood cinematographer and the nephew of silent film star Mae Marsh. Never a household name, Warne Marsh was known for his lyrical improvisation and was well-respected amongst his colleagues in the jazz community.

Marsh played in a Hoagy Carmichael group known as The Teenagers when he was 18 before serving in the United States Army. After his discharge, Marsh became a student of pianist and improvisation guru Lennie Tristano and remained true to his philosophy which espoused “the purity of the long line, the avoidance of licks and emotional chain-pulling.“

Warne Marsh is associated with the west coast school of jazz but came to prominence while playing with Tristano in New York from 1949 to 1952. After leaving that group, Marsh led his own small groups and appeared on records with Chet Baker, Lee Konitz and Bill Evans. In the 1970s he was a member of the group Supersax that played harmonized arrangements of Charlie Parker tunes.

Marsh recorded 31 albums as a leader during his lifetime, and many other compilations have been released since his death in 1987. Marsh died on stage from a heart attack at Donte’s nightclub while playing the tune Out of Nowhere. Marsh has achieved a kind of cult following in recent years.

Here is a link to Warne Marsh’s quartet playing live at a 1980 jazz festival in Berlin:

"BODY AND SOUL:

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 25th

Grammy award winning trombonist and music educator Robin Eubanks was born on October 25, 1955 in Philadelphia. He has been one of the more prominent jazz trombonists since he hit the scene in the early 1980s. Born into a musical family, Robin’s mother Vera is a pianist who holds a doctorate in music and was Kenny Barron’s first piano teacher. Robin’s brothers Kevin and Duane are also well-known professional musicians.

Robin Eubanks began studying music when he was 8 and a decade later matriculated at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He graduated cum laude when he had completed his studies in music theory, composition and trombone performance. After leaving school he moved to New York City and did studio work and played in the Saturday Night Live band. In addition, he was a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and played with Slide Hampton, Sun Ra and Stevie Wonder. Eubanks spent 15 years playing with bassist Dave Holland’s ensembles.

Fellow trombonist J.J. Johnson recommended Eubanks for a teaching position at Oberlin College in Ohio, and he spent two decades there as professor of Jazz Trombone and Jazz Composition. He has also taught at the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music and is a frequent lecturer and clinician at jazz festivals. Robin is associated with the M-Base movement along with artists like Steve Coleman and Geri Allen. Eubanks has released ten albums as a leader and has also worked as a sideman on records by B.B. King, Barbra Streisand, Joe Henderson and Elvin Jones.

Here is a link to Robin Eubanks performing at his alma mater in 2016:

"FULL CIRCLE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 24th

92-year-old jazz historian, writer and producer Dan Morgenstern was born on October 24, 1929 in Munich, Germany. His mother was a writer and Dan was raised in Vienna and Copenhagen. He immigrated to the United States after World War II and, after serving in the U.S. Army, Morgenstern attended Brandeis University on the G.I Bill.

Morgenstern wrote for several music publications during the 1960s and 1970s including Metronome and DownBeat. He is also the author of two books, “Jazz People” published in 1976, and “Living with Jazz” from 2004. Both books won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award recognizing excellence in music journalism and research. In 2007 Morgenstern received an award for music advocacy from the National Endowment for the Arts. In addition to writing books and articles, Morgenstern has received eight Grammy awards for outstanding liner notes.

In 1976 Dan Morgenstern was named the director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University - Newark. In his decades in that position he created the world’s largest collection of jazz documents, recordings and memorabilia. He has also served on countless panels at jazz festivals and participated in the Ken Burn’s “Jazz” series on PBS. He has hosted television and radio programs about jazz and founded the Jazz in the Garden Series at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Here is a link to Dan Morgenstern talking about Lester Young in a 2017 interview:

"DAN MORGENSTERN ON LESTER YOUNG"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 23rd

Ernie Watts is a much-heralded reedman who has done extensive work both in the jazz world and as a studio musician. A winner of two Grammy awards, he has toured and recorded both as a leader and as a sideman for more than fifty years and is still going strong today. He was born on October 23, 1945 in Norfolk, Virginia.

Watts began playing saxophone when he was 13 and attended the Berklee College of Music. Although primarily associated with the tenor saxophone today, in the late 1960s he held down one of the alto sax chairs in the Buddy Rich big band. He played with Oliver Nelson for a while and played in the Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen for twenty years.

Ernie Watts has released 13 albums as a leader but has appeared on many more records and soundtracks as a sideman. He has played with jazz artists including Charlie Haden, Donald Byrd, Sarah Vaughan, Stanley Clarke, Pat Metheny, Blue Mitchell, Kurt Elling, J.J. Johnson and Quincy Jones. He has also been on records with non-jazzers like Marvin Gaye, Paul McCartney, Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, Carole King, Glenn Frey, Bill Withers and James Taylor, as well as having toured with the Rolling Stones. In addition, he can be heard on the soundtracks to the movies “The Color Purple” and “Grease.” He also played the theme music for the 1980s television comedy “Night Court.”

Here is a link to Ernie Watts playing with his quartet at a jazz festival in Minneapolis in 1986:

"NO DOUBT ABOUT IT"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 22nd

On October 22, 1957 the Count Basie Orchestra was in the Capitol Records studio on West 46th Street in New York City for the second of two days recording the album that would be named “The Atomic Mr. Basie.” The record was released on the Roulette label the following year and featured compositions and arrangements by Neal Hefti including Kid From Red Bank, Whirlybird, Splanky, Flight of the Foo Birds and Li’l Darlin’. Critic Bruce Eder wrote that the record “took Basie's core audience and a lot of other people by surprise, as a bold, forward-looking statement within the context of a big-band recording."

The arranger Neal Hefti was a trumpet player from Nebraska who began writing charts as a teenager playing in Woody Herman’s First Herd. After leaving Herman in 1946 he concentrated on his writing and started working with Basie in 1950. In addition to his work in the jazz field, Hefti also wrote the music for the “Odd Couple” movie and the theme for the Batman television show in the mid-1960s.

The Basie band that was in the studio on that October day 65 years ago included Snooky Young and Thad Jones on trumpet, trombonist Al Grey and saxophonists Marshall Royal, Frank Foster and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. The record received widespread critical acclaim and the Hefti tunes are still played regularly today by jazz big bands worldwide.

Here is a link to one of the better-known songs from “The Atomic Mr. Basie:”

"WHIRLY BIRD"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 21st

John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie is one of the seminal figures in the development of jazz. He was a composer, bandleader and one of the most talented trumpet players of his or any other era. Gillespie and his friend saxophonist Charlie Parker are considered by most to be the two most important figures in the development of bebop and the primary progenitors of modern jazz. Gillespie acquired the nickname “Dizzy” because of his “penchant for clowning and capriciousness.” Dizzy Gillespie was born in Cheraw, South Carolina on October 21, 1917.

Gillespie’s father was a bricklayer and amateur musician who taught his son the basics of music and gave him a start on several instruments. After his father died when he was 10, Dizzy taught himself to play trumpet and trombone. He attended the Laurinburg Institute where he studied music. As a young man Gillespie was influenced by the playing of trumpet great Roy Eldridge and replaced his idol in the Teddy Hill Orchestra in 1937. It was with Hill that Gillespie made his first recoding.

After his time with Teddy Hill, Gillespie played in several other bands including those led by Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Earl Hines and Billy Eckstein. During the early 1940s he was one of the regular participants in the late-night jam sessions held at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem where the seeds of the bebop movement were sprouting. Other musicians that frequented those sessions included Parker, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Christian and Max Roach. Dizzy Gillespie played trumpet on what is considered the first bebop recording session in 1944 with saxophonist Coleman Hawkins. His composition Woody ‘n’ You was one of the sides they waxed that day.

Throughout the late 1940s and into the 1950s Gillespie and Parker often played and recorded together and, although Parker was sometimes annoyed with Gillespie’s comic behavior on stage, together they created some of the most important music in jazz history. Each seemed to inspire greater creativity in the other. Dizzy Gillespie formed a big band in 1946. It's repertoire included bebop tunes and Afro-Cuban jazz and featured music by Tadd Dameron, George Russell and John Lewis. Gillespie led big bands sporadically throughout the 1950s, but worked in small group settings for most of the rest of his career. He led the United Nations Orchestra for three years in the 1980s.

Gillespie’s signature bent trumpet came about due to an accident when two dancers fell on his trumpet and bent the bell upward while performing at Dizzy’s wife’s birthday party in 1953. Dizzy liked the sound and had the Martin company build him a similar model. Gillespie’s other trademark was his puffed cheeks when he played. While any music educator would tell you that was a bad way to play the trumpet, it certainly worked for Dizzy!

Dizzy Gillespie made tremendous contributions to the world of music and is revered by jazz musicians to this day. He was an important influence on Miles Davis, John Faddis, Arturo Sandoval and Clifford Brown among many others. Gillespie passed away due to pancreatic cancer in 1993 at the age of 75.

Here is a link to a mid-1940s film short featuring a performance by Dizzy Gillespie’s big band playing one his best-known compositions: 

"SALT PEANUTS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 20th

Another Chicago musician that participated in Walter Dyett’s program at DuSable High School was saxophonist Eddie Harris. Others included Nat “King” Cole, Julian Priester and Johnny Griffin. Born on October 20, 1934, Harris attended Roosevelt University after high school where he studied piano and vibraphone along with the tenor sax. After college Harris did a stint in the U.S. Army in Germany where he played in a band with Don Ellis and Cedar Walton.

Upon his return to the states after being discharged, Harris lived for a while in New York City where he recorded his first record, an album in 1961 for VeeJay Records called “Exodus to Jazz.” The record included a Harris arrangement of Ernest Gold’s theme for the movie “Exodus,” which was released as a single and received heavy airplay on radio. It became the first jazz record to be certified gold.

Eddie Harris was not only an accomplished saxophonist and keybord man, but he also experimented with new hybrid musical instruments, many of his own design. These included the reed trumpet (which he premiered at the 1970 Newport Jazz Festival), the saxobone and the guitorgan. He also often collaborated with rock and blues musicians including Stevie Winwood and Albert Lee. In 1975 Harris released a stand-up comedy album, as well.

His best-known composition is Freedom Jazz Dance, which he debuted on his 1966 record “The In Sound.” It was later notably covered by Miles Davis. In 1969 he appeared with Les McCann at the Montreux Jazz festival and that performance produced the classic album “Swiss Movement.” During his career Eddie Harris released 58 records as a leader. He passed away from congestive heart failure in 1996 at the age of 62.

Here is a link to Harris playing two of his compositions at the 1969 Montreux Jazz Festival:

"LISTEN HERE/FREEDOM JAZZ DANCE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 19th

On October 19, 1948 RKO Pictures released a new movie starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo called “A Song is Born.” It is a light comedy and received mixed critical reviews. Despite being the top box office earner for the month after its release, it never broke even financially. It was a remake of a 1941 Gary Cooper/Barbara Stanwyck movie called “Ball of Fire” based on a Billy Wilder story. Both the films were directed by Howard Hawks, who never liked the remake.

Whatever your opinion of the movie as a whole, it is worth a viewing just to see the jazz and swing musicians that play themselves. The story revolves around a group of stodgy old musicologists who have been working for years on a comprehensive encyclopedia of music while living in a Victorian mansion in New York City. They have no idea what is going on in the contemporary music scene and send Professor Hobart Frisbee (Danny Kaye) out to research the question. During his academic forays into nightclubs and jazz bars he meets a host of music stars of the era. At one point they come together to help make the recording that will accompany the encyclopedia. Watch the linked clip below and see if you can spot Benny Goodman (who plays one of the musicologists), Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet, Lionel Hampton, Louis Bellson, Mel Powell, Laurindo Almeida and others (it’s not that difficult).

Here is a link to the recording scene from the movie “A Song Is Born,” released on this date 74 years ago:

"A SONG IS BORN"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 18th

One of the most prominent jazz musicians of the past 40 years is trumpet player, composer, band leader and music educator Wynton Marsalis. The second of six sons in the Marsalis family of musicians from New Orleans, Wynton was born on October 18, 1961.

The son of pianist Ellis Marsalis who was friends with many jazz greats, Wynton was named after pianist Wynton Kelly. One night when Wynton was 6, his father was hosting Miles Davis, Al Hirt and Clark Terry at their home and jokingly suggested he should get Wynton a trumpet, too. Al Hirt volunteered and bought Wynton his first horn.

Wynton attended a high school for the performing arts and studied both classical and jazz trumpet. He was the only Black musician in the New Orleans Civic Orchestra. When he was 14 he won a contest and performed Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto with the New Orleans Philharmonic. At 17 he attended the Tanglewood Music Festival in Massachusetts and was admitted to Julliard in 1979.

Between 1980 and 1982 Wynton Marsalis was a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and made his first recordings with that group. After spending some time touring with Herbie Hancock after leaving Blakey’s employ, Marsalis was signed to Columbia Records and his first album as a leader was released on January 8, 1982. He was the first musician to win Grammy awards in both the classical and jazz categories in the same year. In all, Marsalis has won nine Grammys.

In 1987 Marsalis was instrumental in beginning the “Classical Jazz” summer series at Lincoln Center in New York City. This eventually led to Jazz at Lincoln Center being recognized as its own entity and eventually to the formation of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Wynton Marsalis is the director of the program as well as musical director of the orchestra.

Wynton Marsalis’ career has not been without controversy. He has indicated that he considers much of the music jazz musicians have created since 1965 to be outside the realm of jazz, in part, at least, due to the use of electronic instruments and the heavy influence of rock and pop music. His opinions have put him at odds sometimes with musicians like Keith Jarrett and Stanley Clarke, as well as with some critics.

Marsalis has won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, has been named an NEA Jazz Master and is one of the youngest members ever inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame. He has also been honored with honorary doctorates from twelve universities. He remains one of the most important figures in jazz today.

Here is a link to Wynton with his quartet playing at a festival in 1987:

"GIANT STEPS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 17th

Barney Kessel was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma on October 17, 1923 and went on to become one of the most prolific jazz guitarists of the Twentieth Century. During his career he would record 49 albums as a leader, be a first call guitarist for studio work for decades and play with jazz greats like Billie Holiday, Benny Carter, Ella Fitzgerald, Dexter Gordon and Roy Eldridge.

Kessel had very little formal training on guitar, but by the time he was in his teens he was playing with Hal Price and the Varsitonians. Fellow musicians recalled that Kessel was practicing up to 16 hours a day as a youth and was often the only white member of the bands he performed with. When he appeared in the musical short movie “Jammin’ the Blues” in 1944, he was kept in shadows because all the other musicians were Black and producers feared negative audience reaction for featuring a mixed-race ensemble.

By the time Barney was 20 he was living in Los Angeles and playing in the Chico Marx Big Band. Shortly thereafter, he also spent time playing in the bands fronted by Artie Shaw and Charlie Barnet. He also performed and recorded with Oscar Peterson, Sonny Rollins, Art Tatum and Charlie Parker. During the 1950s Kessel was a frequent winner of “Best Guitarist” polls, including those in Metronome, Esquire, Playboy and DownBeat magazines.

Kessel spent much of his career doing studio work with Columbia and as member of the Tonight Show Band. He was also part of “The Wrecking Crew,” a loose collaboration of studio musicians working in Los Angeles. As a Wrecking Crew member, Kessel recorded with Sonny and Cher, The Monkees and The Beach Boys. During the 1960s and into the 1970s Gibson Guitars manufactured a Barney Kessel model guitar. Kessel suffered a stroke in 1992 and was in poor health for years before his death in 2004.

Here is a link to Barney Kessel playing a Jimmy Van Heusen standard:

"HERE'S THAT RAINY DAY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 16th

Roy Hargrove was discovered by Wynton Marsalis when he was visiting Hargrove’s high school in Dallas, Texas. That school, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing Arts, also produced Norah Jones and Erykah Badu. Hargrove, one of the most gifted trumpet players of his generation, was born on October 16, 1969.

After high school Hargrove spent a year studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston before transferring to the New School in New York City. While there Hargrove made his first recording as a member of Bobby Watson’s group on the album “No Question About It,” released in 1988. Two years later, after spending time playing in the group Superblue with Watson, Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Washington, Hargrove released his first album as a leader, “Diamond in the Rough.” That album and the three additional albums Hargrove made with his quintet were among the most commercially successful jazz records of the early 1990s. During that period, he won the DownBeat Magazine Critics Poll award for “Rising Star - Trumpet” three consecutive years.

In 1993 Hargrove was commissioned to write a jazz suite for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and in 1995 he founded the Roy Hargrove Big Band. That group toured internationally and featured original compositions and arrangements by Hargrove and others. In the late 1990s Roy was a memeber of a collective known as Soulquarians which included Questlove and Common.

In all, Roy Hargrove would record 25 albums as a leader and appear on dozens more as a sideman. During his career he would win two Grammy awards and be elected to the DownBeat Magazine Jazz Hall of Fame. He also was one of those responsible for the creation of the non-profit performance space The Jazz Gallery in New York.

Hargrove suffered from kidney failure and was on dialysis for the last 14 years of his life. He passed away on November 2, 2018 from cardiac arrest brought on by his struggles with kidney failure.

Here is a link to a Hargrove studio performance at KPLU radio in 2009:

"SOULFUL"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 15th

Nathaniel Adams Coles was born in Montgomery, Alabama and raised in Chicago. A child prodigy, Nat “King” Cole grew up to become an outstanding jazz pianist as well as a hugely popular singer. He was the first Black man to host his own network television program in the United States and on October 15, 1957 the guests on his show were members of Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic tour.


Cole began taking piano lessons from his mother when he was 4 and left school at 15 to lead his own bands. By 18 he was married and living in Los Angeles while fronting the King Cole Trio. The group was very popular and an influence on Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal, pianists who formed similar trios. Cole’s biographer has said that had Cole never sung a note he would be remembered as one of the five most influential pianists in jazz history.


The Jazz at the Philharmonic tours were the brainchild of producer Norman Granz. The first JATP performance took place at Philharmonic Auditorium in Los Angeles on July 2, 1944 and the last took place in 1983. In between swing and bop musicians presented countless performances around the globe and released numerous recordings on different labels. Many of the preeminent musicians of the era participated and JATP concerts were many times the first opportunity for audiences in some places to see and hear an integrated group musicians perform.


Here is a link to video from the 1957 JATP appearance on the Nat “King” Cole television program:

"JATP ON THE NAT "KING" COLE SHOW"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 14th

One of the great European jazz trumpeters was born on October 14, 1931 in Bosnia. Dusko Goykovich began playing trumpet with traditional jazz bands while a youth and was accomplished enough to join the Radio Big Band of Belgrade at the age of 18. He played with that group for five years before moving to Germany where he was a member of the Frankfurt All-Stars. Then came a four-year stint with Kurt Edelhagen’s band where he was the featured trumpet soloist.

In 1958 Dusko received an invitation to play at the Newport Jazz Festival and soon after was offered a grant to study composition and arranging with Herb Pomeroy at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Goykovich was such a dedicated student that he turned down offers to play with Benny Goodman, Count Basie and Stan Kenton. Upon completing his studies, though, Dusko took a job playing with the Maynard Ferguson band where he was second trumpet soloist and wrote arrangements for the group.  After the band broke up in 1964 Goykovich spent a year with Woody Herman.

Returning to Europe in 1966 Dusko Goykovich played with many jazz greats touring the continent including Miles Davis, Lee Konitz, Clark Terry and Phil Woods. He sat in with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and was a member of the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band. In 1968 he started leading and writing for his own big band in Munich and kept them together for eight years. The band re-formed in 1986 and has been going strong ever since.

Here is a link to a 1998 small group recording by Dusko Goykovich which also features Tommy Flanagan on piano and Jimmy Heath on saxophone:

"SOUL CONNECTION"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 13th

One of the most prolific bassists in jazz history was born in Pittsburgh on October 13, 1926. Ray Brown began piano lessons when he was 8 years old and began playing upright bass in the orchestra when he was in high school.

Ray Brown began playing gigs around his hometown in his late teens and moved to New York City when he was 20 in hopes of finding work on 52nd Street. Shortly after arriving he met up with pianist Hank Jones. Jones introduced Brown to Dizzy Gillespie who was looking for a bass player for his band. Brown was hired and spent the five years playing in Gillespie’s rhythm section which included John Lewis on piano, Milt Jackson on vibraphone and Kenny Clarke at the drums. In 1947 Brown met and married singer Ella Fitzgerald while the two were on tour with the Gillespie band.

After leaving Gillespie in 1951 Brown became the bass player for Oscar Peterson’s combos for the next 14 years, while also keeping a busy schedule as a studio musician. During this period, he appeared on recordings with Count Basie, Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, Barney Kessel, Peggy Lee, Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan.

After leaving Peterson’s employ in 1965 Brown concentrated on studio work in Los Angeles and made records as a sideman with artists as diverse as Frank Sinatra, Linda Ronstadt, Steely Dan, Kiri Te Kanawa, Elvis Costello and Elton John. Ray Brown was a member of The L.A. Four between 1974 and 1982 along with guitarist Laurindo Almeida, reedman Bud Shank and drummer Shelly Manne. Ray Brown also is responsible for discovering pianist and vocalist Diana Krall at a restaurant in Nanaimo, British Columbia and convincing her to come to Los Angeles.

Ray Brown won a Grammy for his composition The Gravy Waltz and received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music in 1995. He died in his sleep in 2002 and was posthumously inducted into the DownBeat Magazine Jazz Hall of Fame in 2003.

Here is a link to an L.A. Four recording from the mid-1970s:

"RONDO ESPRESSIVO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 12th

Drummer Alfred “Tubby” Hall was born on October 12, 1895 in Sellers, Louisiana, but his family moved the 18 miles downriver to New Orleans when he was a small child. His father was an amateur drummer and played in brass bands. Tubby grew up to be one of the most important drummers of the 1920s.

As a youth in New Orleans, Hall took lessons and learned to read music “pretty well.” He was playing gigs in saloons and with parade bands by the time he was in his teens. In 1917 he joined the Great Migration and moved north to Chicago where he was unemployed as a musician at first. After several months, though, he joined Sugar Johnny’s Creole Orchestra, a group of fellow New Orleans expatriates with a regular gig at the DeLuxe Cafe on State Street.

In 1918 Tubby’s career was interrupted when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. After his two-year stint was up, he returned to Chicago and by 1924 was the drummer for the house band at the Sunset Cafe. The group was led by violinist Carroll Dickerson and would soon include Earl Hines and Louis Armstrong. After Dickerson was fired one night for arriving at work drunk, club manager Joe Glaser appointed a new front man for the band, and it became known as Louis Armstrong and his Stompers. The band recorded a tune called Chicago Breakdown on May 9, 1927. It was Hall’s first confirmed appearance on record.

During the 1930s Tubby Hall was the drummer for a number of Armstrong ensembles and made several important records with Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra during the decade. He also appeared in movie shorts like “A Rhapsody in Black and Blue” with Armstrong. Some critics have called Tubby Hall one of the three most important jazz drummers of the 1920s along with Zutty Singleton and Baby Dodds. Hall passed away in Chicago in 1945.

Here is a link to that first confirmed Tubby Hall recording session with Armstrong in the spring of 1927:

"CHICAGO BREAKDOWN"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 11th

Art Blakey was born on October 11, 1919 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A driving hard bop drummer, Blakey is best known as the leader of The Jazz Messengers, a group through which many of the most important musicians of the second half of the twentieth century passed.

Blakey was raised by siblings and a family friend after his mother died when he was very young. He began learning piano at school and didn’t start playing drums until later. Although there are a number of differing accounts of his early years, one claims that Blakey was playing music professionally by the time he was in the seventh grade. Another says he was forced to switch from piano to drums at gunpoint by a club owner who wanted him to relinquish the piano chair to Erroll Garner.

However the change in instruments occurred, Blakey was playing drums for Mary Lou Williams by the time he was 20 and shortly thereafter secured the drum chair in the Fletcher Henderson band. After being beaten by a police officer in Georgia while on tour with Henderson, a steel plate was placed in Blakey’s head which exempted him from military service during World War II. He would later do a three-year stint with the Billy Eckstein Orchestra where he met bandmates Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro, Charlie Parker and Sarah Vaughan and became associated with the growing bebop movement.

After living in Africa from 1947 until 1949, Art Blakey returned to America and spent several years as a popular sideman on recordings by Davis, Parker, Gillespie, Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. In fact, Blakey was the drummer on Monk’s first record, and he also played on Monk’s very last recording session, too.

In 1954 Blakey co-founded The Jazz Messengers with pianist Horace Silver. The original lineup also included Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone, Kenny Dorham on trumpet and Doug Watkins playing the bass. Silver left the group less than two years later and Blakey took over leadership and continued to lead the band for the remainder of his life. Over the years The Jazz Messengers developed the reputation as “the greatest jazz university on earth” as young players would come into the group, grow as musicians, and then move on to lead their own ensembles. A list of these musicians includes (but is not limited to) Donald Byrd, Benny Golson, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Chuck Mangione, Joanne Brackeen, Keith Jarrett, Terrence Blanchard, Donald Harrison and Wynton and Branford Marsalis.

Art Blakey passed away from lung cancer on October 16, 1990, just five days after his 71st birthday.

Here is a link to a live Jazz Messengers performance featuring a composition by the pianist on the gig, Bobby Timmons:

"MOANIN'"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 10th

Trumpeter Harry “Sweets” Edison was born on October 10, 1915 in Columbus, Ohio and grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. He is perhaps best known for the 13 years he spent as a member of the trumpet section and featured soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra between 1937 and 1950.

After moving back to Columbus when he was 12, Edison took up the trumpet and was playing with local bands while still in his teens. In 1933 he began playing with the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra in Cleveland, and later with Lucky Millinder before joining up with Basie when he was 22. It is said that his nickname “Sweets” was given to him by Lester Young because he was handsome, and all the girls flocked to him when the band performed.

After the Basie band temporarily broke up in 1950 Edison played on the Jazz at the Philharmonic tours and led his own groups. He settled in California and became a much-in-demand studio musician contributing to recordings by Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. He also worked in many television show orchestras on programs like Hollywood Palace, Leslie Uggams Show and on Sinatra specials. He was the musical director for Redd Foxx's theater shows and his playing was featured in the movie “Lady Sings the Blues.” Edison also performed regularly in Europe and Japan.

Harry “Sweets” Edison died at his home in Columbus, Ohio on July 27, 1999 at the age of 83.

Here is a link to a televised performance by Edison in a quartet setting:

"WILLOW WEEP FOR ME"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 9th

South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim was born in Cape Town on October 9, 1934. His birth name was Adolph Johannes Brand and for many years he worked professionally as Dollar Brand. His composition Mannenberg became an anti-apartheid anthem in his home country and around the world.

Ibrahim began piano lessons at the age of 7 and made his professional debut at 15. By his mid-20s, he was a member of “The Jazz Epistles,” a group that included trumpeter Hugh Masekela. In 1960 the band went into the Gallo studio in Johannesburg and recorded the first full-length jazz album by South African Black musicians. Later that same year he released his first record as a leader “Dollar Brand Plays Sphere Jazz.”

In 1962 Ibrahim moved to Europe and was introduced to Duke Ellington by Abdullah’s future wife, singer Sathima Bea Benjamin. Ellington arranged to have Ibrahim signed to do a record for the Reprise label and a year later “Duke Ellington presents the Dollar Brand Trio” was released. In 1965 Benjamin and Ibrahim were married and moved to New York City, toured the United States and appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival. In 1966 Ibrahim substituted for Ellington and led his band for five gigs. The following year he received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation for study at Julliard.

While living in New York Ibrahim worked with and was influenced by Don Cherry, John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman. He was also influenced by the Black Power movement and the continuing struggle of Black people in his native South Africa. During this period, he began to incorporate more African musical elements into his writing and playing. He converted to Islam and changed his name in 1968.

In 1974 Abdullah Ibrahim released a quintet album called “Mannenburg - ‘Is Where It’s Happening.” Mannenburg is a township of Cape Town that was created by the apartheid government in 1966 as a place to relocate Black citizens who were forced out of their homes in areas designated as “white only.”

In all, Ibrahim has 70 records as a leader on his resume and remains active as a musician today at the age of 87. In 2018 he was named as one of four recipients of the United States National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships. He has received numerous additional awards throughout the world including South Africa’s Order of Ikhamanga "For his excellent contribution to the arts, putting South Africa on the international map and his fight against racism and apartheid."

Here is a link to his 1974 recording of Mannenburg:

"MANNENBURG"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 8th

The early years of Pepper Adams’ life were spent moving around the American Midwest as his family followed the availability of work during the Great Depression. Adams, who was born in Michigan on October 8, 1930, also moved around musically, starting on piano, and trying his hand at trombone, clarinet and tenor saxophone before settling on the instrument that he would eventually be known for, the baritone saxophone, at age 16.

After purchasing his first baritone saxophone using his employee discount at the Detroit music store where he worked, he was gigging around the city and eventually dropped out of the 11th grade to concentrate on his musical career. He later attended Wayne State University and also served in the United States Army in Korea.

Adams cited Wardell Gray and Harry Carney as primary influences and spent time playing with Count Basie, Lucky Thompson and Kenny Burrell. He joined up with the Stan Kenton Orchestra in 1956 followed by a year-long stint with Chet Baker. In 1965 he was a founding member of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra in New York City and played with them for 11 years. In 1977, at age 47, Pepper Adams began a solo career and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Instrumental Performance as a Soloist in 1984.

Adams was severely injured in a freak automobile accident at his home in 1983 and spent about a year in a wheelchair. He was able to return to performing, though, in January of 1985. He was also a heavy smoker for most of his life and was diagnosed with lung cancer. He passed away on September 10, 1986 at the age of 55.

Here is a link to Pepper Adams playing with Clark Terry in a 1978 performance for Swedish television:

"STRAIGHT, NO CHASER"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 7th

Jo Jones was born on October 7, 1911 in Chicago, Illinois and grew up to become one of the most influential drummers in jazz history. He is credited with promoting the use of brushes on the drums as well as moving the essential pulse from the bass drum to the hi-hat. He is best known for his years as the drummer in Count Basie’s “All-American Rhythm Section,” along with Basie, guitarist Freddie Green and bassist Walter Page.

He began his career as a youth travelling the American south and performing as a drummer and tap dancer with carnival shows. He also could play the saxophone and piano. In the late 1920s he joined Walter Page’s Blue Devils, a territory band from Oklahoma City and later played with Lloyd Hunter’s Serenaders before becoming a member of the Basie ensemble in 1934. He stayed with Basie until 1948, with a two-year break during World War II for military service.

In addition to being known for his amazing abilities as a percussionist, Jones was also known for his occasional outbursts of temper. The best known of these was the night in Kansas City when, during a jam session, he threw his cymbal at the feet of a 16-year-old saxophonist named Charlie Parker to get him to leave the stage because Parker got lost in the changes.

After leaving Basie, Jo Jones made 11 albums as a leader and played as a sideman with artists such as Art Blakey, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Teddy Wilson and Woody Herman. Jones’ playing contrasted with the bass drum heavy sound of contemporaries like Gene Krupa, and served as an influence for younger drummers like Kenny Clarke, Roy Haynes, Louis Bellson and Max Roach.

Jo Jones passed away from pneumonia in 1985 at the age of 75.

Here is a link to a 1964 drum solo by Jo Jones:

"JO JONES SOLO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 6th

The era of silent movies heard it’s death knell on October 6, 1927 when Warner Brothers Studio premiered “The Jazz Singer” in New York City. While the movie had little or nothing to do with jazz beyond the word being used in the title, it certainly represented a milestone in entertainment history.
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Starring the hugely popular Al Jolson, the story is adapted from a 1922 Samson Raphaelson short story called “Day of Atonement” about conflict in a Jewish family. The story had been adapted for the stage in 1925 using the title “The Jazz Singer.” In the movie, Jolson plays Jakie Rabinowitz who runs away from home after being scolded by his father for singing pop tunes in a beer garden. Years later the estranged Jakie has become a successful jazz singer who performs in blackface and uses the pseudonym Jack Robin. The story revolves around how Jack’s professional life continues to create conflict with his family and his religious beliefs.

Although often referred to as the first “talkie,” there were numerous movies made during the 1920s that featured sound prior to "The Jazz Singer," but they were always short subjects and featured sequences of synchronized speaking and other sounds. “The Jazz Singer” was a full-length picture that included a synchronized musical score, sound effects, a few synchronized speaking scenes and six lip-synched singing sequences featuring Jolson. The movie used the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system and is more or less a hybrid between a silent and sound film.

Here is a link to 1920s superstar Al Jolson performing one of his hits from the movie “The Jazz Singer” that premiered 95 years ago today:

"TOOT TOOT TOOTSIE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 5th

Jimmie Blanton, a bassist best known for his time with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, was born on October 5, 1918 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Although his career was shortened by his early death, Blanton was important in jazz history as one of the first bassists to incorporate classical pizzicato and bowing techniques to the genre.

Blanton played violin as a child but switched to acoustic bass while a student a Tennessee State University in the mid-1930s. While matriculating there he played with a campus jazz group known as the Tennessee State Collegians during the school year and gigged with Fate Marable on Mississippi riverboats during summer breaks.

In 1938 Blanton left school and relocated to St. Louis where he played with the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra. A year later he was picked up by Duke Ellington’s orchestra and had an immediate impact on the group. Not too long after he joined Ellington, Blanton and the band leader made two sides that were the first commercially recorded piano-bass duets. In 1940 the two recorded additional duets and Blanton was increasingly featured in live performances and on records by the Ellington band. Blanton was put front and center on the bandstand at live performances and was often featured as a soloist. Along with tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, Blanton was such an important member of the orchestra that it is sometimes referred to as the Blanton-Webster band.

When possible, Jimmie Blanton also participated in some of the late-night jam sessions at Minton’s Playhouse where bebop was being incubated. In late 1941 Blanton’s health began to deteriorate, and he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He was hospitalized at a sanatorium in Duarte, California and died there on July 30, 1942. Historian J. Bradford Robinson wrote of Blanton that “until the advent of the styles of Scott LaFaro and Charlie Haden in the 1960s all modern bass players drew on his innovations."

Here is a link to one of the Ellington/Blanton duets recorded in November of 1939. Note that Blanton’s first name is misspelled on the record label:

"BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 4th​

Bassist and composer Steve Swallow was born in New Jersey on this date in 1940. One of the first bassists to make the switch from upright bass to electric he is known for his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton and Carla Bley.

Swallow began playing piano and trumpet as a child and switched to upright bass at age 14. While in high school he began experimenting with jazz
improvisation and later studied composition at Yale University. He left school in 1960 to pursue a career as a performing musician in New York City. During that decade he performed with Jimmy Giuffre, Art Farmer and Paul Bley and began a long association with vibraphonist Gary Burton that would extend for decades and include various types of ensemble settings.

Around 1970 Steve Swallow made a permanent change from acoustic to electric bass. Swallow usually plays a five-string bass. He plays with a copper pick and has regularly won the DownBeat readers and critics polls for best electric bassist for more than thirty years.

Swallow first recorded with pianist and composer Carla Bley in 1978 and has been her romantic partner since the 1980s. They have collaborated on more than twenty albums. Swallow has recorded 24 albums as a leader or co-leader during his career. He has also played and recorded with Don Ellis, Chico Hamilton, Sheila Jordan, Michael Mantler, Pat Metheny and John Scofield. His compositions have been recorded by Stan Getz, Bill Evans and Chick Corea.

Here is a link to a live performance of Carla Bley and Steve Swallow from 2014:
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"LAWNS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 3rd

Born into a musical family from Houston, Texas on October 3, 1950, today is Ronnie Laws’ 72nd birthday. He taught himself to play saxophone at age 11 and, after an eye injury derailed his hopes to become a professional baseball player, devoted all his energy to his music. Laws, brother of flautist Hubert Laws and vocalist sisters Eloise and Debra, studied music at Stephen F. Austin State and Texas Southern University.

In 1970 Ronnie moved to Los Angeles where he worked with High Masakela, Walter Bishop, Jr. and The Crusaders. He also spent two years as saxophonist for Earth, Wind and Fire before pursuing a solo career. Trumpeter Donald Byrd helped Laws get a recording contract with Blue Note Records, and his debut album was produced by Crusaders trombonist and family friend Wayne Henderson. The album “Pressure Sensitive” produced the hit single Always There which reached #45 on the U.S. R&B charts. It was the first of eleven Ronnie Laws singles that would chart in the United States.

Since "Pressure Sensitive" Ronnie Laws has released 18 additional albums and has appeared on records with Ramsey Lewis, Sister Sledge, Deniece Williams, Jeff Lorber and Alphonse Mouzon. He has also been active as a producer. Post-production work is currently underway for a new Ronnie Laws album called ”Solo.“

Here is a link to Ronnie Laws’ 1975 hit Always There:

"ALWAYS THERE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 2nd

Guitarist, educator and music technology innovator Howard Roberts was born on October 2, 1929 in Phoenix, Arizona. One of the most recorded guitarists of all time Roberts had a successful career as a jazz player, as a studio musician and as a member of the “Wrecking Crew” collective in Los Angeles. He also played the lead guitar part on the theme from the television show “The Twilight Zone,” and was the guy snapping his fingers on Peggy Lee’s recording of Fever.

Roberts began playing a student model Gibson guitar when he was eight years old and was soon out playing his teacher. By age 15 he was playing with blues bands and by the late 1940s he was performing with pianist, composer and friend Pete Jolly.

Howard Roberts moved to Los Angeles in 1950 and began jamming at late night sessions with Buddy DeFranco, Sonny Stitt and Dexter Gordon. He was heard one night by guitarist Barney Kessel who helped Roberts get signed by Capitol Records. Roberts played his first recording date in 1952 with Gerry Mulligan and Jimmy Rowles. Later he would play on records by Wardell Gray, Chico Hamilton and Bobby Troup. Howard Roberts received the DownBeat Rising Star Award during this period and moved on to Verve Records in 1956.

By the late 1950s and into the 1960s Roberts decided to focus on studio work and was a member of the loose collective of Los Angeles studio musicians known as “The Wrecking Crew.” This group provided the backing on records by Dean Martin, Roy Clark, Chet Atkins, The Monkees, The Righteous Brothers, The Beach Boys and The Electric Prunes, as well as being the backbone of Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” producing some of the most famous records in pop music history. From the 1960s to the mid-1970s it is estimated the Howard Roberts played an average of 900 sessions per year and appeared on more than 2000 records.

In the 1970s Roberts began to focus more on teaching and toured the country giving clinics and writing instructional books for guitar. He also worked with a former student on developing more versatile guitar amplifiers and wrote the column “Jazz Improvisation” for Guitar Player magazine. In addition, he taught at Westlake College in Los Angeles and founded the Guitar Institute of Technology.

Howard Roberts passed away in Seattle after a battle with cancer on June 28, 1992 at the age of 62.

Here is a link to Howard Roberts playing one of his own compositions in a live performance:

"APACHE NIGHTMARE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - October 1st

Bassist Dave Holland was born on the first day of October 1946 in Wolverhampton, England. He has been an important force in jazz music for the past five decades.
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Holland began his musical journey playing ukulele at the age of four and followed that up by teaching himself guitar and then bass guitar. He left school at the age of 15 to play in a pop band, but after seeing a DownBeat magazine article about bass player Ray Brown he bought two record albums featuring the Brown and two more by Leroy Vinnegar. Soon after traded in his electric bass for an upright and began playing along with the records.

At age 18 Holland moved to London and began playing in small clubs while taking private lessons from a bassist in the London Philharmonic. Holland received a full scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and by the time he was 20 he was juggling school, studio dates and gigs at Ronnie Scott’s club.

It was at Ronnie Scott’s in 1968 that he was heard by Miles Davis while playing for a combo that was opening for the Bill Evans Trio. A short time later he received word that Miles wanted him to be in New York City in three days to replace Ron Carter in Davis’ group. Holland arrived in America the night before the gig and stayed with Davis through the summer of 1970. During that time, along with touring, he appeared on the albums “Filles de Kilamanjaro,” “In a Silent Way” and “Bitches Brew.”

After leaving Davis, Holland played for a time with Jack DeJohnette, Chick Corea, Barry Altschul and Anthony Braxton in the avant-garde group Circle. During the 1970s Holland also played with Sam Rivers, Thelonious Monk, John Abercrombie and Stan Getz and began recording as a leader. Over the next decades he toured and recorded regularly with musicians such as Herbie Hancock, Steve Coleman, Chris Potter, Robin Eubanks, Betty Carter and Joe Henderson. He also appeared on the Grammy award winning 2008 album “River: The Joni Letters” with Hancock.

In 2017 the National Endowment for the Arts named Dave Holland as a Jazz Master Fellow and he has won critic's awards from DownBeat magazine as Musician of the Year and Acoustic Bassist of the Year, and his big band won top honors from the critics, as well. Holland has received honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory of Music, the Berklee College of Music and the Birmingham Conservatoire in his native England. Holland has been a resident of the United States for over forty years.

Here is a link to a performance by the Dave Holland Quintet from 2009:

"PRIME DIRECTIVE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 30th

One of the most influential drummers of all time, Buddy Rich, was born on September 30, 1917 in New York City. Rich was the son of two vaudevillians and by the time he was two years old young Buddy was a part of their stage show. By the time he passed away in 1987 he was one of the most revered drummers in jazz history and had played with some of the greatest musicians in the genre. He was also a highly successful band leader.

In the early 1920s Buddy Rich was a child star playing drums on Broadway as “Baby Traps the Drum Wonder,” and in his teens he led a band that performed around the United States and in Australia. At age 15 he was the second-highest paid child star in the world behind Jackie Coogan.

He began his jazz career at age 20 and over the next few years played in the bands of Artie Shaw, Bunny Berrigan, Tommy Dorsey and Les Brown. After a stint in the United States Marine Corps, Rich started his own band that sometimes played at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and occasionally backed Frank Sinatra. In addition, he played and recorded with Lester Young, Harry James, on Jazz at the Philharmonic tours and with Charlie Parker. In 1955 he recorded an album with his great swing era rival, Gene Krupa. On one track the two have a famous six-minute “drum battle.”

In 1966 Buddy Rich formed a new big band in an era when such an ensemble was thought to be outdated and without commercial potential. However, his band successfully toured and recorded over the next two decades combining traditional jazz standards with arrangements of music from Broadway, pop and rock sources.

Rich could not read music, but as trumpeter Bobby Shew said in an interview for jazzwax.com “He'd always have a drummer there during rehearsals to read and play the parts initially on new arrangements. Buddy would just sit in the empty audience seats in the afternoon and listen to the band... He'd only have to listen to a chart once and he'd have it memorized. We'd run through it and he'd know exactly how it went, how many measures it ran and what he'd have to do to drive it."

Rich suffered a stroke in March of 1987 and upon further examination his doctors found and removed a brain tumor. While undergoing treatment a nurse asked Rich if he had any allergies and he reportedly replied “Yes, country and western music.”

Here is a link to Rich’s band playing one of their best-known pieces at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 1978:

"CHANNEL ONE SUITE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 29th

Jean Luc Ponty is one of the world's foremost jazz violinists and a pioneer in the realm of jazz and rock violin. He was born in France on September 29, 1942. His father taught violin and his mother was a piano teacher. At 16 he was admitted into a prestigious music conservatory in Paris and graduated two years later with top honors. Ponty was then hired by a major symphony orchestra in France and played there for three years. But, his growing interest in jazz, and specifically the music of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, eventually caused him to decide to devote his energies to that world.

In the mid-1960s Ponty was playing with some of the greats of Eurpoean jazz and was developing a style was like that of a bebop horn player, which was unique for his instrument. In 1967 John Lewis invited Ponty to perform at the Monterey Jazz Festival and his performance received critical praise and landed him a recording contract with the World Pacific label. He soon thereafter made recordings with the Gerald Wilson Orchestra as well as with George Duke. In 1969 Ponty recorded an album of Frank Zappa music in collaboration with the composer and was later invited to play with Elton John on his 1972 record “Honky Chateau.”

In the early 1970s Jean Luc Ponty’s reputation and popularity were growing and he moved to Los Angeles with his family. He was a member of guitarist John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra for a time. In 1975 Ponty signed with Atlantic Records and formed his own band with whom he toured regularly for more than a decade becoming one of the foremost musicians in the jazz-rock movement.

Since the 1980s Jean Luc Ponty has collaborated with artists like Al DiMeola, Stanley Clarke, Bela Fleck, Chick Corea and Mark O’Connor as well as performing with West African and Indian musicans. Ponty is a prolific composer and has appeared with symphony orchestras on four continents.

Here is a link to a Ponty performance from 1981 as captured by Brazilian television:

"COSMIC MESSENGER"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 28th

Kenny Kirkland was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 28, 1955 and began playing piano at the age of six. Although he is best remembered for his work with Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Kirkland also played with Carla Bley, John Scofield, Arturo Sandoval, Terence Blanchard and Sting. Although he only recorded one album as a leader, his musicianship and concepts of harmony and improvisation were widely recognized and sought-after in the jazz community.

Kirkland studied classical piano performance, theory and composition at the Manhattan School of Music and had his first notable gig with Polish jazz violinist Michael Urbaniak in 1977. He also toured Europe with bass player Miroslav Vitous’ band in the late 1970s. Kenny met Wynton Marsalis in Japan in 1980 and subsequently appeared on the trumpeter’s first four albums.

In 1985 Kirkland began playing with another Marsalis brother, saxophonist Branford. He stayed on with him for over a decade, and when Branford agreed to appear on Sting’s 1985 record “Dream of the Blue Turtles,” Kirkland played on the record, too. That started an eight year and four album musical relationship between Kirkland and Sting. When Branford Marsalis took the job as band leader for the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Kirkland went there, as well. Kirkland’s one recording as a leader is an eponymously titled release for GRP in 1991.

By 1999 Kenny Kirkland was feeling poorly and declined to seek medical attention after working with friend Jeff “Tain” Watts in the recording studio on June 3rd. On June 4th, however, he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Kirkland attended Branford Marsalis’ wedding on November 7th and was found dead in his Queens apartment less than a week later due to his heart condition. After his death guitarist and collaborator Kevin Eubanks said of his friend Kirkland "In my heart, I've always felt that Kenny Kirkland really embodied the essence of a generation of musicians, bridging the past and the future while taking no bows. He always left us wanting more."

Here is a link to a solo Kenny Kirkland played at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1997:

"GIANT STEPS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 27th

One of the leading figures in the development of modern jazz piano, Bud Powell was born on September 27, 1924 in New York City. Along with his astonishing keyboard technique Powell was also a composer. Miles Davis wrote in his autobiography that Powell was “one of the few musicians I knew who could play, write, and read all kinds of music. Bud was a genius piano player–the best there was of all the bebop piano players."

Bud Powell grew up in Harlem where his father was a stride piano player. Bud began piano lesson at age 5 and by the time he was in his teens was playing Fats Waller tunes at rent parties and was the pianist in his older brother’s band. By his late teens he was trying to play like Art Tatum and attending performances at Uptown House where he met another keyboard man named Thelonious Monk. Monk would become Powell’s mentor and introduced him to many of the bebop pioneers that were jamming regularly at Minton’s Playhouse. Monk’s tune In Walked Bud is dedicated to Powell.

Powell was the pianist in the Cootie Williams band and played on the first recording of Monk’s ‘Round Midnight in 1944. After being dismissed from the Williams orchestra in early 1945 Powell played on a series of recording dates with Sarah Vaughan, Dexter Gordon, J.J. Johnson, Fats Navarro and Kenny Clarke. In 1947 he made his only recording with Miles Davis.

Powell’s career was continually interrupted by incidents of erratic and sometimes violent behavior. He was incarcerated on several occasions and confined to hospitals on several others. After a confrontation in a Harlem bar in 1947 Powell was sent to Creedmore State Hospital for eleven months during which time he received electroconvulsive therapy. After being discharged he resumed his career and made several records as a leader for Blue Note which some critics have called the best playing of his career.

During the 1950s Bud Powell’s mental and physical health continued to deteriorate and he was hospitalized and incarcerated on several more occasions during the decade. He did participate in the famous “Jazz at Massey Hall” concert in 1953 along with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus and Max Roach. He also continued to record sporadically throughout the decade for Blue Note Records and for producer and promoter Norman Granz.

In 1959 Bud Powell moved to Paris where he continued to perform and record. In 1963 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and returned to New York City. Continuing his battle with schizophrenia and alcoholism in addition to the new diagnosis, Powell’s condition deteriorated rapidly, and his behavior became more and more erratic. He passed away on July 31, 1966. The causes of death were listed as tuberculosis, malnutrition and alcoholism.

Despite his personal demons, Bud Powell was one of the most talented and creative pianists in the history of jazz. Herbie Hancock stated in a 1966 interview that Bud Powell was “the foundation out of which stemmed the whole edifice of modern jazz piano.”

Here is a link to a 1960 live performance made while Powell was living in Paris:

"SWEET AND LOVELY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 26th

In the early 1960s Duke Ellington made several records that teamed him with what some might consider to be unlikely musical partners. He recorded with Louis Armstrong, Charles Mingus, Max Roach and made one record with his full orchestra playing with the entire Count Basie big band. On September 26, 1962 he and saxophonist John Coltrane made a quartet album for Impulse! Records at the Van Gelder Studios in New Jersey. The record was titled simply “Duke Ellington and John Coltrane.”

The album has seven tracks and includes five Ellington compositions, both old and new, Billy Strayhorn’s My Little Brown Book and one by Coltrane called Big Nick, the only tune on the album where Coltrane plays soprano instead of tenor saxophone. Ellington and Coltrane are backed on a kind of rotating basis by Jimmy Garrison and Aaron Bell on bass along with Elvin Jones and Sam Woodyard on drums.

On the album’s liner notes Coltrane says “I was really honored to have the opportunity of working with Duke. It was a wonderful experience. He has set standards I haven’t caught up with yet. I would have liked to have worked over all those numbers again, but then I guess the performances wouldn’t have had the same spontaneity. And they mightn’t have been any better.”

In his memoir “Music is my Mistress,” Ellington writes “The only time I had the privilege of working with John Coltrane was on a record date. It was a very interesting session. We recorded some of his tunes with his rhythm section, and some of mine with my rhythm section. No hassle, no sweat. John Coltrane was a beautiful cat. The date flowed so smoothly we did the whole album in one session, and that is rare. I loved every minute of it.”

Here is a link to Ellington’s 1935 composition In a Sentimental Mood from the record recorded 60 years ago today:

"IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 25th

Avant-garde multi-instrumentalist, composer and maven of the New York City loft scene in the 1970s, Sam Rivers was born on September 25, 1930. His technical skill and creativity were unquestioned and it has been written that “Rivers was as substantial a player as avant-garde jazz ever produced." In contrast to Ornette Coleman who approached free jazz from a blues perspective, Rivers drew more upon his classical training to inform his music.

His parents were touring gospel musicians and Sam was born in El Reno, Oklahoma in the midst of one of those tours. He grew up in Chicago and Little Rock, Arkansas beginning his musical studies on the piano and violin at age 5. He later played trombone for a while before settling on tenor saxophone as his instrument of choice, although he would later add flute and soprano saxophone to his array of performance instruments.

After a three-year stint in the United States Navy on the west coast, Rivers moved to Massachusetts where he studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music and later at Boston University. While in Boston he played in Herb Pomeroy’s band that also featured Quincy Jones, Serge Chaloff and Jaki Byard.

In 1959 Rivers met and began to play with drummer Tony Williams and they formed a free improvisation group. That relationship would later lead to Rivers playing briefly with the Miles Davis Quintet in 1964. During the early 1960s Sam Rivers worked regularly with members of the Jazz Composers Guild including Archie Shepp, Paul Bley and Cecil Taylor. He recorded his first album as a leader for Blue Note Records in 1964.

​In 1970, now living in New York City, Sam Rivers and his wife Beatrice opened a music and dance studio in Harlem, which later relocated to the SoHo district. Called Studio Rivbea, it soon became one of the best-known venues for the presentation of new improvised music and was a pioneer of the jazz loft scene of the 1970s. The studio also served as a rehearsal space for Rivers’ Rivbea Orchestra and his Winds of Change woodwind ensemble. His trio played improvised music in the purest sense in that there was no written music or precomposed melody. Instead, they relied upon “a stream-of-consciousness approach that differed structurally from the head-solo-head style that still dominated free jazz." In 1976 Rivers began a musical relationship with bassist Dave Holland that produced two duo albums.

In the 1980s Rivers moved to Orlando, Florida and began a new version of the Rivbea Orchestra employing musicians that worked at local theme parks. From the middle of the decade on Rivers recorded for his own Rivbea Sound label, and also two very interesting big band records for RCA. Rivers died of pneumonia in late 2011 at the age of 88.

Here is a link to a 1989 Sam Rivers Quartet performance of a tune named for his wife:

"BEATRICE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 24th

Theodore “Fats” Navarro was born in Key West, Florida on September 24, 1923. During his short career Navarro was less well-known than Miles Davis or Dizzy Gillespie, but was “also a gifted and innovative trumpet player.” His solos were carefully constructed and lyrical and had a direct influence on the playing of Clifford Brown and Freddie Hubbard.

Navarro was of Cuban, African and Chinese heritage  and began piano lessons at age 6. He began studying trumpet when he was 13 and by the time he was 18 left Key West to play in a big band based out of Orlando. Eventually, he ended up in Indianapolis where he became friends with trombonist J.J. Johnson while they were both members of Snookum Russel’s band. Then, after a short stint with Andy Kirk, Navarro was hired to take the chair being vacated by Gillespie in Billy Eckstein’s ensemble. He was immediately comfortable with playing in that band and was given opportunities to solo on recordings the group made in 1946.

Navarro wanted more freedom than the big band setting afforded and, after 18 months with Eckstein, he left the group and moved to New York City where he played small group gigs with Kenny Clarke, Sonny Stitt, Bud Powell and Kenny Dorham. He also played with pianist/composer Tadd Dameron and is featured on Dameron’s Lady Bird. Navarro also appears on the Columbia album “One Night at Birdland” with Charlie Parker.

“Fats” Navarro suffered from tuberculosis and that, in combination with his use of heroin, took a great toll on his health. He was in very poor condition for the final year of his life and passed away on July 7, 1950 at the age of 26.

Here is a link to a taste of the playing of "Fats" Navarro:

"WAIL"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 23rd

Is Ray Charles a jazz musician? Probably not in the strictest definition of the term. However, it can be safely said that Ray Charles combined aspects of jazz into his music, and that his music most definitely had an influence on many jazz musicians. Ray Charles was born on September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia.

Charles was not born blind but began to lose his vision around the age of four and was completely blind by the time he was seven, likely due to glaucoma. He learned to play the piano from a family friend and, after his mother’s death when he was 14, Ray decided not to return to school. He moved to Jacksonville, Florida where he made money by playing piano in a local theater. But, since this appears on the webpage of a Seattle-based band, we’ll focus on Charles’ two years in Seattle.

When he was 18 he moved to Seattle and played piano in “Bumps” Blackwell’s band along with trumpeter Quincy Jones. Blackwell had quite a career as a musical promoter, having a hand in the development of Ernestine Anderson, Sam Cooke, Herb Alpert, Little Richard and Sly and the Family Stone. While in the Pacific Northwest Ray Charles also had his own trio with guitarist Gossie McKee and bassist Milt Garred (see photo). They called themselves the Maxim Trio and played the 1 to 5 a.m. shift at the Rocking Chair at 14th and Yesler as well as having gigs at the Black and Tan Club and the Black Elks Club. Charles once wrote a song about the Rocking Chair which included the lyrics “I’m telling you, it’s the gone-est place in town.”

The trio mostly stuck to a cool Nat “King” Cole kind of sound, but very occasionally Ray Charles would sing some blues. That was rare though because, as he told a friend, “Oh man, you can’t make a nickel singing like that.” Clearly at some point he changed his mind about that and made more than a few nickels after doing so.

Here is a link to a 1949 studio recording made by the Maxim Trio while they were playing at the Rocking Chair:

"BLUES BEFORE SUNRISE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 22nd

In 1989 Len Lyons and Don Perlo wrote that “[Wes] Montgomery was the most innovative and influential guitarist to emerge since Charlie Christian. His solos displayed an intuitive gift for thematic development, a relaxed, natural delivery, and technical innovations such as playing solos in octaves and using his thumb instead of a pick to achieve a soft, warm tone.” On September 22, 1965 Montgomery was at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey with the Wynton Kelly Trio recording the studio takes for their Verve Records release “Smokin’ at the Half Note.”

Of the five tracks on “Smokin’ at the Half Note,” only two were actually recorded live at the Half Note, a New York City club. The remaining three tracks were made three months later in the studio. Among the tunes recorded that day was Unit 7, a composition by bassist Sam Jones that was originally recorded several years earlier by Cannonball Adderley and Nancy Wilson. The Montgomery/Wynton Kelly performance is the one that “helped establish the tune as a jazz standard.”

The Wynton Kelly Trio is the Miles Davis rhythm section from the late 1950s and includes Kelly at the piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb playing drums. This 1965 outing was not the first time the trio had performed with Montgomery. They had previously recorded together for the Riverside label, had toured together and appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival. The live cuts from the record are Davis’ No Blues and Tadd Dameron’s If You Could See Me Now. The other two studio tracks are What’s New? and a Montgomery composition called Four on Six. Pat Metheny has said that “’Smokin’ at the Half Note’ is ”the absolute greatest jazz guitar album ever made. It is also the record that taught me how to play."

Here is a link to Wes Montgomery and the Wynton Kelly Trio playing Unit 7, 57 years ago today:

"UNIT 7"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 21st

Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe was born in Louisiana in 1890 and loved music as a child. He tried his hand at guitar and trombone but settled on piano as his instrument of choice when he was 10. By the time he was 14 he was playing piano in a brothel in the New Orleans red light district known as Storyville. He used the name Jelly Roll Morton to in hopes that his family would not find out about his activities. It didn’t work, though, and his family disowned him. He went on to become the first significant composer in jazz and one of its most controversial figures. Morton claimed to have “invented jazz in 1902,” and while that assertion seems a bit silly, there is no doubt that he was one of the most innovative musicians in the early years of the genre.

Fast forward to September of 1926. Morton was at his peak in popularity and creativity. He and his group the Red Hot Peppers were in Chicago doing a series of recordings at the Webster Hotel for Victor Records. On the 21st one of the tunes they cut was Dead Man Blues, a Morton composition that was actually first recorded less than a week earlier by King Oliver and his Dixie Syncopators. The record simulates a New Orleans funeral and is complete with a scripted conversation between Morton and banjo player Johnny St. Cyr over the strains of Chopin’s Marche Funebre. The performance is carefully arranged by Morton with a few opportunities for brief improvised breaks and fills. Perhaps the most notable feature of the performance is the composed clarinet trio played by Omer Simeon, Darnell Howard and Barney Bigard. At the time of its release in January 1927 Dead Man Blues provided listeners with a glimpse into the traditions of a New Orleans funeral procession that were not widely known at the time outside of the southern United States.
​
Here is a link to the recording made that day 96 years ago:

"DEAD MAN BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 20th

Saxophonist, composer, producer, researcher and band leader Steve Coleman was born in Chicago on September 20, 1956. He has become an important performer and theorist in the arena of improvised music.

Coleman began his musical journey as a violinist at South Shore High School in Chicago when he was 14 but switched to alto saxophone before the end of his freshman year. After high school he spent two years studying music at Illinois Wesleyan University before transferring to the Chicago Music College at Roosevelt University. Along with his academic studies, Coleman spent a good deal of time learning from the veteran saxophonists active on the Chicago music scene in the 1970s. By the time he moved to New York in 1978 Steve Coleman was working as a band leader and becoming “increasingly dissatisfied with what he felt was a creative dead end in the Chicago scene.”

In New York, Coleman landed a gig playing with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra at the Village Vanguard and was playing as a sideman for various artists around the city including Dave Holland, Michael Brecker and Abbey Lincoln. He also formed a street band with trumpeter Graham Haynes which would eventually become known as Steve Coleman and the Five Elements.
​
Coleman is associated with the M-Base movement in music, which he points out is a philosophical movement centered on creating music from one’s own experiences. It does not denote a style of playing, but rather a way of thinking about creating music. Others involved with the movement have included Cassandra Wilson and Robin Eubanks. Steve Coleman explained the substantial elements of the concept as:

• improvisation and structure
• contemporary relevance
• music as expression of life experience
• growth through creativity and philosophical broadening
• use of non-western concepts

Here is a link to Steve Coleman and the Five Elements playing live in Los Angeles:

STEVE COLEMAN AND THE FIVE ELEMENTS

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 19th

One of the best-selling jazz albums of the 1950s was the 1956 Erroll Garner record “Concert by the Sea.” It was released by Columbia Records on October 13, 1955, and by 1958 had sold more than a million dollars worth of retail copies. The concert took place on September 19, 1955, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

The Erroll Garner trio had been working at a San Francisco nightclub and on an off day their manager, Martha Glaser, booked them to play a one-night gig about 120 miles down the Pacific coast at the Sunset School Auditorium in Carmel. An Armed Forces Radio DJ named Will Thornbury had secured permission to record evening’s music so that he could play it on the base radio station at nearby Fort Ord. Glaser gave Thornbury permission with the proviso that after his broadcast she would be given the tape. After receiving the tape, Glaser edited into album form and played it for Columbia records A&R man George Avakian who worried that the quality of the tape was not such that it could be used to make a record. But, after setting Columbia’s engineers loose on the project, they brought the sound up to an acceptable quality and the record was released less than a month after the concert.

Along with Garner the trio includes Eddie Calhoun on bass and Denzil Best on drums. “Concert by the Sea” has been called by AllMusic “arguably the finest record pianist Erroll Garner ever made.” They awarded the album five stars. The original cover photograph was taken by Art Kane, who later took the famous 1958 “Great Day in Harlem” photograph for Esquire magazine.

Here is a link to one of the 11 tracks on the original pressing of “Concert by the Sea:”

"AUTUMN LEAVES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 18th

Emily Remler was born on September 18, 1957 in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and began playing guitar at the age of 10. She was self-taught and talented enough that when she graduated high school early, she was admitted to the Berklee College of Music in Boston at age 16. Remler once said of herself that “I may look like a nice Jewish girl from New Jersey, but inside I'm a 50-year-old, heavy-set black man with a big thumb, like Wes Montgomery."

Remler finished her four-year program at Berklee in just two years and, after graduating at 18, she moved to New Orleans where she was heard by Herb Ellis, who became her mentor. She moved to New York City where another mentor was Miles Davis’ guitarist John Scofield who introduced her to bassist John Clayton. Clayton invited Remler to California where she made her first recording with the Clayton Brothers in 1981. Clayton’s label, Concord Records, was impressed enough to offer her a contract and she released her first album “Firefly,” that same year. Remler would record five more records for Concord over the next seven years. She also married pianist Monty Alexander in 1981, but the marriage lasted only three years.

After the end of her marriage in 1984, Remler became depressed and eventually turned to drugs. Despite emotional pain she continued to record and tour, producing an album with Larry Coryell in 1985 and a salute to Wes Montgomery in 1988. While on tour in Australia in May of 1990 Emily Remler was found dead in her hotel room in Sydney. The official cause of death was heart failure, but it was most likely brought on by her use of heroin and Dilaudid. Her final album “This Is Me” was released that same year by Justice Records.

Here is a link to Emily Remler performing with Monty Alexander:

"JOY SPRING"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 17th

On September 17, 1962 three jazz legends met at Sound Makers Studio in mid-town Manhattan to make an album for United Artists Records. The three musicians were Duke Ellington, piano, Charles Mingus, bass and Max Roach, drums. The album was “Money Jungle.”

“Money Jungle” has seven tracks all of which are tunes either written by or strongly associated with Ellington. Ellington had approached producer Paul Douglas about making a piano trio recording and Douglas recommended Mingus as the bassist. Mingus then agreed and insisted that they ask Roach to play drums on the date. Mingus had sat in on bass for the Duke Ellington Orchestra some years earlier but had been fired after four days for getting in a fight with trombonist Juan Tizol.

When Mingus and Roach arrived for the session, they were given lead sheets and chord changes for each piece along with a description of what the musicians should be trying to represent through their playing. According to Max Roach one such description was “crawling around on the streets are serpents who have their heads up. These are agents and people who have exploited artists. Play that along with the music"

At one point during the session Mingus packed up his bass and left the studio. There are varying accounts of the reason for Mingus’ departure. One story is that Mingus was unhappy with the way Roach was playing, and another says that his unhappiness was due to Ellington not choosing any of his compositions for the session. Whatever the reason, Ellington went after him and persuaded him to return and finish recording.

The album was released in February 1963 and contemporary reviews of the album were mostly favorable, with some pointing out that there were obvious stylistic differences between the musicians. Later reviews have been more positive. The album has been re-released on CD with additional takes and additional tunes.

Here is a link to the title track from 1962’s “Money Jungle:”

"MONEY JUNGLE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 16th

Joe Venuti is regarded as the first great jazz violinist. According to official records he was born on September 16, 1903 in Philadelphia. No one really knows much about his early life as Venuti often purposefully obscured the details of his youth for unknown reasons. There has been much speculation about those reasons, but no one has ever really confirmed anything. In school Venuti played in the same violin section with a friend named Salvatore Massaro who would later change his name to Eddie Lang and the two would make some of the most memorable jazz records of the late 1920s and early 1930s.

In 1924 Venuti was living in Detroit and playing with the Jean Goldkette Orchestra, one of the most popular of the decade. Just over a year later he was living in New York City and playing gigs with his childhood friend Lang. In the late 1920s Venuti played with some of the biggest stars in jazz including Red Nichols, Adrian Rollini, Frankie Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke. Between 1929 and 1931 Venuti was a member of Paul Whiteman’s hugely popular orchestra and appeared in the 1930 film “King of Jazz” with the group. The most famous record of Venuti’s career was made in October of 1931 with Lang, Benny Goodman and Jack Teagarden.

Venuti was known not only for his musicianship, but also for his practical jokes. Once he called every bass player he could find in the New York telephone directory and asked them to meet him on a street corner. More than 50 bassists showed up with their instruments causing a traffic jam. Subsequently, the musician’s union local required Venuti to pay for their time.

After Lang’s death in 1933, Venuti toured Europe and then formed his own big band which enjoyed limited success and finally broke up in 1943. Venuti moved to southern California and worked as a studio musician for a number of years. He fell into obscurity during the 1950s and 1960s as he battled alcoholism, but made a comeback in the 1970s recording with Marian McPartland, Earl Hines, Dave McKenna, Zoot Sims and Leon Redbone. He was also a regular at the Colorado Jazz Party and made an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1968. Joe Venuti died in his adopted home of Seattle in 1978.

Here is a link to that 1931 record Joe Venuti made in 1931:

"BEALE STREET BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 15th

Alto saxophonist Julian Edwin “Cannonball” Adderley was born in Tampa. Florida on September 15, 1928, and spent a good deal of his youth in Tallahassee where both his parents taught at Florida A&M University. Julian obtained his nickname in elementary school where his classmates would call him “cannibal” (which eventually became “Cannonball”) because of his tremendous appetite.

As a youth he and his brother Nat played with Ray Charles during his time living in Tallahassee. Eventually, Cannonball would matriculate at the university where his parents taught and graduate with a degree in music. He then moved to south Florida to be the band director at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale.
In 1955 Adderley moved to New York City in hopes of doing graduate studies in music. One night he had his saxophone with him at Cafe Bohemia where Oscar Pettiford’s group was playing. Pettiford’s saxophonist was late, and Adderley was asked to sit in. His performance that night was heard by many on the New York jazz scene and soon Cannonball was the talk of the town. He was signed by Savoy Records and his first album “Presenting Cannonball Adderley” was released in 1955. Adderley was heard by Miles Davis who asked him to join his group in 1957 after which Cannonball appeared on several of Davis’ iconic recordings including “Milestones” and “Kind of Blue.”

He left Davis in September of 1959 and formed his own group featuring his brother Nat on cornet. The group was an immediate success and was known for their soul jazz tunes like Bobby Timmons’ This Here, Nat Adderley’s Work Song and Jive Samba, and Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, written by the group’s keyboardist Joe Zawinul. Over the next 16 years Cannonball Adderley’s group would fluctuate in number but would feature musicians like Yusef Lateef, Charles Lloyd, George Duke and Walter Booker. Cannonball was also a supporter of young musicians and helped launch the careers of Wes Montgomery, Chuck Mangione and Nancy Wilson. He stayed true to his roots in music education with his 1962 album “The Child’s Introduction to Jazz.”

Cannonball Adderley passed away due to a stroke in August 1975 at only 46 years of age. He is buried in Tallahassee.
​
Here is a link to Cannonball Adderley and his brother playing Nat's Work Song from a 1962 television appearance:

"WORK SONG"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 14th

“Jazz Advance” was the debut recording for pianist Cecil Taylor and the entire album was recorded in one day. The session was in Boston and featured Taylor, saxophonist Steve Lacy, Buell Neidlinger on bass and Denis Charles on drums. The recording was made on September 14, 1956 and released by the Transition label.

Cecil Taylor was born in Queens, New York in 1929 and was trained as a classical pianist beginning at age 6. He went on to study music at the New York College of Music and at the New England Conservatory of Music where he majored in composition. He formed the quartet that is heard on “Jazz Advance” in 1955. They performed at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival and at the Five Spot Cafe in Greenwich Village. Taylor’s music was always considered avant-garde and he performed with both John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman.

“Jazz Advance” has been selected by the Penguin Guide to Jazz as part of its “core collection,” and has seven tracks. It features three original compositions by Taylor, and four by other composers including Ellington’s Azure, Monk’s Bemsha Swing, Cole Porter’s You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To and Gus Arnheim’s Sweet and Lovely.

Here is a link to one of the Cecil Taylor originals from “Jazz Advance:”

"RICK KICK SHAW"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 13th

Although written in 1939, Tadd Dameron’s tune Lady Bird was not recorded until nine years later on September 13, 1948. Dameron began working as a pianist in his late teens, but he is best known for his compositional skills. Underappreciated by the general public, his music stands at the intersection between the swing and be-bop eras and has always been highly appreciated by other musicians. Dexter Gordon referred to him as “the romanticist of be-bop.”

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Tadley Ewing Peake Dameron contributed arrangements to the books of Jimmie Lunceford, Billy Eckstein, Georgie Auld and Count Basie in the early 1940s and occasionally sat in on piano with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Those two recorded Dameron’s Hot House in 1945. In the second half of that decade Dameron wrote for Dizzy Gillespie’s big band, wrote arrangements for Sarah Vaughan and was named “best New Jazz Arranger” by Esquire Magazine in 1947. His sextet was the house band at the Royal Roost in New York in 1948 and 1949 and featured Fats Navarro on trumpet.

Lady Bird is a 16-bar song in the key of C and is the first of his compositions to feature the “Tadd Dameron Turnaround:” Cmaj7 - Ebmaj7 - Abmaj7 - Dbmaj7. Miles Davis based his tune Half Nelson on the changes of Lady Bird.

Along with Dameron, that first recording of Lady Bird featured Navarro, Wardell Gray and Alan Eager on tenor saxophone, Curley Russell on bass and Kenny Clarke playing the drums.

Here is a link to Lady Bird, recorded 74 years ago today:

"LADY BIRD"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 12th

Trumpeter Cat Anderson was a mainstay in the Duke Ellington Orchestra during three stints with the group between 1944 and 1971. Before Maynard Ferguson, Anderson explored the upper registers of the instrument in a big band setting. With a range exceeding five octaves his playing became an important part of Ellington’s compositional palette.

Born on September 12, 1916, William Alonzo “Cat” Anderson learned trumpet at the Jenkins Orphanage in South Carolina after losing both of his parents when he was four years old. While a resident he played with the Carolina Cotton Pickers, a group based at the orphanage. After leaving the home he played professionally with Lucky Millinder, Erskine Hawkins and Lionel Hampton before being persuaded to join Ellington’s ensemble.

Noted widely for his high note playing, Anderson was also a fine soloist with a big sound in the lower register and great skill as a plunger mute soloist. When not playing with Ellington he fronted his own big band for short periods in the late 1940s and 1950s. Anderson was also a fine composer and arranger.

After leaving Ellington in 1971, Anderson lived in Los Angeles and did studio work. He occasionally played with Louis Bellson’s big band, too. Cat Anderson passed away from brain cancer in 1981 at the age of 64.

Here is a link to Cat Anderson playing one of his own compositions with the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1969:

"EL GATO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 11th

Pianist, actor and television host Harry Connick, Jr. was born in New Orleans on September 11, 1967. He began playing piano at age 3, made his debut public performance at 5 and his first record with a local jazz band at age 10. He performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #3 with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra when he was only nine years old. He studied music at Loyola University, Hunter College and the Manhattan School of Music.

Harry Connick, Jr. signed with Columbia Records and made his first record with them in 1987. Cleverly titled “Harry Connick, Jr.” it consisted mostly of standards and was purely instrumental. Connick introduced vocals on his second album and began to become recognized in the jazz world during bookings at several New York clubs in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Harry provided the music for the 1989 movie “When Harry Met Sally” and won a Grammy for his work. He introduced his big band in 1990.

Connick made his acting debut in 1990 in the movie “Memphis Belle,” and has appeared in numerous movies and television programs since including a recurring role on the NBS comedy “Will and Grace” between 2002 and 2006. Additionally, he has been involved in numerous Broadway shows and has contributed music for the soundtracks of several movies. Recently he appeared as Daddy Warbucks in the production of “Annie Live!” After Hurricane Katrina devastated his hometown of New Orleans in 2005, Connick teamed up with Branford Marsalis to lead the effort to create the Musician’s Village.

Here is a link to Harry Connick, Jr. singing and playing Ellington’s Don’t Get Around Much Anymore:

"DON'T GET AROUND MUCH ANYMORE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 10th

After hearing Miles Davis play the tune ‘Round Midnight with Theolonius Monk and members of the Modern Jazz Quartet during a jam session at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955, George Avakian was persuaded to sign him to Columbia Records. At the time Davis was under contract to the Prestige label and owed them four more albums to satisfy the terms of that contract. He recorded the four albums in just three sessions in order to get out of the contract as soon as possible.

Davis began work on his first album for Columbia in October of 1955. The record was not completed for 11 months, and the final session took place on September 10, 1956, during which All of You and ‘Round Midnight were recorded. The finished album was named “’Round About Midnight.”

The record began a long, successful and lucrative, although not always cordial, relationship between the Columbia and Davis. This album featured Davis’ first great quintet with John Coltrane playing tenor saxophone, Red Garland at the piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones playing the drum set. The finished product was released on March 4, 1957.

Here is a link to ‘Round Midnight from the album “'Round About Midnight“  recorded 66 years ago today:

"'ROUND MIDNIGHT"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 9th

Drummer Elvin Jones was born on this date in 1927, the younger brother of pianist Hank Jones and trumpeter, composer and band leader Thad Jones. Elvin went on to be one of the most influential drummers in jazz history.

The family was from the Detroit area and young Elvin was fascinated by the drummers he saw in a circus parade and went on to play drums in his high school marching band. After a three-year stint in the U.S. Army, he used the money he received at detachment to buy his first drum set. Returning to his hometown, Jones played gigs with saxophonists Billy Mitchell and Wardell Gray during the early 1950s.

Elvin Jones moved to New York City in 1955 and, after a failed audition with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, was soon playing with Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, Donald Byrd and Miles Davis and later became a member of the Sonny Rollins Trio.

In 1960 Elvin Jones accepted the gig that he is probably best known for - he joined the John Coltrane Quartet. During his five years with Coltrane, Jones was an important member of a group that consistently pushed the boundaries of the music, taking jazz to new places. In 1965 Coltrane hired a second drummer for the band and Jones decided to leave the group soon after that.

After leaving Coltrane’s employ, Jones toured Europe with Duke Ellington and then started his own ensemble that eventually became known as Elvin Jones’ Jazz Machine. Over the years Jones’ group featured such sidemen as Joe Farrell, Pepper Adams, Ravi Coltrane, Abdullah Ibrahim and Nicholas Payton. Jones continued to perform into the early 2000s, even as his health began to fail. Elvin Jones suffered heart failure on May 18, 2004 and passed away. His impact on jazz lives on.

Here is a link to a 1968 performance by Elvin Jones accompanied by Joe Farrell on saxophone and bassist Jimmy Garrison:

"VILLAGE GREENE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 8th

Wilbur Ware was one of the leading bassists of his time. He was essentially the studio bass player for Riverside Records through much of the 1950s and was heard on recordings by Kenny Dorham, Thelonious Monk, and Kenny Drew. Wilbur Ware was born on September 8, 1923, in Chicago.


Growing up in his hometown, Ware learned to play multiple instruments at his church including banjo and drums. By the 1940s he had settled on the double bass as his instrument of choice and was becoming known for the percussive nature of his playing. During the decade he performed and recorded with Stuff Smith, Sonny Stitt and Roy Eldridge during those early years of his career.


Ware’s most productive decade was the 1950s where he recorded with Sonny Clark, Zoot Sims, Art Blakey, Sun Ra, Herbie Mann, Lee Morgan and Buddy DeFranco while living in New York City. His one record as leader was “The Chicago Sound” with saxophonist Johnny Griffin, which was made in 1957. That same year he spent time as a member of Monk’s quartet and also played with Sonny Rollins at the Village Vanguard.


In the early 1960s Ware was battling drug addiction and returned to Chicago. He was subsequently arrested and jailed. He remained off the scene for a number of years but returned to music at the end of the decade performing with Clifford Jordan and Elvin Hayes.


During his life Ware was one of the most sought-after bassists in jazz and a significant contributor to many important jazz recordings. He died of emphysema in 1979.


Here is a link to a cut from Wilbur Ware’s 1957 record “The Chicago Sound:”

"LULLABY OF THE LEAVES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 7th

One of the most interesting characters in the history of jazz music is saxophonist Sonny Rollins. Perpetually dissatisfied, Rollins has throughout his eight-decade career continuously pushed his own limits as a musician while pushing the boundaries of the music itself. Sonny Rollins was born on September 7, 1930, in New York City.

Growing up not far from the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, Rollins started on alto saxophone but switched to tenor at age 16. He was a fan of Coleman Hawkins and was also interested in the be-bop movement and the music of Charlie Parker. Thelonious Monk was one of Sonny’s early mentors and by the 1950s Rollins was developing a reputation as the “most brash and creative young tenor on the scene.” Miles Davis was a fan and wrote in his autobiography that “Some thought [Rollins] was playing the saxophone on the level of Bird. I know one thing – he was close. He was an aggressive, innovative player who always had fresh musical ideas. I loved him back then as a player and he could also write his ass off…” Rollins has composed Airegin, Doxy, Oleo, and his theme song St. Thomas, all of which have become jazz standards.

After having played and recorded with Miles, Monk, the Modern Jazz Quartet and the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet, Sonny began recording as a leader in 1954. He produced a series of great records over the next five years and was widely considered the most innovative tenor player in jazz. In 1959, though, he decided to take a break from public performance because “I was getting very famous at the time, and I felt I needed to brush up on various aspects of my craft. I felt I was getting too much, too soon, so I said, wait a minute, I’m going to do it my way. I wasn’t going to let people push me out there, so I could fall down. I wanted to get myself together, on my own. I used to practice on the Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge because I was living on the Lower East Side at the time.” He returned to action in late 1961 with the appropriately titled album “The Bridge.”

After taking a second sabbatical from performing from the late 1960s until 1972, Rollins returned to jazz and has accumulated an astonishing list of accolades in the years since. These include being elected to the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1973, winning a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2004, being recognized at the Kennedy Center Honors on his 81st birthday and receiving honorary doctorates from at least ten colleges and universities. During his career he has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and the Rolling Stones. Today, on his 92nd birthday, Sonny Rollins continues to have great influence on jazz music and jazz musicians to this day.
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Here is a link to Rollins playing perhaps his best-known tune from his 1956 album “Saxophone Colossus:”

"ST. THOMAS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 6th

Before Louis Armstrong, before Joe “King” Oliver and before Freddie Keppard there was Buddy Bolden, the first great cornetist in jazz history and a key figure in the development of the music. He was born on September 7, 1877, in New Orleans.


While many of the details of Bolden’s life have been obscured by time, we do know that he led one of the most popular bands in New Orleans from around 1900 until 1907. Cited by at least one jazz historian as “the father of jazz,” Bolden’s band played a looser style than the ragtime bands of time. They incorporated more improvisation and added aspects of the blues and Black church music to their performances. Bolden himself was known for his powerful playing and was an influence on other early New Orleans cornetists like Oliver, Keppard and Bunk Johnson.


Buddy Bolden’s valve trombonist Willie Cornish claimed to have made cylinder recordings of the band performing, but none have ever been found, so we have no recordings of Bolden playing, only the descriptions of those that heard him. He is credited with developing “the big four,” a syncopated bass drum pattern, and with composing the song Funky Butt, now sometimes called Buddy Bolden’s Blues or performed as the Jelly Roll Morton interpretation I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say.


Buddy Bolden was admitted to the Louisiana State Insane Asylum in 1907 after having suffered an episode of “acute alcoholic psychosis.” He was later diagnosed as being schizophrenic and remained in the mental institution until his death in 1931 at the age of 54.


Here is a link to Jelly Roll Morton playing and singing Buddy Boldon's Blues:

"BUDDY BOLDEN'S BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 5th

Duke Ellington wrote the song In a Mellotone in 1939 and his orchestra recorded it for Victor Records on September 5, 1940. The song uses the harmonic structure of the 1919 composition Rose Room which had been well-loved by jazz musicians (notably Benny Goodman and Charlie Christian) for years and superimposes a simple riff over the top. Then Duke turned his great soloists loose and a classic was born.


In 1940 Duke Ellington and his Orchestra were at the peak of their popularity with wonderful musicians and the great writing of their leader. The list of players on the record is practically a who’s who of jazz musicians including Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, Rex Stewart, Juan Tizol and Sonny Greer. As was the case with many Ellington tunes, lyrics were added at a later date, in this case by record producer Milt Gabler.


The song’s popularity has remained strong through the years with notable recordings of In a Mellotone being made by Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Harry James, Buddy Rich and The Manhattan Transfer.


Here is a link to the 1940 recording of In a Mellotone by Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra, made 82 years ago today:

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"IN A MELLOTONE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 4th

Gerald Wilson was a trumpet player, but gained his greatest fame as a composer, arranger and band leader. He was born on September 4, 1918 in Shelby, Mississippi.

In 1939 Wilson joined the Jimmie Lunceford band replacing arranger Sy Young in the trumpet section. He wrote music for Lunceford and also contributed to the libraries of groups led by Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie and Benny Carter.

During World War II Gerald Wilson was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Station in Waukegan, Illinois and played in the jazz band there along with Clark Terry, Al Grey, Ernie Wilkins and Jimmy Nottingham. After the war Wilson led his own band in Los Angeles which performed at the Cavalcade of Jazz, the first outdoor jazz festival produced by an African American.

Beginning in 1960 Wilson led a big band in Los Angeles that included such jazz stars as Joe Pass, Bud Shank, Snooky Young, Harold Land, Roy Ayres and Richard “Groove” Holmes. For some years Wilson maintained jazz orchestras on both coasts and recorded 25 albums as a leader during his career. His unique conducting style while leading his bands, or as a guest conductor with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the BBC Big Band garnered a good deal of notice, too.

Gerald Wilson was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1990 and was presented the Monterey Jazz Festival Jazz Legends Award in 2008. Wilson passed away in 2014 at the age of 96.

Here is a link to a video of Gerald Wilson leading his band in the studio while making the album “Detroit” in 2009:

"BEFORE MOTOWN"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 3rd

Boston native and baritone saxophonist Serge Chaloff was the son of a composer and a piano teacher known as Madame Chaloff. His career is often overlooked due to his erratic behavior due to drug abuse and alcoholism and his early death from spinal cancer at age 33. Nonetheless, Chaloff was the first great be-bop baritone player and his musicianship was much admired during his time. He won the DownBeat Magazine poll for best baritone saxophonist every year between 1949 and 1953. On this date in 1954 Chaloff was in the studio recording The Fable of Mabel for Storyville Records.


Serge Chaloff first came to national attention in 1945 as a member of the Boyd Raeburn band where he played with Dizzy Gillespie on the first recording of A Night in Tunisia (or Interlude, as it was called on the record). He was also one of the “four brothers” in Woody Herman’s Second Herd along with Zoot Sims, Stan Getz and Al Cohn. In 1950 he briefly played with the Count Basie Octet.


The Fable of Mabel is the title track of a 10“ record and was written by pianist Dick Twardzik. On the liner notes, Twardzik describes the piece as "The Fable of Mabel was introduced to jazz circles in 1951-52 by the Serge Chaloff Quartet. Audiences found this satirical jazz legend a welcome respite from standard night club fare. In this legend, Mabel is depicted as a woman who loves men, music and her silver saxophone that played counterpoint (her own invention which proved impractical). The work is divided into three movements:
1. New Orleans
2. Classical
3.Not Too Sad an Ending.
The soulful baritone solo by Serge Chaloff traces Mabel's humble beginnings working railroad cars in New Orleans to her emergence as a practicing crusader for the cause of Jazz. During her Paris days on the Jazz Houseboat, her struggle for self-expression is symbolized by an unusual saxophone duet Charlie Mariano and Varty Haritrounian. Mabel always said she wanted to go out blowing. She did."


Here is a link to the 1954 recording by the Serge Chaloff nonet:

"THE FABLE OF MABEL"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 2nd

Hard bop pioneer Horace Silver played both tenor saxophone and piano while a youth in his native state of Connecticut, but settled on piano when offered a job accompanying Stan Getz at the age of 22. Silver moved to New York City in the early 1950s and was successful leading a trio and working as a sideman, but really came into his own when he joined forces with drummer Art Blakey to co-lead The Jazz Messengers around 1954. Horace Silver was born on September 2, 1928.

Silver left The Jazz Messengers in 1956 and played as a sideman for several notables including Sonny Rollins and Miles Davis before concentrating on his own quintet. The original lineup for that group was Hank Mobley playing saxophone, Art Farmer on trumpet, Doug Watkins on bass and Louis Hayes playing the drums. Later incarnations of the band would feature Joe Henderson, Bennie Maupin, Randy Brecker and Billy Cobham.

As the years went by Silver began to limit his touring and public performances to spend more time with his family and to concentrate on composing and his growing interest in spirituality. In 1995 Horace was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts and the following year was added to the DownBeat Magazine Jazz Hall of Fame. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences awarded Silver their President’s Merit Award in 2005 and Berklee College of Music bestowed an honorary doctorate, as well. He passed away in 2014 at the age 85.

Silver was as renowned for his compositional skills as he was for his playing. He wrote several pieces that have become jazz standards including Senor Blues, Cape Verdean Blues, Sister Sadie, Doodlin’, Nutville and Song For My Father.

Here is a link to the Horace Silver Quintet performing Senor Blues in 1959:

"SENOR BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - September 1st

Alto saxophonist Art Pepper was born on September 1, 1925 in Gardena, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. Although his career was interrupted on several occasions due to battles with heroin addiction and imprisonment on drug charges, Pepper is considered by many to be the finest alto player of his time.

Both of Art Pepper’s parents were alcoholics and young Art was sent to live with his grandmother at an early age. He began playing clarinet at age 9 and switched to saxophone when he was 13. While still in his teens he could be found regularly at jam sessions on Los Angeles’ Central Avenue.

Only four years after having taken up the alto saxophone, Art Pepper was playing in the Benny Carter band and shortly thereafter was playing with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. His tenure with Kenton was interrupted by military service during World War II. In 1952 Pepper placed second in the DownBeat Magazine reader’s poll for best alto player. The winner was Charlie Parker.

Because of numerous arrests and convictions for drug possession and use Art Pepper served four separate stints in prison. Two of those incarcerations were at San Quentin where he formed a band with fellow prisoner and alto player Frank Morgan. After each of his stays in prison Pepper was able to mount successful musical comebacks and some critics believe he was producing his best work when he passed away due to a stroke in 1982 at the age of 56. Two years prior to his death he co-wrote a book about his life with his wife.
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Here is a link to Art Pepper performing at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival and talking about his life in footage from a Norwegian television documentary:

"ART PEPPER AT KONGSBERG"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 31st

The Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra was one of the great “show bands” of the swing era. One of their signature pieces, Organ Grinder’s Swing, was recorded on August 31, 1936, 86 years ago today.
Although born in Mississippi in 1902, young Jimmie grew up in Denver, Colorado where his high school band director was Paul Whiteman’s father. After high school Lunceford continued his education at Fisk University. At the age of 25 he was teaching at Manassas High School in Memphis, Tennessee when he started a student band called “The Chickasaw Syncopators.” Lunceford was the first public high school band director in the city. A couple of years later in 1929 the band changed its name and made its professional debut as “The Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra” and made their first record a year after that.

While many prominent bands of the era like those led by Duke Ellington and Count Basie focused on their great soloists, the Lunceford group was known for its ensemble playing which showcased great musicianship and precision. However, those attributes were sometimes lost on audiences because Lunceford’s band often employed what some have called vaudevillian aspects to their performances. These included costumes, dancing, skits and parodies of other bands. But, when listening to their recordings of great Sy Oliver compositions and arrangements, one is struck by the fine music the orchestra produced.

Organ Grinder’s Swing was written by Will Hudson and published in 1936. It is based on the nursey rhyme “I Like Coffee, I like Tea.” While Lunceford’s recording was most likely the first time the song was put to vinyl, Organ Grinder’s Swing was recorded by Ella Fitzgerald just three months later. Other records of the song were made by Benny Goodman, The Mills Brothers, Django Reinhardt and Milt Jackson. Organist Jimmy Smith made a very successful recording of the tune in the 1960s.
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Here is a link to the 1936 Jimmie Lunceford recording of Organ Grinder’s Swing:

"ORGAN GRINDER'S SWING"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 30th

It took two sessions in the month of August 1965 for tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris and his group to record the album “The In Sound” for Atlantic Records. They finished two tracks on August 9th and four more on August 30th, including the first recording of Harris’ composition Freedom Jazz Dance. The tune has gone on to achieve jazz standard status in the time since that day 57 years ago.

Eddie Harris was born in Chicago in 1934 and played the saxophone at DuSable High School in the music program that also turned out Nat “King” Cole, Johnny Griffin, Gene Ammons and Julian Priester. Harris attended Roosevelt University in Chicago and became proficient not only on saxophone, but also piano and vibraphone. After college he was drafted by the U.S. Army and played with the 7th Army Band in Europe along with bandmates Don Ellis and Cedar Walton.

Upon his return to America, Harris signed with Vee-Jay Records and in 1961 released a single on which he played a version of the theme from the movie “Exodus.” The record received a good deal of airplay and was the first jazz record to be certified gold. Besides tenor, Harris sometimes performed on electric piano and often veered into the funk and rhythm and blues realm in the 1960s. “The In Sound” was his first album after signing with Atlantic.

In 1969 he was on stage at the Montreux Jazz festival to record “Swiss Movement” with keyboardist Les McCann. In all, Eddie Harris recorded 61 albums as a leader, three of which were released posthumously. Harris passed away in 1996.

Harris’ 1965 recording of Freedom Jazz Dance also featured Ray Codrington on trumpet, Cedar Walton, piano, with bassist Ron Carter and Billy Higgins playing the drums. Some critics believe that the album is the best Harris ever made. Freedom Jazz Dance has since been recorded by many musicians, notably by Miles Davis on “Miles Smiles."

Here is a link to the 1965 Eddie Harris recording of Freedom Jazz Dance:

"FREEDOM JAZZ DANCE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 29th

Today is the 102nd anniversary of Charlie Parker’s birth. It is hardly an overstatement to say that Parker changed the jazz landscape forever when his prodigious talent burst onto the scene in the 1940s. His legacy is that of the artist that changed the art itself.

Parker began playing the alto saxophone at age 11 and at 14 joined the band at his high school in Kansas City, Missouri. He practiced constantly (sometimes as much as 15 hours per day) and at 15 dropped out of high school, joined the musician's union local and began playing professionally around his hometown. Saxophonist Buster Smith was a tremendous influence on the young Parker and taught him to play double and triple-time figures. While travelling with a band to an out-of-town gig in 1936 Parker was seriously injured in an automobile accident. After the accident in which his spine was fractured, he was treated with opioid pain killers and one can trace his life-long issues with drug abuse to the incident.

Charlie Parker, or “Yardbird” or just “Bird,” joined the Jay McShann band in 1938. McShann’s group travelled throughout the mid-west as well as to gigs in Chicago and New York City. Parker left McShann in 1939 and moved to New York where he had his musical epiphany. One night in a Harlem chili restaurant while soloing on Cherokee, Parker discovered a new way of improvising. He found, as he said, “that by using the higher intervals of a chord as a melody line and backing them with appropriately related changes, I could play the thing I'd been hearing. I came alive."

There were other musicians that were feeling artistically suffocated by the commercial demands of the swing era and were champing at the bit to play something new. Many of them met for jam sessions at Minton’s Playhouse led by house pianist Thelonious Monk. Other regulars included Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Christian and Kenny Clarke. The style that was evolving would eventually be known as be-bop and was characterized by rapid tempos, complex harmonies, angular melodies and virtuosic improvisation. Much of their work, though, went on without public notice as there was a recording ban during much of the time the music was evolving.

But, at the end of World War II recordings of these musicians and the new musical style became available and created a firestorm of controversy within the jazz community. Some older musicians like Coleman Hawkins, Mary Lou Williams and Ella Fitzgerald embraced the new sounds, while others like Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway made derisive comments. Parker, and his friend Gillespie, were seen as the leaders of the movement and Bird developed a fanatical following of fans.

After continued bouts with drug addiction, Charlie Parker died on March 12, 1955, due to multiple health problems brought on by his abuse. Almost immediately graffiti began to appear around New York and elsewhere proclaiming “Bird Lives.” Bird’s music most definitely does live on in recordings and in the tremendous number of musicians influenced by his playing to this day.

Here is a link to Bird playing Yardbird Suite:

"YARDBIRD SUITE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 28th

During the 1930s tenor saxophonist Chu Berry was one of the men who was making the instrument an important voice in jazz along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. Although it would not be released for another three years, on August 28, 1941 Berry was in the studio recording Mondays at Minton's for Commodore Records in New York.

Born in West Virginia in 1908, Berry attended West Virginia State College and originally was an alto saxophonist. He switched to tenor after hearing Hawkins play in person. Chu Berry, whose given name was Leon, spent most of his career playing in big bands during the swing era. Those included groups led by Benny Carter, Teddy Hill, Fletcher Henderson and Cab Calloway. He did, however, play as a sideman as well, on records by Mildred Bailey, Teddy Wilson, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith and Lionel Hampton.

Chu Berry is the composer of the 1936 Fletcher Henderson hit Chrispoher Columbus, which was also used by Jimmy Mundy as part of his Sing, Sing, Sing arrangement for the Benny Goodman Orchestra. Berry was a regular participant in the jam sessions at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem where the elements of be-bop were being developed in the early 1940s.

Mondays at Minton's is on the flip side of Blowin’ Up a Breeze and features “Hot Lips” Page on trumpet, Clyde Hart at the piano, Al Morgan playing bass, guitarist Al Casey and Harry Jaeger on drums along with Berry. Chu Berry died in an Ohio car accident less than two months after the recording was made. Charlie Parker named his first son Leon in honor of Berry.

Here is a link to the August 28, 1941 recording made by Chu Berry and his Jazz Ensemble:

"MONDAY AT MINTON'S"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 27th

One of the most identifiable and influential musicians in jazz history was saxophonist (and occasional clarinetist) Lester Young. He was born in Mississippi on this date in the year 1909.

Although young Lester was born in Mississippi, he grew up in the Algiers section of New Orleans. As a youngster he was able to play a number of musical instruments in his family’s band, led by his father who was a teacher and band director. The Young Family Band toured the southwestern United States before moving to Minnesota in 1919. When Lester Young was 18, he left the band because he was not willing to tour the American south where Jim Crow laws discriminated so harshly against Blacks.

By the time Lester was 23 he was a member of the same Blue Devils band as Count Basie, Walter Page and Buster Smith. A year later he was living in Kansas City and playing with a number of groups, eventually landing with the group led by Basie and becoming one of its most prominent soloists. He stayed with the Count until 1940, leaving to perform with Fletcher Henderson and then with Andy Kirk. However, he continued to make occasional appearances with the Count Basie Orchestra for years to come.

In addition to his work with large ensembles, “Prez,” as Young was nicknamed by Billie Holiday (short for “The President”), made many small group recordings over the years. After being drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II and being dishonorably discharged after an incident where marijuana was found in his barracks, Young worked and recorded with musicians like Nat “King” Cole, Buddy Rich, Roy Eldridge and Vic Dickenson as well as being a regular participant on the Jazz at the Philharmonic tours.

By the mid-1950s Lester Young’s health was deteriorating and he suffered a “nervous breakdown” which was in large part precipitated by his heavy use of alcohol. He was hospitalized for a while and after his release began playing again, touring Europe with Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Quartet. In December of 1957 he was a participant in the CBS Television broadcast “The Sound of Jazz” where he performed Fine and Mellow with his old friend Billie Holiday who was also in failing health. Within two years both of them would be gone.

Lester Young’s musicianship and artistry has served as an inspiration for many who have followed him, including Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Paul Desmond and Lee Konitz. Young’s cool, smooth and softer style stood in direct contrast to the other tenor players of his era like Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster. Young was also renowned for his use of language and some credit him with originating the use of the word “cool” to connotate something fashionable.

Lester Young passed away on March 15, 1959 in New York City at the age of 49.

Here is a link to the performance featuring Young and Holiday from the television program “The Sound of Jazz:”

"FINE AND MELLOW"
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TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 26th

The Marsalis family of New Orleans is one of the most renown in jazz. Oldest brother and saxophonist Branford Marsalis celebrates his 62nd birthday today.

Branford Marsalis was still a student at the Berklee College of Music when he first played with Art Blakey on a European tour in 1980. By the end of the next year, he was a regular member of Blakey’s Jazz Messengers playing alongside his brother trumpeter Wynton. In 1985 he joined the band of bassist and vocalist Sting, and the following year formed his own quartet. Between 1992 and 1995 Branford led The Tonight Show Band for the first three years of the Jay Leno era. Along with his quartet, Marsalis started the group Buckshot LeFonque in 1994. That band combines jazz, rock and hip hop influences and released their first record within months of their founding.

In addition to his own projects, Branford Marsalis has performed and recorded with a wide variety of musical artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Hargrove, Harry Connick, Jr., James Taylor, the Allman Brothers, Sonny Rollins, the Dave Matthews Band and the Grateful Dead. After Hurricane Katrina he along with his friend Harry Connick, Jr., created the “Musicians Village” along with Habitat for Humanity.

Branford has also made a name for himself on Broadway, where he wrote the music for the revival of the August Wilson play Fences, as well as in the world of classical music. He made his debut with the New York Philharmonic in 2010. Marsalis has also appeared and performed in Spike Lee films and several television programs, and written scores for movies. In 2011, along with his brothers and father, he received the NEA Jazz Masters Award. Branford has also been active as a music educator having taught at Michigan State University, San Francisco State University and North Carolina Central University.

Here is a link to a popular cut from Buckshot LeFonque's 1994 debut album:

"SOME COW FONQUE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 25th

Joe Brazil was a saxophonist and jazz educator born in Detroit on August 25, 1927. The basement of his home became the venue for legendary jam sessions that included musicians like Donald Byrd, Joe Henderson, Barry Harris and it is said that Alice Coltrane met her future husband John Coltrane at one of those sessions.

Brazil moved to Seattle in 1961 to work for Boeing Aircraft and began gigging around the city shortly after his arrival. In 1965 he played with John Coltrane at The Penthouse and recorded with him while he was in town, as well. The session resulted in the album “Om” released the year after Coltrane’s death. Brazil also appears on records by James Moody and Roy Ayers.

In 1967 he founded the Black Academy of Music (BAM) in Seattle and began teaching aspiring jazz musicians along with colleagues including trumpeter Floyd Standifer and saxophone player Jabo Ward. The Academy offered instruments, teachers and equipment so that anyone who was interested in studying music could do so. Workshops were held there that featured Cannonball Adderley, Dizzy Gillespie, Archie Shepp, McCoy Tyner and others.

After teaching at Garfield High School in Seattle for a year Brazil became the first Black music professor at the University of Washington School of Music in 1969. He laid the groundwork for the school’s jazz program which was all but non-existent up until then. In 1976 the University denied Brazil tenure causing a good deal of backlash among students. His jazz history course was very popular on campus. But, the university stood by their decision and Brazil left the school.

Joe Brazil passed away in 2008.
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Here is a link to a tape of one of those legendary jam session in his basement featuring Brazil on alto saxophone and Coltrane on tenor:

"BASEMENT JAM SESSION"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 24th

Even though his given name was Henry Franklin Smith he was known to friends, family and fans as Buster Smith and sometimes as Professor Smith. Noted for the prodigious volume level of his playing, saxophonist Smith often used a tenor reed on his alto and went on to play with many jazz greats and mentor others.

Buster Smith was born near Dallas, Texas on August 24, 1904 and by the age of 18 was able to play organ, guitar, clarinet and alto saxophone. By 19 he was playing professionally with a medicine show. Just two years after that he was playing with the Blue Devils, a band that included Oran “Hot Lips“ Page on trumpet, Lester Young on tenor saxophone, Walter Page at the bass, Count Basie playing piano and Jimmy Rushing was the vocalist. The Blue Devils were a ”territory band“ on tour throughout the mid-west and southwestern parts of the United States.

After leaving the Blue Devils Buster and Basie formed the Buster Smith-Count Basie Band of Rhythm in Kansas City. While living and working in that hot bed of 1930s jazz Smith gave saxophone lessons to a young and promising alto player named Charlie Parker.

In 1941, tiring of touring, Smith returned to Dallas where he spent most of the rest of his life playing and teaching. He mentored young musicians from the area including “T-Bone” Walker and Red Garland. He also did session work with Eddie Durham and Don Redman. Buster Smith was involved in a serious automobile accident in 1961 that left him unable to play saxophone. He did, however, teach himself to play electric bass and continued to perform until his death from a heart attack in 1991.

Here is a link to a cut from Buster Smith’s only record as a leader made in 1959 for Atlantic Records:

"KANSAS CITY RIFFS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 23rd

Although it was not released until nearly two years later, pianist McCoy Tyner’s tenth album as a leader, “Expansions,” was recorded on August 23, 1968, 54 years ago today.
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Tyner is often associated with his time in the John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 until 1965, but he had a long and successful career as a leader himself. He is considered one of the most influential jazz pianists of the second half of the 20th century. Much of his post-Coltrane career was spent playing in a trio setting and he recorded 72 albums as a leader.

During a career that spanned more than six decades McCoy Tyner won five Grammys, received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music and was named an NEA Jazz Master by the National Endowment of the Arts in 2002.

“Expansions” features performances by Woody Shaw on trumpet, Ron Carter playing cello, Herbie Lewis on bass and Freddie Waits at the drums. Saxophonists Wayne Shorter and Gary Bartz also make guest appearances on the record.

Here is a link to a Tyner composition, Visions, from the album “Expansions:”

"VISIONS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 22nd

Somewhere around 1940 or 1941 Thelonious Monk composed a tune that was originally titled I Need You So. But, by the time it was recorded by Cootie Williams and his Orchestra on August 22, 1944, it was known as ‘Round Midnight.

It has been written in Jazziz magazine that playing ‘Round Midnight is a kind of rite of passage for jazz players. While Monk is the composer and eventually recorded the himself tune in 1947, the first recording by Cootie Williams’ group was just the beginning as ‘Round Midnight is, by some accounts, the most recorded jazz standard in history. It seems that all of the greats have had their turn with the song. There have been versions by Miles Davis, Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Sarah Vaughan, Oscar Peterson and Sun Ra to name just a fraction. And yes, there is even a Jazz Underground recording of the Alan Baylock arrangement of the tune.

Here is a link to the very first ‘Round Midnight recording mad by Cootie Williams on this date 78 years ago today:

"'ROUND MIDNIGHT"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 21st

William James “Count” Basie​ was born in Red Bank, New Jersey on August 21, 1904. He received his first piano lessons from his mother and by his teens was able to improvise music to accompany silent movies at a local theater. He would go on to lead one of the most successful jazz bands in the history of the genre.

In the early 1920s Basie moved to New York City and took up residence in Harlem where he fell in with some of the finest stride piano players of the era. He also toured with various musical acts before being asked to join Walter Page’s Blue Devils, a territory band popular in the mid-west, in 1928. The next year he joined up with Bennie Moten’s band in Kansas City. After Moten’s death in 1935 Basie started his own 9-piece ensemble and took up residency at the Reno Club in Kansas City where they regularly played on live radio programs. Famed producer John Hammond heard the Basie organization on one of those broadcasts and signed them to a recording contract. They made their first records shortly thereafter.

The Basie band of the late 1930s featured such luminaries as Lester Young, Dickie Wells, Buck Clayton, Harry “Sweets” Edison, and the All-American Rhythm section of Freddie Green on guitar, bassist Walter Page, Jo Jones on drums and, of course, Basie at the piano. The group also featured great vocalists like Billie Holiday, Jimmy Rushing and Helen Humes.

After World War II musical tastes were changing and big bands were going out of business left and right. Basie’s group was no exception. But, by the early 1950s, Basie re-formed his band and continued to lead it through the end of his life. While his early Kansas City groups relied heavily on the blues and “head arrangements,” later incarnations of the ensemble relied more on written arrangements and precision while still featuring fine solo work.

Count Basie passed away from pancreatic cancer in 1984 at the age of 79. His legacy lives on today and the sound of his bands continues to be both informative and inspirational to later generations of jazz musicians.

Here is a link to a 1965 performance by the Count Basie Orchestra:

"APRIL IN PARIS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 20th

Bassist John Clayton was born on August 20, 1952, in Venice, California near Los Angeles. He began taking lessons from legendary jazz bass player Ray Brown at the age of 16 and before the end of his teens was playing with Henry Mancini. In the years since Clayton has become one of the most respected musicians, composers and jazz educators in the business.

After graduating from Indiana University in 1975, Clayton toured with the Monty Alexander Trio and the Count Basie Orchestra before taking a position as principal bass in the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. After returning from Europe John Clayton, along with his brother saxophonist Jeff, formed the Clayton Brothers band. In 1985 John co-founded the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with drummer Jeff Hamilton.

During his career Clayton has been the artistic director for the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Moscow, Idaho and the director of the Jazz Port Townsend Summer Workshop in Washington state. In addition, he has served as the Artistic Director of Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and taught at the University of Southern California. He is past president of the International Society of Bassists.

John Clayton has composed and arranged for the Count Basie Orchestra, Diana Krall, Ernestine Anderson, Quincy Jones and the Tonight Show Band. He won a Grammy in 2007 for his work with Queen Latifah. His son Gerald is an accomplished jazz pianist.
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Here is a link to John Clayton directing the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra at a performance in Europe:

"MAX"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 19th

James George Hunter was born in Spokane, Washington on August 19, 1918. He was known professionally, however, as Jimmy Rowles and he was one of the most respected pianists in the jazz community. His might not have been a household name for the general public, but jazz musicians, especially pianists and vocalists, were well aware of his talent. Both Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock were among those who were more than impressed with his artistry.

After being introduced to jazz while attending Gonzaga University, Rowles moved to Los Angeles in the early 1940s and soon was playing with Lester Young.  He followed up that gig with stints in the Benny Goodman and Woody Herman bands. He also played with Les Brown and Tommy Dorsey and worked as a studio musician, too. Jimmy Rowles can be heard as a sideman on records by Benny Carter, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, Buddy Rich, Nat “King” Cole and Ben Webster.

Jimmy Rowles was also renown as an accompanist for vocalists and worked with some of the greats including Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Peggy Lee. It was Rowles who worked with an aspiring pianist named Diana Krall and convinced her that she should sing as well. Over the years Rowles amassed a library of songs and charts so large that he had to purchase a place in which to house them. It is said that he knew over 2000 songs himself. His best-known composition is The Peacocks which he debuted on an album with Stan Getz in 1975. It has since been recorded by Bill Evans and Esperanza Spalding.

Jimmy Rowles passed away from a heart attack in 1996.

Here is a link to a live performance by Jimmy Rowles:

"HONEY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 18th

“Porgy and Bess” was the second album collaboration between trumpeter Miles Davis and composer/arranger Gil Evans. The record was made in four sessions during the summer of 1958 at the Columbia Records 30th Street Studios in New York City. The fourth and final session took place on August 18th, 64 years ago today.

After the success of the first Davis/Evans project “Miles Ahead” the previous year, Columbia was keen to follow up with a second record by the two. With an upcoming movie version of “Porgy and Bess” scheduled for 1959, and the fact that Davis’ girlfriend was appearing on stage in a production of same, the Gershwin score was chosen as the source material for their interpretation. Davis and Evans made use of their continuing experimentation with modal improvisation ideas in the writing for the album. Along with the cream of the crop of New York studio musicians the ensemble included members Cannonball Adderley, Philly Joe Jones, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb from Miles’ regular group.

Upon its release, the album received widespread critical acclaim and has continued to be an influential recording in the years that have followed. It remains one of Miles Davis’s best-selling and most popular albums and has been recognized as a “landmark in orchestral jazz.” The magazine Jazz Times has called the record “possibly the best of the collaborations between Miles Davis and Gil Evans…”

Here is a link to Summertime from the Miles Davis/Gil Evans recording of “Porgy and Bess:”

"SUMMERTIME"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 17th

Pianist, composer, arranger and producer Columbus Calvin “Duke” Pearson, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on August 17, 1932. He would make 17 records as a leader and appear as a sideman with jazz greats like Donald Byrd, Carmen McRae and Thad Jones. As an arranger and producer for Blue Note Records, he would help to mold the label’s hard bop sound working with artists like Stanley Turrentine, Lee Morgan, Lou Donaldson and Hank Mobley.

Duke Pearson began taking piano lessons from his mother at the age of 5 but showed an interest in brass instruments so played the trumpet in high school and at Clark College in Atlanta. After a stint in the U.S. Army Pearson returned to the piano citing embouchure problems. In the late 1950s he performed around the southern United States and got one of his compositions recorded by alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley.

In 1959 Pearson moved to New York City and began playing with Art Pepper, Donald Byrd and as the accompanist for vocalist Nancy Wilson. In 1963 Pearson became the A&R man for Blue Note Records and played on many artist’s records all the while continuing to record as a leader. During the 1960s and 1970s he led a big band with trumpeter and friend Donald Byrd that featured Chick Corea and Randy Brecker as members. After leaving Blue Note in 1971 Pearson took a position teaching at his alma mater and performing occasionally,

Duke Pearson was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the last years of his life and passed away at the Atlanta Veteran’s Hospital in 1980.

Here is a link to the tune that is perhaps Duke Pearson’s best-known composition, Jeannine, as performed by Pearson and his trio on a 1961 recording:

"JEANNINE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 16th

Mal Waldron was born on August 16, 1925 in New York City. By the time he passed away in 2002, pianist Waldron had recorded more than 100 albums as a leader and appeared on an additional 70 as a sideman.

Malcom Earl “Mal” Waldron began classical piano lessons at the age of 7. Although his parents discouraged his interest in jazz Mal played saxophone for a time having been inspired to do so by hearing the 1939 Coleman Hawkins recording of Body and Soul. Waldron played alto saxophone around New York before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. After hearing Charlie Parker perform on 52nd Street one night, Waldron decided that he had neither the dexterity to play saxophone in the emerging be-bop style nor the extroverted personality he deemed necessary to be successful as a sax player. Waldron received a B.A. in music from Queens College in 1949.

Having returned to the piano, Mal Waldron began working with tenor man Ike Quebec in 1950 and made his first record with his group two years later. He also worked with Charles Mingus for a time and was Billie Holiday’s accompanist from 1957 until 1959. Waldron made his recording debut as a leader in 1955 and appeared on the CBS television 1958 program “The Sound of Jazz.” For a time he was the house pianist at Prestige Records and appeared on albums by Jackie McLean, Phil Woods and John Coltrane.

In 1963 Mal Waldron suffered a heroin overdose and spent several years in recovery. When he returned to performing, he spent much of his time in Europe and moved to West Germany in 1967 citing the “cutthroat competition” in America and the pay disparity between white and Black musicians in the United States. In Europe Waldron often played with fellow expatriates like Kenny Clarke and Ben Webster. Waldron also wrote music for ballets and composed film scores.

Waldron cited Charles Mingus, Art Tatum, Billie Holiday, Max Roach, Bud Powell and Duke Ellington as major influences for his playing and his composing. In turn, many younger musicians have cited Waldron as an influence including Matthew Shipp and Stanley Cowell. Mal Waldron passed away in Brussels, Belgium at the age of 77.
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Here is a link to a solo performance of All Alone by Mal Waldron:

"ALL ALONE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 15th

One of the most technically superb pianists in jazz, Oscar Peterson was born in Montreal, Canada on August 15, 1925. During a career that spanned more than six decades, Peterson would make more than 200 records, win seven Grammys, and receive a lifetime achievement award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Beginning in 1950 he won the DownBeat magazine poll for best pianist for 12 consecutive years.

Known to jazz musicians as “O.P.,” Oscar Peterson began piano lessons at the age of five, learning from his father and an older sister. At 14 years old he won a national competition sponsored by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. After his victory he dropped out of high school and joined a band with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. While still a teenager, Peterson was playing gigs as a solo act and had a weekly radio program. By 1945 he was playing in a trio setting and recording for Victor Records.

In 1949 producer Norman Granz heard Oscar Peterson on the radio while riding in a cab in Montreal. Granz had the driver take him to the club where the live broadcast was taking place and invited Peterson to come to New York City and become part of his Jazz at the Philharmonic concert tours. The next year O.P. began playing as a duo with bassist Ray Brown and later added guitarist Barney Kessel to their group. After Kessel quit, Herb Ellis replaced him on guitar. Ellis left the group in 1958 and was replaced by drummer Ed Thigpen. All of these configurations made popular and musically stimulating records throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

Later in his career, Oscar Peterson began to experience difficulties with arthritis which made playing more and more difficult. He eventually had to reduce the number of performances per year and, after a stroke in 1993, his public performances became extremely rare. In 1997 Oscar Peterson was inducted into the International Jazz Hall of Fame. He passed away in 2007 after having been in poor health for some time.

Here is a link to the Oscar Peterson trio playing Duke Ellington’s C Jam Blues on Danish television in 1965:

"C JAM BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 14th

One of the most prominent jazz violinists of the swing era was Stuff Smith who was born on this date in 1909. During his life, Smith, whose given name was Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith, performed with his own groups as well as with other jazz luminaries. He is credited as being the first violinist to use electronic amplification for his instrument.

Stuff Smith was born in Portsmouth, Ohio and learned to play the violin from his father and cited Louis Armstrong as his primary influence. Like Armstrong, Stuff Smith sang as well as played his violin at performances. In the 1920s he could be found playing with the Alphonse Trent ensemble, a territory band in Texas.
After moving to New York City in the 1930s, Smith led his own six-piece group at the Onyx Club on 52nd Street. The group, known as Stuff Smith and his Onyx Club Boys, made their first records in 1936, including a hit called I’se a Muggin’. Smith could also be heard playing with Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Ella Fitzgerald and at the 1938 Randall’s Island “Carnival of Swing.”

Although a critic of the bebop movement, Stuff Smith played with both Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He appeared on an album with Nat “King” Cole and performed with Sun Ra’s orchestra, as well. Smith is one of the musicians appearing in the famous “Great Day in Harlem” photograph taken in 1958. In later life Smith moved to Denmark and passed away in Munich, West Germany in 1967 at the age of 58.

Here is a link to a 1965 Stuff Smith performance of Bugle Call Blues made for Danish television:

"BUGLE CALL BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 13th

English jazz pianist George Shearing was born on this date in 1919 in London. The youngest of nine children of working-class parents, Shearing was blind at birth and went on to compose more than 300 songs and become one of the most beloved jazz pianists of the 20th century.

Shearing was born in Battersea, London and began playing piano at the age of three. He took lessons at the Linden Lodge School for the Blind while he was a student there. Although offered scholarships to several schools he opted to start gigging on both piano and accordion at a young age. He was a member of Claude Brampton’s Blind Orchestra and made his first record at the age of 18. During World War II he played in French jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli’s band in the UK. During the 1940s Shearing won the Top Pianist award from Melody Maker magazine six consecutive years during the 1940s.

After the war George Shearing immigrated to the United States and began leading his own quintet in 1949. Although the personnel and instrumentation changed periodically, he played in the quintet format for most of the next 20 years. George Shearing became a naturalized United States citizen in 1956.

Beginning in the early 1970s Shearing began to tire of his quintet playing and often thereafter could be found performing solo or in as part of a duo. His quintet formally disbanded in 1978. Shearing made appearances in a duo setting with bassist Brian Torff, singer Mel Torme (with whom he won two Grammys in the 1980s), and pianists Marian McPartland and Hank Jones. Shearing had a fall in his home in 2004 and did not perform in public after that. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007 and passed away in 2011 at the age of 91.

Lullaby of Birdland is probably George Shearing’s best-known composition. Here is a link to a live 1992 performance of the composer playing the tune in duet with bass:

"LULLABY OF BIRDLAND"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 12th

Guitarist Pat Metheny was born August 12, 1954 in Lee’s Summit, Missouri and has gone on to record three gold albums and win 20 Grammy awards in 12 different categories. He is the only person to have achieved that feat.

Pat Metheny, younger brother of flugelhornist Mike Metheny, began playing trumpet at the age of 8 and took up the guitar at 12. When Pat was 15 he won a DownBeat Magazine scholarship to jazz camp and was already playing gigs around Kansas City. At 18 he was a student at the University of Miami and was teaching there shortly after arriving. At 19 he became the youngest teacher ever at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and was working with bassist Jaco Pastorius. The following year he began a three-year stint with vibraphonist Gary Burton.

The 1976 album “Bright Size Life” on ECM Records was Metheny’s first as a leader and preceded the formation of the Pat Metheny Group by a year. That group’s first album in 1978, with Metheny on guitar, Lyle Mays playing keyboards, bassist Mark Egan and with Danny Gottlieb at the drums, immediately sold more than 100,000 copies and remained on the Billboard jazz album chart for more than a year. The Pat Metheny Group won an impressive seven consecutive Grammys for seven consecutive albums.

During the past four decades Pat Metheny has continued to lead his group although the personnel has changed over time. He has also dedicated time to other projects with musicians like Charlie Haden, Dave Holland, Ornette Coleman, Joni Mitchell, Jim Hall and Michael Brecker.

Here is a link to The Pat Metheny Group in a live performance in 1991 in Lisbon, Portugal. They’re playing Phase Dance from their first album:

"PHASE DANCE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 11th

Clarinetist and saxophonist Russell Procope was born on August 11, 1908 in New York City. Procope is best known as a reedman in the Duke Ellington Orchestra, but during his career he played with some of the greatest groups in jazz history.

Born into a middle-class family that valued classical music, young Russell played violin in an award-winning high school orchestra. He also persuaded his mother to purchase him a clarinet and an alto saxophone even though his father was not enthused about the idea. In the mid-1920s Russell heard Louis Armstrong playing with the Fletcher Henderson outfit and “right then…I decided what I was going to do with the rest of my life.”

By 1928 Procope was playing and recording with Jelly Roll Morton and followed that gig up with some time performing in Benny Carter’s ensemble before moving on to the Chick Webb band. In 1931 there was a trade of musicians not unlike one might see in professional sports between Chick Webb and Fletcher Henderson. Webb got Benny Carter and trombonist Jimmy Harrison from Henderson who got Chick’s trombone player Benny Morton and Procope in return. Henderson’s band broke up in 1934 and Procope moved on to Teddy Hill’s organization where he played with a 19-year-old Dizzy Gillespie.

In 1937 Russell Procope was playing in the John Kirby Sextet along with Buster Bailey and Charlie Shavers. He left the group to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II. After his return from the war, Procope was contacted to replace Otto Hardwick in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Procope accepted the offer and stayed with Ellington for the next 28 years until the bandleader’s death. Russell Procope was described by Ellington as "an utterly sober and reliable musician, always to be depended upon." Procope died in 1981 at the age of 72.

Here is a link to an Ellington Orchestra recording of Indian Summer featuring Russell Procope on saxophone:

"INDIAN SUMMER"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 10th

Mamie Smith was known in the 1920s as the “Queen of the Blues.” On August 10, 1920, along with her group The Jazz Hounds, she recorded Crazy Blues which is generally considered the first genuine blues record ever made. It sold over a million copies in its first year after release by Okeh Records.

Although there had been many recordings made of songs with the word “blues” in the title previous to Smith’s record, this was the first in a true blues format. Additionally, Crazy Blues is thought to be the first record made by a Black artist using the word “blues” in the title. The record was a hit with large sales in the Black community and marked the beginning of an era of popular Black female blues singers. Mamie Smith’s popularity would assist the careers of Bessie Smith, Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters and others.

Crazy Blues was penned by composer and pianist Perry Bradford who changed the title from the original Harlem Blues written in 1918. Bradford spent time in a courtroom defending his rights to the song. Although Willie “The Lion” Smith is seen on promotional material for the record, it is believed that Bradford actually played piano on the record.

Mamie Smith would go on to have a string of successful records during the 1920s and most certainly led the way for Black artists being able to perform Black music on records for a Black audience. Smith retired from performing for most of the 1930s and passed away in 1946.

Here is a link to Crazy Blues as recorded by Mamie Smith and her Jazz Hounds on this date 102 years ago today:

"CRAZY BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 9th

One of the most influential drummers in jazz, Jack DeJohnette was born on August 9, 1942 in Chicago. DeJohnette incorporates elements of straight ahead jazz, free jazz, world music and rhythm and blues into his playing.
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Originally a pianist, DeJohnette took classical piano lessons for ten years and graduated from the American Conservatory of Music in his hometown. He began playing the drums in his high school band, having been inspired by hearing Max Roach. In his early 20s Jack was practicing eight hours a day, four at the piano and four on drums, as well as gigging around Chicagoland.
He moved to New York City in 1966 and played with Jackie McLean, Abbey Lincoln, John Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, Bill Evans and Betty Carter. In the late 1960s DeJohnette was a member of Charles Lloyd’s group and did several world tours with that ensemble. In 1969 he played on Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew” album and played with the Davis band for over a year.

During the 1970s Jack DeJohnette could be heard regularly as a sideman on ECM recordings and also with his own group New Directions with John Abercrombie, Lester Bowie and Eddie Gomez. DeJohnette was also a founding member of Keith Jarrett’s standards trio in the 1980s. In the 1990s he was in a group called Voicestra with vocalist Bobby McFerrin and keyboardist Lyle Mays. Aside from his work as a percussionist and keyboard player, DeJohnette is an accomplished composer.

DeJohnette has won two Grammy Awards and been nominated for five others during his career. In addition, he was inducted in the Modern Drummers Hall of Fame in 2007. He was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2012.

Here is a link to a Jack DeJohnette drum solo:

"JACK DEJOHNETTE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 8th

Trombonist Urbie Green was known for his smooth, warm and mellow sound and was called “the trombonists trombonist.” Green won the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences “Most Valuable Player” award on numerous occasions and some claim he is the most recorded musician of all time. He was born in Mobile, Alabama on this date in 1926.

Like many musicians profiled in this series, Urban Clifford “Urbie” Green began playing professionally at an early age. In this case Green was a member of Tommy Reynolds’ band at the age of 16 and went on to tour with Jan Savitt, Frankie Carle and Gene Krupa before joining Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd in 1950. In 1954 Green won the DownBeat Magazine International Critic’s Award for Best New Star. After appearing in the movie “The Benny Goodman Story,” Urbie fronted Goodman’s band for a three-month tour in 1956.
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Urbie Green recorded more than 30 albums as a leader but was one of the most prolific sidemen in jazz history. The list of artists with whom he played is long and includes Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins, Quincy Jones, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Count Basie. In addition, Green was active on the jazz festival circuit and conducted many clinics for jazz musicians. Urbie Green passed away on December 31, 2018.

Here is a link to a live performance featuring Urbie Green from the JVC Jazz Festival:

"YOU'VE CHANGED"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 7th

Multi-instrumentalist Rashaan Roland Kirk was born on this date 86 years ago today in Columbus, Ohio. After losing his sight at a very young age he was educated at the Ohio State School for the Blind and went on to be one of the most unique musicians in the history of jazz.

By the time he was 15 years old, Kirk, whose birth name was Ronald Kirk, was playing on the weekends with rhythm and blues bands. His ability to play multiple instruments at one time made him a sensation at these performances. Kirk was primarily a woodwind player playing saxophones, clarinet and flute as well as recorder and nose flute. He also sometimes played trumpet. Usually performing with three saxophones slung around his neck he was able to accompany himself by playing chords often employing circular breathing.

Because of his unusual musical performance style, along with his concerts including comedic interludes, Black history lessons and the occasional political commentary, some did not take Rashaan Roland Kirk seriously, but his talent was most definitely recognized by critics as being worthy of notice.

After suffering a stroke in 1975 Kirk returned to the concert stage still playing multiple instruments simultaneously but using only one arm. He passed away after suffering a second stroke in 1977 the morning after playing a concert at Indiana University.

Here is a link to Kirk and his group performing Serenade to a Cuckoo at the 1972 Montreux Jazz Festival:

"SERENADE TO A CUCKOO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 6th

Bassist Charlie Haden was born on August 6, 1937 in Shenandoah, Iowa. As a member of Ornette Coleman’s group Haden was one of the earliest and most successful avant-garde bass players in jazz, but he was an equally strong musician as a “straight ahead” player. It has been said that he “revolutionized the harmonic concept of bass playing in jazz.”

Charlie’s was a musical family and he was playing and singing on a daily radio show as a child with his family’s band that played country and folk music. In his teens Haden contracted polio and was forced to cease performing for a time. Around this time he heard Charlie Parker and the Stan Kenton Orchestra and began to develop an interest in jazz.

Charlie Haden moved to Los Angeles in 1957 and attended the Westlake College of Music while gigging with Hampton Hawes, Paul Bley and Art Pepper. In 1959 he recorded as an original member of the Ornette Coleman Quartet and was the bass player for their groundbreaking six-week engagement at the Five Spot in New York’s Greenwich Village. A year later, however, Haden left the group to enter rehab for his drug problem.

Haden returned to the music scene in 1963 playing with John Handy and Archie Shepp among others. In 1967 he began a long association with pianist Keith Jarrett. Upon the recommendation of New York Philharmonic conductor Leonard Bernstein, Haden received a Guggenheim Grant for composition in 1970. That same year he began a band with arranger and pianist Carla Bley called the Liberation Music Orchestra that played “political music” in a free jazz context. Their first recording focused on music from the Spanish Civil War with allusions to contemporary political situations. The group would reconvene for projects from time to time throughout the remainder of Haden’s life.

In 1986 Haden formed a more traditional jazz quartet called Quartet West that included saxophonist Ernie Watts, Alan Broadbent at the piano and drummer Billy Higgins. In the ensuing years Haden would engage in many musical projects including duet albums with guitarist Pat Metheny and pianist Hank Jones. In 2012 Charlie Haden was named an NEA Jazz Master and he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. Haden died from liver disease in 2014.

Here is a link to a live performance by Charlie Haden’s Quartet West :

"FIRST SONG"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 5th

Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira was born on August 5, 1941. Airto became a professional musician at the age of 13 playing samba music in his home country. In the mid-1960s he was a member of Trio Novo (later Quarteto Novo) before coming to the United States with his wife vocalist Flora Purim in 1968.

Shortly after moving to America,  Airto was playing in New York City with musicians like Joe Zawinul and Walter Booker. In 1970 he became a member of the Miles Davis group that was experimenting with what would become known as the jazz fusion genre. After leaving Miles, Airto Moreira was a founding member of the both the group Weather Report with Zawinul and Wayne Shorter as well as Chick Corea’s band Return to Forever.

On his 81st birthday Airto can look back on his career having played with many important jazz musicians like Paul Desmond, Lee Morgan, Cannonball Adderley, Keith Jarrett and Stan Getz. In addition he has also appeared on recordings with artists as diverse as Paul Simon, James Taylor, The Average White Band, Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead and Depeche Mode. Moreira has also recorded 27 albums as a leader.

Here is a link to Airto Moreira in a solo performance at the 2003 Modern Drummer Festival:

"AIRTO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 4th

For many years it was believed that Louis Armstrong was born on July 4, 1900, but in reality, his birthdate was August 4, 1901. There has never been any dispute that the most influential musician in jazz history was the New Orleans born and raised Armstrong. His playing, first on cornet and then trumpet, along with his vocal stylings, were the inspiration for countless musicians all around the world.

Armstrong grew up in a rough part of New Orleans known as “The Battlefield” and had an unstable family life, moving often and living with different family members throughout his youth. He became interested in music around his eleventh birthday and received some tutoring from the great New Orleans cornet star Joe “King” Oliver. On New Year’s Eve 1912 young Louis fired a blank in the air from his stepfather’s handgun and was arrested and sent to the Colored Waif’s Home where he became a member of the band and eventually it’s leader. After his release, Louis returned to his family and worked odd jobs around town all the while continuing his interest in the new jazz music he heard being played around town.

Eventually Louis Armstrong began playing on a Mississippi River steamboat with Fate Marable’s band. Marable insisted that all his musicians learn to read music and Armstrong cited his experience as a member of the group as “going to the university.” Armstrong eventually replaced his mentor King Oliver in trombonist Kid Ory’s band.

By 1921 Louis had become a popular musician with quite a following in New Orleans taking extended solos and singing during his performances. The next year Oliver asked Armstrong to come north to play second cornet with his band that was gigging at the Lincoln Gardens in south Chicago. He accepted the invitation and made his first recordings with the band the following year. King Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band were the talk of early 1920’s Chicago.

After Armstrong left Oliver’s group, he was invited to play with Fletcher Henderson’s popular ensemble in New York City. While playing with Henderson at the Roseland Ballroom, Armstrong changed from cornet to trumpet because that’s what the other musicians in his section were playing. After a year in New York, Louis Armstrong returned to Chicago at the urging of his wife, pianist Lil Hardin, and formed his own group made up mostly of ex-New Orleans musicians. The resulting “Hot Five” and “Hot Seven” recordings were some of the most influential ever produced in the genre. A Hot Five recording of Heebie Jeebies on which Armstrong sings is often cited as the first recorded example of scat singing.

During the Great Depression Louis Armstrong was fronted his own big band for a time and toured constantly. He appeared in several Hollywood movies and had trouble with his managers, who were connected to the mob. After World War II Armstrong formed Louis Armstrong and his All Stars, which at times featured Jack Teagarden, Barney Bigard, Earl Hines, Trummy Young, Billy Kyle, Barrett Deems and Arvill Shaw. During the next three decades Armstrong and his band averaged around 300 performances annually and even knocked the Beatles off the top of the pop charts in 1964 with their recording of Hello Dolly.
Louis Armstrong passed away in New York on July 6, 1971.

Here is a link to a 1933 performance of Louis Armstrong and his big band performing Dinah:

"DINAH"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 3rd

Charlie Shavers was a jazz trumpet player who was born on August 3, 1920 in New York City and went on to become one of the most popular trumpet soloists of the swing era.

Shavers began his career playing with the Tiny Bradshaw band when he was only 16 years old. He lied about his age in order to defy child labor laws. By 1937 he was playing with Lucky Millinder’s organization and then joined up with the John Kirby Sextet where he remained for the better part of eight years. While with Kirby, Charlie was known for his muted solos and wrote a number of arrangements for the group. Shavers also composed the hit song “Undecided” which became a standard.

In addition to his work with Kirby, Charlie also was in high demand as a sideman and played with such jazz luminaries as Johnny Dodds, Jimmy Noone and Sidney Bechet. After leaving John Kirby in 1945, Shavers played in the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra for more than a decade as well as becoming a popular featured performer on the Jazz at the Philharmonic tours. His trumpet duels with Roy Eldridge were the highlight of many a JATP concert.

Charlie Shavers died of throat cancer in 1970 and one of his mouthpieces was reportedly buried with his friend Louis Armstrong who passed away only two days before Shavers.

Here is a link to a Charlie Shavers performance with Ben Webster recorded for Danish television:

"STARDUST"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 2nd

One of the most influential groups of its time, the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet were in the Capitol Studios in Hollywood on August 2, 1954 recording their first album together for EmArcy Records. It was eventually released as a 10” vinyl disc in December of 1954 that included five tracks including Parisian Thoroughfare which was recorded 68 years ago today. The album was titled “Clifford Brown and Max Roach.”

At the time Parisian Thoroughfare was recorded by the quintet, trumpeter Clifford Brown was only 23 years old, but already had impressed many of the older jazz musicians who had heard him play. Brown was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1930 and attended both Delaware State University and Maryland State University. After being injured in an automobile accident in 1950 he was visited by Dizzy Gillespie who encouraged him to pursue a career in jazz. Before his association with drummer Max Roach, Brown also played with Art Blakey, Tadd Dameron and Lionel Hampton.

Max Roach is generally considered one of the most important drummers in jazz history. Born in North Carolina and raised in Brooklyn, he studied classical percussion at the Manhattan School of Music before embarking on a career that would see him performing with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Abbey Lincoln, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis and Coleman Hawkins. During the 1960s Roach’s music often gave voice to the civil rights movement in America, including with his 1960 composition We Insist!

Roach invited Brown to form a group with him in early 1954. The lineup changed often in the early days, but finally included Harold Land playing tenor saxophone, Bud Powell’s brother Richie at the piano and George Morrow on bass. The tune Parisian Thoroughfare was written by Bud Powell and was first recorded by him in 1951. Other tracks on the original issue of the album include Duke Jordan’s Jordu, Delilah, a Victor Young composition and two Clifford Brown tunes, Daahoud and Joy Spring.

Here is a link to the recording of Parisian Thoroughfare from the album “Clifford Brown and Max Roach:”

"PARISIAN THOROUGHFARE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - August 1st

Well on their way to becoming one of the most popular bands of the swing era, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra were in the RCA Victor studios on East 24th Street in New York City on August 1, 1939. One of the sides they would record that day went on to become among the most popular songs of the swing era. It was Joe Garland’s arrangement of In the Mood.

The origin of the tune is somewhat disputed, but most agree that In the Mood is based on a Wingy Manone tune called Tar Paper Stomp which he recorded in 1930. The first recording of Garland’s In the Mood arrangement was by Edgar Hayes and his Orchestra in 1938. Miller’s version was re-released as a V-Disc in 1944 and Glenn Miller’s Overseas band in 1945. No performance by the Glenn Miller Orchestra (which still tours to this day, would be complete without a rendition of In the Mood.

The song was also featured in the 1941 20th Century Fox movie “Sun Valley Serenade.” In that picture the Glenn Miller Orchestra appears as they were but led by a guy named Phil Corey (played by Miller) with the exception of actor John Payne who plays the part of the band’s pianist. The movie also features Sonja Henie and Milton Berle and is played 24 hours per day on dedicated television channel in every room at the Sun Valley Lodge and Inn. The highlight of the film is the production number featuring Miller’s ensemble along with Dorothy Dandridge and the Nicholas Brothers performing Chatanooga Choo-Choo.

Here is a link to In the Mood as performed by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra in the movie “Sun Valley Serenade:”

"IN THE MOOD"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 31st

Pianist, composer and bandleader Hank Jones was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 31, 1918. The family moved north to Pontiac, Michigan when Hank was still a boy. He had two older sisters that played the piano and two younger brothers who also went on to fame as jazz musicians: trumpeter and bandleader Thad Jones and drummer Elvin Jones, a member of John Coltrane’s groundbreaking group in the early 1960s.

Influenced by Fats Waller, Earl Hines and Art Tatum, Hank Jones was playing gigs in Michigan and Ohio by the age of 13 and with territory bands in the upper mid-west before he was out of his teens. Saxophonist Lucky Thompson heard him play and invited him to move to New York City in 1944 where he worked with “Hot Lips” Page at the Onyx Club on 52nd Street. While there, Jones became interested in the emerging bebop style and played with John Kirby, Billy Eckstein and Coleman Hawkins. In 1947 he joined up with Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic Tour and then became Ella Fitzgerald’s accompanist for five years. He was also the pianist on a rare Charlie Parker quartet date in December of 1952 where the group recorded classics like The Song is You, Kim, and Cosmic Rays.

Later in the decade and into the 1960s Hank Jones was the house pianist at Savoy Records and played with Cannonball Adderley, Wes Montgomery and Lester Young. Jones was the staff pianist at CBS studios in New York from 1959 until 1975. Throughout those decades and those that followed Jones recorded prolifically, both as a leader and a sideman.

Hank Jones was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Award in 1989 and received the National Medal of Arts in 2008. The following year he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys. Jones also received honorary doctorates from both the Berklee College of Music and the University of Hartford. Hank Jones passed away on May 16, 2010 at the age of 91.

Here is a link to a television appearance during which Hank Jones plays Oh! Look At Me Now:

"OH! LOOK AT ME NOW"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 30th

Charles Mingus is known as a bassist and composer, but on July 30, 1963 he went into the studio to record an entire record album as a pianist. It was released the following year on Impulse! Records under the title Mingus Plays Piano: Spontaneous Compositions and Improvisations.

The record contains original works by Mingus as well as interpretations of standards like I Can’t Get Started, Body and Soul, I’m Getting Sentimental Over You and Eubie Blake’s Memories of You.

The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD says that Mingus’ “touch and harmonic sense were so secure that…he more than passes muster,” and that “It’s interesting to hear themes like Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk reduced to their essentials in this way, the true highlights are [Myself] When I Am Real and a thoroughly unabashed Body and Soul.”

Here is a link to Charles Mingus playing solo piano on the first track of the record Mingus Plays Piano:

"MYSELF WHEN I AM REAL"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 29th

Electric guitar pioneer Charlie Christian was born on this date in 1916 in Texas and grew up in Oklahoma City. Christian was neither the first guitar soloist in jazz history, nor was he the first to play an electrified guitar, but it would be impossible to talk about the history of the instrument without acknowledging the tremendous impact his playing had on its development during his short career. Although he played during the swing era, he was a major influence on the development of be-bop and cool jazz.

Christian began playing in the territory bands that crisscrossed the American mid-west during the 1930s and began playing an electric guitar late in the decade. It was pianist Mary Lou Williams who told producer John Hammond that he should check out Charlie Christian’s playing. Hammond did and he suggested to Benny Goodman that Christian should be allowed to sit in with Goodman’s small group. According to legend, Goodman, somewhat annoyed with Hammond’s suggestion, called up the tune Rose Room, assuming Charlie would not know it. Not only did Christian know the piece, but he had been practicing it for years. What resulted was a 45-minute rendition of the song and Charlie Christian becoming a permanent member of the Goodman combo. He also played on some of the large group’s performances, as well.

Charlie Christian was an important member of the cohort of musicians that would regularly jam in Harlem at Minton’s Playhouse in the early 1940s. These musicians were chafing at the confines of the swing era big band and wanted to express themselves in a new way. This led to the development of bebop, a term that some of those musicians claimed was originated by Christian.

But Charlie Christian had tuberculosis and his health began to decline in the early 1940s. He was hospitalized several times and finally succumbed to the disease in 1942 at the age of 25. In his short life he changed the perception of the guitar in jazz and solidified its place as a solo instrument.

Here is a link to Charlie Christian playing Rose Room with the Benny Goodman Sextet during an October 1939 recording session:

"ROSE ROOM"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 28th

Trombonist, jazz educator and producer Delfeayo Marsalis was born into a prestigious musical family in New Orleans on July 28, 1965. The fourth child of legendary pianist Ellis Marsalis, Delfeayo is the younger brother of trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and saxophonist Branford Marsalis and the older brother of drummer Jason Marsalis.

Delfeayo graduated from the Berklee College of Music with a dual degree in music performance and production and earned a Masters in Jazz Performance from the University of Louisville. He began his career as a producer at the age of 17 and has to date produced more than 120 albums. He is well-known for his expertise in the production of fully acoustic jazz records.

Delfeayo Marsalis has toured with Max Roach, Art Blakey, Slide Hampton and Ray Charles as well as having recorded eight albums as a leader. In 2000 he founded the Uptown Music Theater in New Orleans which is a non-profit that “empowers youth through musical theater training.” Marsalis has also composed more than 90 songs that introduce youth to jazz. His “Swinging with the Cool School” is a nationally recognized project that puts on jazz workshops for young people.

In addition, Marsalis has led the Uptown Jazz Orchestra since 2008. It is a group that focuses on the roots of jazz playing like polyphony, riff playing and the creation of spontaneous arrangements.

Here is a link to a 2018 live performance by Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra:

"THE UPTOWN JAZZ ORCHESTRA"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 27th

Tenor and soprano saxophonist Jean Toussaint was born on July 27, 1960 in Aruba and grew up in St. Thomas and New York City. Today is his 62nd birthday.
Toussaint attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston studying under Bill Pierce. After graduation spent four years as a member of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers along with Terence Blanchard, Mulgrew Miller and Donald Harrison. One of the albums he appeared on while a member of that group, “New York Scene,” won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance of 1984.

Since moving to London, England in 1987 Jean Toussaint has acted as artist-in-residence at the Guildhall School of Music and has become a familiar figure on the European jazz scene. In addition to his work as a band leader, Toussaint has been a sideman in groups led by McCoy Tyner, Cedar Walton, Max Roach and Horace Silver. In 2015 he headed a project to pay tribute to his Art Blakey called Roots and Herbs: The Blakey Project.

Here is a link to Jean Toussaint’s All-Star 6tet playing live at the Jazz Cafe:

"AMABO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 26th

Band leader Count Basie always had a good ear for talent, both instrumental and vocal. Billie Holiday and Jimmy Rushing both sang with the band. Another of the great Basie singers was Joe Williams with whom the orchestra recorded Alright, Okay, You Win on this date in 1955.

Joe Williams was born in Georgia and grew up on the south side of Chicago. At the age of 19 he was singing as a solo act and performed with Jimmy Noone, Les Hite, Coleman Hawkins and Lionel Hampton before coming to the Count Basie Orchestra in 1954. He stayed on until 1961. Joe’s second album with Basie was “Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings” for Clef Records which included Alright, Okay, You Win as well as another big hit for the band, Every Day I Have the Blues.

Alright, Okay, You Win was composed by Sid Wyche and Mayme Watts and had been recorded previous to the Basie/Williams collaboration. Wyche also wrote Elvis Presley’s hit A Big Hunk o’ Love and Talk That Talk which was a hit for Jackie Wilson. Additional performances of Alright, Okay, You Win have been recorded by Peggy Lee, Bria Skonberg and the Modernaires.

Here is a link to the version Joe Williams recorded with Count Basie in 1955:

"ALRIGHT, OKAY, YOU WIN"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 25th

Trumpeter, drummer, composer and band leader Don Ellis was born July 25, 1934 in Los Angeles. Ellis became interested in jazz after hearing a concert by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and developed into what one critic has called “a free thinker” in the world of jazz.

Ellis graduated from Boston University with a composition degree in 1956 and his first gig after graduation was playing with the Glenn Miller ghost band, led by Ray McKinley. After spending two years in Germany as a member of the U.S. 7th Army Symphony Orchestra, Ellis returned to America where he played with both the Charlie Barnet and Maynard Ferguson bands.

In the late 1950s Ellis became part of the growing avant-garde movement in New York playing on records with Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus and George Russell. He also was interested in the intersection between classical music and jazz, performing pieces with the New York Philharmonic. In the early 1960s Ellis moved back to California and entered the graduate program in ethnomusicology at UCLA.

In the mid-1960s the Don Ellis Orchestra came into being and performed a memorable set at the 1966 Monterey Jazz Festival. The ensemble experimented with unique instrumentation and unusual time signatures as well as employing techniques from non-Western musical influences. Ellis also began performing on a quarter-tone trumpet and often would employ electronic enhancement to his playing.

The band initially recorded with the Pacific Jazz label but was signed by John Hammond for Columbia Records in 1967. Their first album for Columbia, “Electric Bath,” was nominated for a Grammy and won DownBeat magazine’s Album of the Year award for 1968. It reached #8 on the Billboard jazz charts. The record produced what is perhaps the band’s best known piece Indian Lady.
In the 1970s Ellis’ band continued to play in various configurations, but Ellis himself was beginning to develop a serious heart condition which eventually limited his ability to perform. He spent more time composing and created the movie scores for The French Connection, The French Connection II and The Seven-Ups. Ellis passed away from a heart attack at his home on December 17, 1978 at the age 44.

Here is a link to the Don Ellis Orchestra playing Indian Lady:

"INDIAN LADY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 24th

Dr. Billy Taylor was a pianist, composer, broadcaster and music educator. He was born on July 24, 1921 in North Carolina, but grew up in Washington, D.C. His family was quite musical and young Billy played guitar, drums and saxophone before settling on piano as his instrument.

After graduating from Virginia State University with a degree in music in 1942 Taylor moved to New York City where he was employed by tenor man Ben Webster within a week of Billy’s arrival in town. Taylor also played with Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach during his early years in New York, and pianist Art Tatum became something of a mentor for the young pianist.

At the end of World War II Taylor was a member of the first American jazz group to tour Europe after the war. Upon his return to the states Billy became the house pianist at Birdland, the legendary New York jazz club named in honor of Charlie Parker. Taylor was the longest serving pianist in the club’s history and afforded him the opportunity to play with a great many of the era's jazz greats.

Billy Taylor earned a Ph.D. in Music Education at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst and shortly thereafter founded the Jazzmobile program in New York. Jazzmobile was the first non-profit arts and cultural organization created just for jazz. To this day it provides arts education experiences like workshops, master classes and free concerts across New York. Taylor was also the first Black man to lead a television studio orchestra in the United States, did radio work with NPR and profiled musicians for “CBS Sunday Morning.”

During his life Dr. Billy Taylor received an Emmy, a Grammy, the National Medal for the Arts, two Peabody Awards and was the artistic director for jazz at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He was elected to the International Association for Jazz Education Hall of Fame and was appointed to the National Council of the Arts. Taylor passed away from a heart attack at age 89 in 2010.

Here is a link to a television appearance Dr. Billy Taylor in his jazz educator mode explaining how jazz musicians improvise:

"HOW JAZZ MUSICIANS IMPROVISE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 23rd

Soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy was born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City on July 23, 1934. Although he became associated with avant-garde jazz his first gigs were in his teens playing traditional jazz with much older players like Red Allen, Pee Wee Russell and Zutty Singleton and soon after with Buck Clayton and Dicky Wells. Lacy was the second prominent jazz player after Sidney Bechet to be associated almost exclusively with the soprano saxophone.

In the early 1950s Lacy studied at the Schillinger House of Music in Boston (later known as the Berklee College of Music) and at the Manhattan School of Music. In 1953 Lacy met pianist Cecil Taylor and his playing moved into the realm of the avant-garde appearing on Taylor’s first album, “Jazz Advance,” and played with him at the 1957 Newport Jazz festival. Lacy also played with Gil Evans in the late 1950s. In 1960 he was a member of Thelonious Monk’s group and Monk’s music became a central theme of Lacy’s performance career from then on.

Steve Lacy first toured Europe in 1965 with pianist Kenny Drew and shortly thereafter moved to Italy where he fronted his own group. By 1970 Lacy was living in Paris where over the next three decades he would become a leading figure on the European jazz scene. He formed a sextet and often performed with his wife Irene Aebi. Lacy was known for his use of poetry, prose and visual arts as inspirations for his music.

In 2002 Steve Lacy returned to the United States to take a teaching position at the New England Conservatory of Music where he remained until his death from liver cancer in June of 2004. One of his final performances was at an anti-war rally in the Boston Commons where more than 25,000 had come to protest the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Here is a link to Lacy's trio playing live in Paris:

"EPISTROPHY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 22nd

Pianist Al Haig was born in Newark, New Jersey on July 22, 1922 and majored in piano performance at Oberlin College. Haig appeared with some of the most important musicians of his era and is considered an important be-bop keyboard man.

In 1945 Haig was playing in the combo led by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker and was much in demand during the latter portion of that decade. He also played with Fats Navarro, Eddie Davis and Stan Getz during that period as well as playing on at least one of the “Birth of the Cool” sessions led by Miles Davis and Gil Evans. Although best known as a small group player, Haig also spent time playing in the big bands led by Charlie Barnet and Jimmy Dorsey. In 1952 Al Haig played for a time with trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker before forming his own trios and quartets that produced some fine records in the mid-1950s.

All but forgotten for most of the 1960s, he was often found playing in piano bars around New York.  In 1968 Haig was accused of strangling his third wife. He was tried and acquitted the following year. There were those who doubted the outcome of the trial, however. Oddly enough, the notoriety of the trial and his subsequent acquittal seemed to somehow revive his career.

In the final decade of his life Haig spent much of his time performing in Europe and developed a significant following there. He died of a heart attack in 1982. During his career Al Haig was the pianist on some of the most significant recordings of the be-bop era.

Here is a link to a performance by the Al Haig Trio from 1954:

"AUTUMN IN NEW YORK"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 21st

The youngest of eight children, hard bop pianist Sonny Clark was born on July 21, 1931 near the town of Herminie, Pennsylvania east of Pittsburgh. His father, a coal miner, died just two weeks after Sonny arrived. He never achieved widespread commercial success, but his playing was known and respected by those in the jazz world.

Already an accomplished keyboard man, Clark traveled to California at the age of 20 to visit a relative and ended up staying there, working first with Wardell Gray and then with Oscar Pettiford. At the age of 22 he was hired by clarinetist Buddy DeFranco and toured with him for three years before returning to southern California in 1956. While there he recorded three albums as a member of Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars.

In 1957 Clark was in New York City and working as the accompanist for singer Dinah Washington. He remained on the east coast for the remainder of his career recording as a sideman for Curtis Fuller, Jackie McLean, Dexter Gordon, Hank Mobley and Stanley Turrentine. He made his first record as a leader, “Dial ‘S’ for Sonny,” with Blue Note Records in 1957.

Clark struggled with drug addiction throughout his short life. On January 11th and 12th, 1963 Sonny Clark played gigs at Junior’s Bar in the Alvin Hotel at 52nd Street and Broadway in New York. The next day he was dead at the age of 31 from what was initially reported as a heart attack, but was more likely a heroin overdose.

Here is a link to the title track from his 1958 record “Sonny’s Crib.” Along with Clark, the record features performances by trumpeter Donald Byrd, trombonist Curtis Fuller and John Coltrane on tenor saxophone:

"SONNY'S CRIB"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 20th

Tenor saxophonist and arranger Ernie Wilkins was born in St. Louis, Missouri on this date in 1922. Wilkins learned piano and violin and attended Wilberforce University before serving the U.S. Navy during World War II.

After separation from the navy, Wilkins played gigs around his hometown before joining up with Earl Hines’ last big band in 1948. In 1952 he became part of the saxophone section in the Count Basie Orchestra where he stayed for three years. He would continue to contribute compositions and arrangements to the Basie book for years to come. Wilkins also wrote for big bands led by Harry James, Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich and Tommy Dorsey and served as musical director on projects by Cannonball Adderley, Sarah Vaughan and Oscar Peterson.

In the 1970s he wrote for and played with Clark Terry’s group. In 1979 Wilkins moved to Copenhagen, Denmark where he lived until his death in 1999. While there he formed the Ernie Wilkins Almost Big Band which played his own arrangements and featured American expatriate musicians along with talent from Europe.

Here is a link to Ernie Wilkins Almost Big Band playing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1983:

"HI FLY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 19th

Clarinetist Buster Bailey was born in Memphis, Tennessee on July 19, 1902 and played in some of the best-known musical organizations of his time during his career.

As a youth Bailey took clarinet lessons from the same teacher that worked with Benny Goodman. By the time he was 15 years old Buster was playing in the group led by W.C. Handy.  At 17 he was playing in Erskine Tate’s Vendome Orchestra in Chicago where he remained until joining King Oliver in 1923. While he was with Oliver he befriended bandmate Louis Armstrong. A year later Armstrong took a job with Fletcher Henderson in New York City and recommended Bailey to his new boss. Shortly thereafter Buster was also in New York and playing with the Henderson ensemble where he stayed for four years.

In 1927 Buster Bailey quit Henderson’s band and joined up with Noble Sissle. While in New York Bailey became a popular sideman and recorded with a number of well-known artists of the day including Clarence Williams. In the mid 1930s he joined up with the John Kirby Band where he remained for about a decade before leading his own short-lived group in 1946. Later in his career Bailey played with Wild Bill Davidson and Red Allen and made records with Jimmy Rushing, Eubie Blake and trombonist Vic Dickenson. Buster Bailey died after suffering a heart attack in 1967.

Here is a link to a 1958 Buster Bailey television appearance on the program “Jazz Party:”

"JAZZ PARTY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 18th

Tuxedo Junction is a popular song written by Erskine Hawkins and recorded by his band for the Bluebird label on July 18, 1939. The record peaked at #7 on the charts later that year. The following year a cover was recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra and their version went to #1. The title refers to a transit stop in Birmingham, Alabama and a nearby jazz and blues club.

The Erskine Hawkins Orchestra traced its roots to a group named the ‘Bama State Collegians that was made up of students from Alabama State University and dated to the late 1920s. Hawkins was not the original director of the band but was its leader in 1934 when they decided to move to New York City and try their luck as the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra. They were a fixture at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, often being the relief band for Chick Webb’s ensemble. While at the Savoy the band often used Tuxedo Junction as their closing number.

The song was composed as an instrumental, but lyrics were added later by the publishing company. Aside from the Miller record, numerous covers have been recorded in the years since 1939, including versions by Ella Fitzgerald, the Andrews Sisters, Harry James, Frankie Avalon and Joe Jackson.

Here is a link to the original recording of Tuxedo Junction by Erskine Hawkins made 83 years ago today:

"TUXEDO JUNCTION"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 17th

A rather remarkable thing happened on July 17, 1923 at the studios of Gennett Records in Richmond, Indiana. One of the most popular jazz bands of the previous year, the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, were there to record with “Jelly Roll” Morton, the man who claimed to have “invented jazz in 1902.” That in itself might have been remarkable, but the date was also notable because this may have been the first integrated recording session in jazz history. The Rhythm Kings were an all-white band and Morton was Creole. It was not uncommon at the time for Black musicians to play with their white counterparts in private sessions, but it was not something one saw in professional situations.

Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton was born in New Orleans in 1890 and by the age of 14 was playing piano in a Storyville sporting house. Later he toured with a minstrel show and performed in vaudeville. By his mid-20s Morton was writing down his compositions and in 1915 got one of them, “Jelly Roll Blues,” published. It was one of the first jazz pieces to be published. In 1926 he signed with Victor Records and cut several sides of carefully arranged and rehearsed jazz with his group The Red Hot Peppers. In 1938, while living in Washington, D.C., Morton participated in a series of fascinating recorded interviews with Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress.

Although the New Orleans Rhythm Kings were organized in Chicago and sometimes played under other names, several of the original members were natives to Louisiana who had come north in hopes of finding “better gigs.” In 1921 the group began a 17-month residency at The Friar’s Inn on Chicago’s loop. While there, many aspiring young musicians were frequent members of the audience, including a teen-aged Bix Beiderbecke who occasionally sat in with the band. They were also a tremendous influence on the Austin High Gang, a group of white high school student musicians that included Jimmy McPartland, Bud Freeman and Frank Teschemacher. The Rhythm Kings made their first records just a year before their session with Morton.

Here is a link to one of the tunes they recorded on that July day 99 years ago:

"MILENBERG JOYS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 16th

It has been written that Cal Tjader was the “point man between Latin jazz and mainstream bop.” Of Swedish descent, he was sometimes called “the most successful non-Latino Latin musician” and spent the bulk of his career playing musical styles from Cuba, Mexico, the Caribbean and throughout Latin America. Known mainly as a vibraphonist, Tjader also can be heard on recordings playing drums, bongos and piano, as well. He was born on July 16, 1925, 97 years ago today.

Cal Tjader was born in St. Louis, Missouri because his vaudevillian parents were on tour there. His father was a tap dancer and his mother played piano in their act. When Cal was two his family settled in San Mateo, California where his parents opened a dance studio. His parents taught young Cal their skills and soon he was making appearances around the San Francisco Bay Area as Tjader Junior.

After serving as a medic in the Pacific during World War II, Tjader studied at San Francisco State College. While there he met pianist Dave Brubeck and accepted an offer to play drums in his octet. The octet was a short-lived project, but Tjader followed that by being the drummer in the Dave Brubeck Trio.

In 1953 Cal joined up with pianist George Shearing for a short while before forming his own group which capitalized on the mambo craze that swept America in the mid-1950s. Tjader was signed to Fantasy Records and began turning out a series of popular albums that featured seasoned Latin musicians. The band was the opening act at the second Monterey Jazz Festival.

In the 1960s Tjader signed with Verve Records and made a number of popular albums for them. He recorded in many different formats during the decade including with big bands, string groups. His 1964 album Soul Sauce and its title track were a huge success for Cal.

During the 1970s Cal Tjader experimented with electronic instruments and rock beats on his records but returned to a more standard instrumentation and style by the time the 1980s rolled around. He was on tour in the Philippines in 1982 when he suffered a fatal heart attack. In all, Cal Tjader recorded more than 70 albums as a leader between 1954 and 1982 and was one of the most popular jazz performers of his era.

Here is a link to Tjader’s 1964 hit Soul Sauce, a cover of a Dizzy Gillespie tune:

"SOUL SAUCE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 15th

Drummer Philly Joe Jones was born in Philadelphia (not surprisingly) on this date in 1923. His given name was Joseph Rudolph Jones and he learned the basics of music at a young age from his mother who was a piano teacher. He took on the moniker “Philly Joe” to distinguish himself from Jo Jones, the drummer with Count Basie’s All-American Rhythm Section.

In the 1940s Jones was playing in New York with jazz and blues groups and made his first record with saxophonist Johnny Griffin. Late in that decade and into the early 1950s Philly Joe could be heard playing in groups led by Tadd Dameron, Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Lee Konitz and Zoot Sims.

After 1953 Jones was associated with Miles Davis. Miles related in his autobiography that “Philly Joe Jones and I would go from city to city playing with local musicians. Philly would go ahead of me and get some guys together and then I would show and we’d play a gig.” Eventually the two found Red Garland and Paul Chambers and auditioned John Coltrane and the first Miles Davis Quintet was formed. Jones recorded his first record as a leader in 1958.

After his time with Davis ended, Philly Joe Jones could be heard on numerous Blue Note, Riverside and Prestige recordings and played regularly with Sonny Rollins, Art Pepper and is the drummer on Coltrane’s Blue Train album.

In 1968 Jones moved to Europe and played with many American expatriate and touring jazz musicians while also teaching in London. In the 1980s he founded the group Dameronia dedicated to playing the music of Tadd Dameron. Philly Joe Jones died of a heart attack in his hometown on August 30, 1985.

Here is a link to Philly Joe Jones soloing as part of the Bill Evans Trio at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1978:

"PHILLY JOE JONES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 14th

Pianist Billy Kyle was born on July 14, 1914 in Philadelphia. He is probably best known for his time with Louis Armstrong’s All-Stars in the 1950s and 1960s.
Kyle began playing piano at age 8 and rarely recorded as a leader during his career but was a solid sideman for several name jazz groups throughout his career. Beginning his professional journey at 18, Billy Kyle played with the big bands of Lucky Millinder and Tiny Bradshaw during the 1930s and in the John Kirby Sextet from 1938 until 1942 at which time he was drafted into the U.S. Army.

After his discharge from the army at the end of World War II, Billy Kyle worked as a sideman, often with trumpeter and bandleader Sy Oliver. He also played gigs with Rex Stewart, Ella Fitzgerald and Buck Clayton. Kyle’s light touch and fluent style kept him in demand. In 1953 he became a member of Louis Armstrong’s quintet where he played for 13 years until he passed away in 1966. While with Armstrong Kyle appeared on 8 albums and in the 1956 movie High Society.

Here is a link to a Billy Kyle playing Perdido during a 1963 telecast of a performance by the Louis Armstrong All-Stars in Australia:

"PERDIDO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 13th

The brilliant pianist Art Tatum recorded Willow Weep for Me on July 13, 1949. The jazz standard was composed by Ann Ronell in 1932 while she was a student at Radcliffe. While the tune has been recorded by dozens of artists as diverse as June Christie, Frank Sinatra, George Benson, Chad and Jeremy, Sam Cooke and Steve Miller, the Tatum solo piano record stands out for its complexity, technical difficulty and beauty.

Art Tatum was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1909 and was visually impaired from birth. He spent some time at the School for the Blind in Columbus, Ohio before transferring to the Toledo School of Music. He began playing piano by ear at a young age aided by an extraordinary memory and perfect pitch. By the age of 18 Tatum was playing on a local radio station during the noon hour so that he would have time to rest up before his club dates in the evening.

In 1932 Tatum had relocated to New York City and, after proving his musical mettle at a cutting contest where he impressed many of the great stride pianists that were his heroes, Art got a regular gig at the Onyx Club. Soon thereafter he was traveling around the country and occasionally abroad to perform. He sometimes played with a trio and often as a solo act.

He became close friends with Fats Waller. Aside from each possessing prodigious talents at the keyboard, both men were hard drinkers. One friend estimated that by the 1940s Tatum would routinely consume two quarts of whiskey and a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer in a day. Art Tatum developed diabetes but refused to change his lifestyle or change his drinking habits and this eventually led to a serious deterioration in his health. By the mid 1950s he had developed serious uremia and he died in 1956 in his adopted home of Los Angeles.

Art Tatum was inducted into the Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1964 and received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989.

Here is a link to Art Tatum’s 1949 recording of Willow Weep for Me recorded 73 years ago today:

"WILLOW WEEP FOR ME"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 12th

Trumpeter Conte Candoli was born in Mishawaka, Indiana on this date in 1927. Known to many Americans as member of Doc Severinsen’s Tonight Show Band, Candoli had a long career as a studio musician and as a member of a number of notable big bands in the 1940s and 1950s.

Between his sophomore and junior years in high school Secondo “Conte” Candoli sat in with the Woody Herman band and joined the group full time after he graduated in 1945. His older brother Pete Candoli was also a trumpet player in that group. Conte spent the next decade touring with Herman, Stan Kenton, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman before settling in southern California and joining up with Shorty Rodgers and the Lighthouse All-Stars.

While in Los Angeles Conte Candoli had a busy schedule of studio work for television, movies and recording sessions and joined the Tonight Show Band on a permanent basis when Johnny Carson moved the show to Burbank in 1972. Candoli was active as a clinician at jazz festivals. He also played with such luminaries as Sammy Davis, Jr., Sarah Vaughan and Gerry Mulligan and played on all of the Frank Sinatra television specials. He was often the featured soloist with the Charlie Parker tribute band Supersax, as well.

Conte Candoli was inducted into the International Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997 and died of prostate cancer at his home in Palm Desert, California at the age of 74 in 2001.

Here is a link to Conte Candoli playing his own composition Secret Passion:

"SECRET PASSION"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 11th

A Detroit band called McKinney’s Cotton Pickers was one of the most popular jazz bands of the late 1920s and early 1930s making several hit records. On July 11, 1928 they were in a Chicago studio recording the song Crying and Sighing for Victor Records.

The Cotton Pickers were formed in 1926 and Don Redmond, Fletcher Henderson’s saxophonist and chief arranger, was asked to become the musical director of the group by its founder William McKinney. Redmond accepted the offer and began writing for and rehearsing the band making them one of the most technically proficient ensembles of the time.

During the group’s eight year run some prominent musicians of the time enjoyed membership including Doc Cheatham, Rex Stewart, James P. Johnson and Benny Carter, who took the helm of the band upon Redmond’s departure to form his own group in 1931. In 1929 several notables sat in with McKinney’s Cotton Pickers for recording sessions. These artists included Fats Waller and Coleman Hawkins.

In 1934 the Cotton Pickers disbanded due to financial difficulties in the depth of the Great Depression. In the 1970s a new group using the same name and playing the original Redmond arrangements was founded by David Hutson.

Here is a link to the original 1928 recording of Crying and Sighing by McKinney’s Cotton Pickers. Note the unusual celeste solo by Todd Rhodes:

"CRYING AND SIGHING"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 10th

Best known for his time with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, trumpeter Cootie Williams was born Charles Melvin Williams on July 10, 1911 in Mobile, Alabama. His use of mutes and expressive techniques made him one of the more distinctive jazz musicians of his era.

Williams was a self-taught trumpet player and began touring the Young Family Band at the age of 14. Playing C melody saxophone in that group was Lester Young just two years older than Cootie. In 1928 Williams moved to New York City and played briefly with both the Chick Webb and Fletcher Henderson bands. He made his first appearance on record that same year with stride piano master James P. Johnson.

Only a year later he replaced plunger mute pioneer Bubber Miley in the trumpet section of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, then the house band at Harlem’s Cotton Club. Williams had greater technical abilities and his improvisation was more harmonically complex than Miley’s. He also expanded his sound pallete through the use of various mutes. During his eleven years with Ellington, Williams was featured in compositions that the Duke wrote especially for him, including Echoes of Harlem and Concerto for Cootie.

After leaving the Ellington ensemble in 1940 Cootie Williams spent a year playing in the Benny Goodman Orchestra and then spent most of the rest of the decade leading his own group. In the 1950s he led rhythm and blues and jump groups before re-joining Ellington in 1962. He stayed with the band until after Duke’s death in 1974. Williams was a featured performer during the halftime show of the Super Bowl in 1975 and was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1991. Cootie Williams passed away on September 15, 1985 at the age of 74 due to a kidney ailment. He is remembered as a singular jazz stylist and an important member of the Ellington Orchestra.

Here is a link to Concerto for Cootie recorded by the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1940:

"CONCERTO FOR COOTIE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 9th

Free jazz saxophonist Frank Wright was born on July 9, 1935 in Grenada, Mississippi. He grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and Cleveland, Ohio and was known for his energetic improvisation. Wright, an ordained minister sometimes referred to as the Reverend Frank Wright, was known to get so involved in his improvisation that he would sometimes break into dance while performing.

Wright began his career playing electric bass and backed artists B.B. King and Bobby “Blue” Bland. However, after hearing Albert Ayler in the early 1960s he switched to the tenor sax. He moved to New York City in 1964 and sat in with John Coltrane the following year. Coltrane, who referred to Wright as “little brother,” reportedly invited Wright to play on his album Ascendancy, but Wright declined feeling that his technical skills were not sufficient to participate in the project. That same year, though, Frank recorded his first record as a leader.

In 1968 Frank Wright was a member of the Cecil Taylor group that was briefly in residency at Stanford University and performed at the Berkeley Jazz Festival. The following year Wright relocated to France and would do the bulk of his work in Europe over the next two decades. In 1984 he reunited with Taylor to play in his Orchestra of Two Continents. In 1988 he appeared with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and around that same time was working with German drummer A.R. Penck, as well. Frank Wright died in Germany at age 54 in 1990.

Here is a link to a cut from Frank Wright’s first album recorded in 1965:

"THE EARTH"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 8th

By the mid-1950s Duke Ellington’s orchestra was one of the few big bands still operating. Most of the others had disappeared due to the financial considerations of keeping a large ensemble working at a time when musical tastes were changing radically. The two best-selling records of 1956 were by Elvis Presley. Despite that dire situation for big band jazz, producer George Wein invited Duke and his group to be the closing act for that year’s Newport Jazz Festival. Ellington accepted and the resulting performance has become one of the most legendary in the history of jazz. It resulted in an album called Ellington at Newport and it all took place on this date 66 years ago.

The best remembered part of the performance was the ensemble’s rendition of Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue, composed by Ellington 18 years earlier. Duke told saxophonist Paul Gonsalves to “blow as long as he felt like blowing” when his solo spot came. Gonsalves complied, producing an epic 27 chorus improvisation that was both exciting and intense, and eventually exhausting for the tenor man. His playing also inspired a female audience member to dance which, along with Gonsalves’ solo helped to whip the crowd into a frenzy. The band played six encores before festival organizers demanded that Ellington end the performance.

Here is a link to Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue as recorded on that July evening in 1956:

"DIMINUENDO AND CRESCENDO IN BLUE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 7th

Count Basie and his Orchestra made their first recording of One O’Clock Jump in New York City on July 7, 1937. It went on to be the band’s theme song and one of their most enduring hits.

One O’Clock Jump is a 12-bar blues and it is a “head arrangement,” which means it was originally made up by Basie and the band more or less spontaneously. However, Gunther Schuller claimed that some of the musical material can be traced back to a tune called Six or Seven Times recorded by the Chocolate Dandies in 1929.

Head arrangements are flexible and can be expanded by the band on cue during a live performance. Musicians can “mix and match” any number of short, repetitive melodic figures known as riffs to back up the soloists depending on how they feel like playing them during any particular performance. This technique was common practice in small groups dating back to the earliest days of jazz, but Basie’s band was one of the first to utilize it in a large ensemble setting. Sometimes a live performance of One O’Clock Jump could go on for fifteen or twenty minutes, but the technical restrictions of the standard 78 r.p.m. record limited the length to about three minutes.

Basie’s 1937 recording features improvised solos by tenor saxophonists Herschel Evans and Lester Young, trombone player George Hunt, Buck Clayton on trumpet and Basie himself at the piano. This song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1979 and later was designated as one of the “Songs of the 20th Century.”

Here is a link the 1937 recording of One O’Clock Jump, as performed by the Count Basie orchestra 85 years ago today:

"ONE O'CLOCK JUMP"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 6th

On July 6, 1937 the Benny Goodman Orchestra was in a Los Angeles recording studio making a two-sided 12-inch record with just one song on it. That song was Sing, Sing, Sing and lasted 8 minutes and This 43 seconds. This was an oddity in a time when almost all jazz records were limited to one side and about 3 minutes in length.

The song Sing, Sing, Sing was written by Louis Prima and he and his New Orleans Gang recorded it for Brunswick Records in February of 1936. The better-known Goodman record was based on a Jimmy Mundy arrangement and included references to Christopher Columbus, a Chu Berry tune, along with the Prima composition. In his 1993 book “Sing, Sing, Sing: The Life and Times of Benny Goodman,” author Ross Firestone quotes vocalist Helen Ward describing the development of the tune. “One night Gene [Krupa] just refused to stop drumming when he got to the end of the third chorus, where the tune was supposed to end, so Benny blithely picked up the clarinet and noodled along with him. Then someone else stood up and took it, and it went on from there."

For some, the 1938 Carnegie Hall recording by the Goodman ensemble is the better known performance, but the studio version preceded it by six months. Goodman said that no one-nighter was complete without the band playing Sing, Sing, Sing. The tune has been heard in numerous movies and televisions shows and for many is one of the tunes that defines the swing era.

Here is a link to the studio version of Sing, Sing, Sing as recorded by the Benny Goodman Orchestra 85 years ago today:

"SING, SING, SING"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 5th

Alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe was born on July 5, 1940 in Los Angeles, but grew up in San Diego. He began playing sax at age 9 and, after initially being interested in rhythm and blues, discovered jazz during his teens. Blythe’s big alto sound was a signature of his playing which often fell into the avant-garde school, but Arthur was also a fine player on more mainstream material.

After moving back to Los Angeles, Arthur was associated with the Underground Musicians and Artists Association in the 1960s and made his debut on record with that group in 1969. Author Steven Isoardi has written that the UGMAA was a group of artists who “were able to discover and forge culturally-focused artistic lives, while growing up in the challenging social conditions of Los Angeles's postwar Black community.”

Blythe moved to New York City in the 1970s and by the middle of that decade was playing with Chico Hamilton’s group. He also played with Lester Bowie, Jack DeJohnette and the Gil Evans Orchestra during the late 1970s. His own group did dates at the Village Vanguard and played Carnegie Hall in 1979. His first album as a leader was “The Grip” which was released in 1977. In all he recorded 22 records as a leader during his career.

In the 1980s Blythe began playing with the all-star group known as The Leaders and joined the World Saxophone Quartet after Julius Hemphill had to leave due to illness. Arthur Blythe passed away due to complications from Parkinson’s Disease in 2017.

Here is a link to a 1979 Arthur Blythe recording of a tune called "Lenox Avenue Breakdown:"

"LENOX AVENUE BREAKDOWN"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 4th

Drummer Butch Miles was born on the fourth of July 1944 in Ironton, Ohio. He is perhaps best known for his two stints with the Count Basie Orchestra, first in the 1970s and then again from 1997 to 2007. However, Miles has also performed with Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Woody Herman, Sammy Davis, Jr., Benny Goodman, Willie Nelson and Itzhak Perlman during his long career. He has played on more than 100 albums, three of which have been Grammy winners.

Butch Miles began playing drums at age 9 and later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia State University in 1966. He played with Mel Tormé for several years and it was he and Buddy Rich that recommended Miles to Basie. During the 1980s and 1990s he led the Jazz Express and performed at the Newport and Montreux jazz festivals.

Miles is a member of the music faculty at Texas State University San Marcos and was honored by the Texas State Senate in 2005 for his contributions to music. He was also inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2011. Butch is quoted as saying “There are two driving principles in my drumming. The first came from my teacher Mr. Frank Thompson who told me, “Always let the band know where ‘1’ is.” The second came from the great Count Basie who said, “Listen!”

Here is a link to Butch Miles playing with the Great American Swing Band in 1992:

"WIND MACHINE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 3rd

Balladeer Johnny Hartman was born in Houma, Louisiana on July 3, 1923 but was raised in Chicago. Throughout his career in jazz Hartman sang primarily as a solo act, but also made some recordings with established bands. His work with John Coltrane produced what is probably his best-known recording.

Hartman attended DuSable High School in Chicago and then received a scholarship to the Chicago Musical College. After his time in the U.S. Army during World War II, Hartman won an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and was offered an opportunity to sing with the Earl Hines band. That gig was only supposed to last a week, but Hines liked Hartman’s singing and it ended up being a year-long musical relationship that lasted until the band broke up. After his time with Hines Johnny Hartman sang briefly with Dizzy Gillespie’s big band and spent a little time with the Erroll Garner group, too.

In 1950 Hartman decided to go it alone and became a solo artist. The record that really put him on the map was 1955’s “Songs from the Heart” on which he sang with a combo that included trumpeter Howard McGhee. Later in the decade Hartman also recorded with a big band led by former Basie saxophonist Ernie Wilkins.

In 1963 Johnny Hartman made the best-known record of his career when he teamed with John Coltrane to record the cleverly titled “John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman.” Many critics consider it Hartman’s best work. However, by the mid-1960s popular tastes in music were turning to rock and roll and the kind of music at which Hartman excelled was much less in demand. He continued to record for the rest of the decade and in to the 1970s with small labels and worked small clubs in the United States and did some gigs overseas, as well. In 1981 he received a Grammy nomination for his record “Once in Every Life.”

Johnny Hartman died of lung cancer in 1983. He is remembered as one of the great ballad singers of his era. In 1984 New York City designated a section of Harlem near Amsterdam Avenue and 143rd as Johnny Hartman Plaza in his honor.

Here is a link to one of the tracks from the 1963 album Johnny Hartman made with John Coltrane:

"MY ONE AND ONLY LOVE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 2nd

Pianist and composer Thelonious Monk first recorded “Misterioso” on July 2, 1948. It was released nearly a year later by Blue Note Records. Playing with Monk on the session were Milt Jackson on vibraphone, John Simmons on bass and Shadow Wilson at the drums.

Monk had been born in North Carolina in 1917 but moved to New York City as a young child. He began piano lessons when he was 11. He entered and won several amateur night contests at the Apollo Theater, and was eventually asked not to re-enter to be fair to other contestants. Although he was an excellent student excelling in math and science, he left school to accompany a traveling evangelist. Upon his return he took some classes at Julliard, but soon left to become the house pianist at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem.

Misterioso is a 12-bar blues. The piece begins with the “head,” a chorus of “walking sixths” followed by Jackson’s solo. The striking piano accompaniment behind Jackson’s improvisation demonstrates the musical compatibility of the two performers. Jazz critic Dan Morgenstern has written that “Jackson’s ear is attuned to Monk’s harmonic universe. He does not mind being guided by Monk’s manner of accompanying”. Then it’s Monk’s turn to take a couple of choruses. The head returns, but this time with Jackson taking the lead.

The record had extremely poor sales, but the head of Blue Note Records, Alfred Lion, said that he simply had to record Monk because when he first heard him “I just flipped” and “had to record everything he did.” It is to his credit that he recognized Thelonious Monk’s genius, and it’s our great benefit that we get to hear the recordings they made together.

Here is a link to Thelonious Monk’s performance of “Misterioso:”

"MISTERIOSO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - July 1st

Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton claimed to have written “King Porter Stomp” in 1906 and first recorded it in 1923. Fletcher Henderson wrote an arrangement of the tune and recorded it a couple of times. But the song finally became a hit when Benny Goodman’s orchestra recorded Henderson’s arrangement for Victor Records in New York City on July 1, 1935.

In 1935 Benny Goodman was just emerging as a band leader and swing was just emerging as the dominant popular music of the next decade. Goodman’s record was released on July 31 of that year, just as the band was becoming the hottest topic in American popular music after their legendary performance at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles earlier that same month.

The recording features lead trumpet player “Bunny” Berigan using a straight mute from the first measure and later improvising with an open horn. The trombone soloist is Jack Lacey, and Goodman solos, too. The call and response out chorus demonstrates the excitement that a big band can create for its listeners. The arrangement swings from beginning to end and has become the classic rendition of the song that achieved jazz standard status.

Here is a link to the 1935 Goodman recording of “King Porter Stomp:”

"KING PORTER STOMP"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 30th

Four-time Grammy winner, bassist, composer and producer Stanley Clarke was born on June 30, 1951 in Philadelphia. Although he is also an accomplished acoustic bassist with training in classical music, Clarke was one of the first musicians to legitimize the electric bass in jazz.

As a youth his Stanley’s mother encouraged him to study music and he played the accordion, the violin and the cello prior to starting on the acoustic bass while in high school. He also learned to play the electric bass as it allowed him to play in bands that performed more popular music. He played his first paid gig on bass when he was 15. After graduating high school Clarke attended the Philadelphia Musical Academy.

Stanley Clarke’s first appearance on record was as a sideman with trombonist Curtis Fuller. Although his goal had been to be the first Black member of the Philadelphia Orchestra he continued to play jazz gigs in the early 1970s with Stan Getz, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Gil Evans and Horace Silver before meeting Chick Corea and becoming a founding member of the fusion band Return to Forever with whom he played from 1972 until 1977.

Since leaving Return to Forever Clarke has toured and recorded extensively, and not in just in the jazz realm. In 1979 he played in a band called The New Barbarians led by Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and including Keith Richards. In 1980 he joined with keyboardist George Duke to found the Clarke/Duke Project, and played with Paul McCartney on two albums in the early 1980s.

Along with playing, Clarke has written music for television and movies and received an Emmy nomination for his soundtrack for “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.” He also wrote the scores for the movies “Passenger 57” and “Boyz n the Hood.” In 2010 Clarke founded the Roxboro Entertainment Group. He continues to be active as a performer today.

Here is a link to the tune “School Days” played live in 2011 during a Return to Forever reunion performance:

"SCHOOL DAYS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 29th

Trombonist and music educator Julian Priester was born on June 29, 1935 in Chicago. He attended DuSable High School and by his late teens was sitting in with Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and Sonny Stitt. Since that time Priester has become an important voice in the avant-garde jazz movement. As opposed to the term “jazz improvisation” Priester prefers to refer to “spontaneous composition.”

In the 1950s Julian Priester played with Sun Ra, Dinah Washington, Lionel Hampton and Max Roach. It is said that he was one of the few trombonists that could keep up with the chord changes at the sometimes breakneck tempos Roach chose and still play with style. Priester recorded with Roach no less than ten times.

In the 1960s Priester appeared on records with Booker Little, Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson and McCoy Tyner. Julian also spent six months in Duke Ellington’s trombone section in 1969. In the early 1970’s he recorded with Herbie Hancock three times, and since then has appeared on record regularly with Dave Holland and Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra.

In 1979 Julian Priester began teaching at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle where he taught jazz composition, performance and history until his retirement in 2011. During that time, he continued to record, both as a leader and with the likes of Pat Metheney, Jane Ira Bloom and Reggie Workman. In recent years he has been leading weekly listening sessions for the Seattle Jazz Fellowship.

Here is a link to a 1960 recording by the Julian Priester Sextet called “Blue Stride:”

"BLUE STRIDE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 28th

Joe “King” Oliver composed “West End Blues” and made the first recording of the piece on June 11, 1928 with his group The Dixie Syncopators. Seventeen days later Oliver’s former protege Louis Armstrong was in the studio recording the song for Okeh Records. That was on June 28, 1928. Both Oliver and Armstrong were former New Orleans residents and knew “West End” as the final stop on the trolley line to Lake Pontchartrain.

Armstrong’s recording with his Hot Five is considered by many jazz critics and music historians to be one of the most important recordings in the history of jazz. Gunther Schuller of the New England Conservatory of Music wrote that “West End Blues” proved that jazz music “had the potential capacity to compete with the highest order of previously known musical expression.” In short, that jazz was indeed an art form worthy of consideration alongside of any other music.

In addition to playing trumpet and singing on the record, Armstrong is joined by Jimmy Strong on clarinet, Fred Robinson playing trombone, Mancy Carr on banjo, Zutty Singleton at the drums and Earl Hines is the pianist on the session. The record begins with an Armstrong cadenza that trumpet players have been woodshedding for nearly 100 years now. It also includes a mellow scat solo by “Satchmo” that he shares with Strong’s clarinet.

Clarence Williams later wrote lyrics for the tune and recorded it with Ethel Waters. Armstrong also re-recorded the tune on at least two occasions later in his career. Despite that, Armstrong’s recording from 1928 is the one that has become a classic and the performance that has come to “symbolize more than any other the ascendancy of a classic American music” according to critic Gary Giddens.

Here is a link to “West End Blues” as recorded by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five 94 years ago today:

"WEST END BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 27th

Pianist Mal Waldron recorded “The Quest” at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio on June 27, 1961. Waldron was the child of West Indian parents living in New York City and began piano lessons at 7. His parents discouraged his interest in jazz, but Mal listened to it on the radio and even played saxophone for a while. After a stint in the army, Mal earned a B.A. in Music from Queens College in New York all the time checking out the jazz being played on 52nd Street.

Mal Waldron worked with Ike Quebec, Lucky Thompson and Charles Mingus and became the house pianist at the Prestige Records studio in New Jersey. While working at Prestige, Waldron played on records by Phil Woods, John Coltrane and Gene Ammons while also accompanying vocalist Abbey Lincoln. He was one of the artists to contribute to Music Minus One, a series of some of the earliest play along records that were used as tools for learning jazz.

Waldron’s first album as a leader was released by Prestige in 1956. “The Quest” was his ninth such record and featured Eric Dolphy on alto saxophone and clarinet, Booker Ervin playing the tenor saxophone, with Joe Benjamin on bass and Charlie Persip at the drums. Waldron played piano and a young Ron Carter was featured on cello. Critic Scott Yanow has written that the music on the record is complex and “falls somewhere between hard bop and the avant-garde.” The seven tracks are all Mal Waldron compositions.

Here is a link to a cut from "The Quest." Mal Waldron is the composer and plays piano here:

"STATUS SEEKING"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 26th

Saxophonist and jazz educator Don Lamphere was born in Wenatchee, Washington on June 26, 1928. The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz calls Lamphere’s playing “exhilaratingly inventive” and over his career he played with some of the giants of the be-bop era.

Don found his father’s tenor saxophone in the family basement and shortly thereafter was playing himself. He played his first professional gig at the age of 13 and at age 17 he sat in with the Jimmie Lunceford band when they came to town. After briefly studying music at Northwestern University, Lamphere headed for New York City where he played with Fats Navarro and Max Roach. For a while he played in the Woody Herman band. However, after playing briefly with Sonny Durham in 1951 Lamphere’s life and career were threatened by his drug addiction.

Don returned to his hometown and worked in his father’s music store. He met his future wife at that time and she encouraged him to start playing again. They moved to Boston and then New York and Don had short gigs with Charlie Barnet and Claude Thornhill when addiction reared its ugly head once again. Don and his wife both struggled with these issues for years and his musical career was on hold for most of the 1960s.  In 1969 Don became a born again Christian and was able to kick drugs and alcohol from that time on.

Beginning in the 1980s Don Lamphere recorded a series of successful albums that many critics claimed provided listeners with his best playing ever. He also mentored many young jazz musicians including pianist Marc Seales. He was a regular figure at the annual Bud Shank Jazz Workshop and taught numerous private students. Don often performed on college campuses and had a regular gig at Tula’s Restaurant and Jazz Club in Seattle.  He also played with the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra and co-hosted a local jazz radio program in Seattle. Don passed away from hepatitis in 2003.

Here is a link to Don Lamphere playing with Marc Seales' New Stories:

"SOLAR"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 25th

Composer, arranger, trombonist and music educator Bill Russo was born in Chicago on June 25, 1928. During his career Russo composed more than 200 pieces for jazz ensemble and wrote four books about music composition and arranging.

Perhaps best known in the jazz realm for his work with the Stan Kenton Orchestra in the 1950s, Russo also collaborated with Billie Holiday, Cannonball Adderley and his idol Duke Ellington. After working with Kenton, Russo led his own 22-piece ensemble in New York for a few years.

In addition to his work in jazz, Bill Russo also wrote extensively for classical music groups and for the theater. In 1959 Leonard Bernstein commissioned a symphony by Russo that was performed by the New York Philharmonic and featured Maynard Ferguson as soloist. In 1973 the San Francisco Symphony recorded his piece “Three Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra,” and his 1968 theatre piece “The Civil War” contrasted the American Civil War with the civil rights movement and unrest the country was experiencing at the time of its premiere.

In addition to his writing, Bill Russo founded the music department at Chicago’s Columbia College in 1965. Early in his time there he founded the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, as well. Russo continued as chair of the music department until shortly before his death from cancer in 2003.

Here is a link to a Bill Russo composition as performed LIVE by the Stan Kenton Orchestra IN 1953.  Lee Konitz is the alto saxophone soloist:

"23 DEGREES NORTH, 82 DEGREES WEST"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 24th

Manny Albam was born on June 24, 1922 in the Dominican Republic, a port of call during his parent’s journey from Lithuania to begin a new life in New York City. Manny grew up listening to his mother’s opera records but began his interest in jazz when he heard a Bix Beiderbecke record at the age of 7. Albam went on to become a prolific composer, arranger, producer and music educator as well as having a successful career as a clarinet and saxophone player.

By his late teens Albam was playing in a Dixieland band led by cornetist Muggsy Spanier and went on to perform with Georgie Auld, Lee Castle and Herbie Field. While with Auld he met Budd Johnson who had arranged music for the Earl Hines group and he began to mentor Albam. By his late 20s Manny was concentrating more on writing than playing and produced work that was performed by Charlie Barnet, Count Basie, Stan Getz, Freddie Hubbard, Buddy Rich and Dizzy Gillespie. He wrote an Afro-Latin piece named “Samana” after the city of his birth that was recorded by the Stan Kenton Innovations Orchestra.

In addition to his work with jazz artists, Manny Albam also worked with Jose Feliciano and Dionne Warwick. Leonard Bernstein had Albam write some of the arrangements used in the Broadway production of “West Side Story,” as well. This collaboration with Bernstein garnered Manny a Grammy nomination in 1959.

During the 1960s Albam served as the musical director for Solid State Records. Beginning in 1964 he focused more on teaching and taught at Glassboro State College, the Eastman School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. Manny Albam passed away at the age of 79 in 2001 after a battle with cancer.

Here is a link to a full orchestra featuring several jazz notables playing Manny Albam’s arrangement of “Carioca.”  Albam is also the conductor on this record:

"CARIOCA"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 23rd

George Russell was a drummer and pianist born in Cincinnati on this date in 1923. His father was a music professor at Oberlin College. Although he was a performing musician, too, AllAboutJazz.com refers to Russell as “a hugely influential, innovative figure in the evolution of modern jazz, the music's only major theorist, one of its most profound composers, and a trail blazer whose ideas have transformed and inspired some of the greatest musicians of our time.”

After time playing drums in the Boy Scout Drum and Bugle Corps Russell received a scholarship to study music at Wilberforce University where he played with the campus jazz group The Collegians. There he played with future Count Basie saxophonist Ernie Wilkins. In 1941 Russell was diagnosed with tuberculosis and spent six months in the hospital where he took music theory lessons from a fellow patient. Following his hospitalization, he landed a gig playing drums for Benny Carter, but was soon replaced by Max Roach and began to concentrate less on performing and more on composing and arranging.

Russell moved to New York and began to associate with a group of musicians that met in Gil Evans’ basement apartment and discuss new musical ideas. Along with Evans, these musicians included Gerry Mulligan, Miles Davis and J.J. Johnson. Soon, however, Russell’s health became an issue again and he was hospitalized, this time for 16 months. He began to work on a book during his time in the hospital he began work on his book “The Lydian Concept of Tonal Organization.” Soon after the book's publication in 1953 it became a significant influence on many musicians and the basis of the modal improvisation concepts being developed by Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

During his career, George Russell worked with and wrote for Dizzy Gillespie, Art Farmer, Claude Thornhill, Artie Shaw and Bill Evans. During the 1960s Russell began to lead his own six-piece groups in the New York area before leaving to work in Europe for several years. In 1969 he returned to the United States to take a position teaching at the New England Conservatory of Music. Over the years his students included Eric Dolphy, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Carla Bley. He toured with a small combo from time to time throughout the 1970s and 1980s and continued to write up until the time of his death in 2009. Russell’s 1953 book has been required reading at the Indiana University Music school since 1967.

Here is a link to a 1961 recording of The George Russell Sextet playing "Ezz-thetic:"

"EZZ-THETIC"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 22nd

Ben Pollack was a drummer, vocalist and bandleader born in Chicago on June 22, 1903. He was playing professionally in several bands by his late teens and at the age of 21 was a member of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, one of the most popular of the early jazz groups on record. By the mid-1920s Ben was spending time performing with groups based both in Chicago and in southern California.

In 1926 Ben Pollack formed his first band and recorded using his own name as well as under a number of other group names over the next decade. Those names included Goody’s Good Timers, The Hotsy Totsy Gang, The Kentucky Grasshoppers and The Whoopie Makers. His bands were filled with talented musicians, but there was often discord usually due to what his sidemen considered Pollack’s old-fashioned views. Possessing a fine eye for musical talent over the years many greats of the era cycled through Pollack’s ensembles including Benny Goodman, Frank Teschemacher, Harry James, Jack Teagarden, Bud Freeman, Jimmy McPartland and Glenn Miller.

After a spell as a music agent and a record company executive in the 1940s Pollack returned to directing a jazz group in the 1950s and did so off and on until his death in 1971. Although once having been sued by Pollack, Benny Goodman acknowledged that although he was essentially a Dixieland drummer Pollack was “one of the first to hit all four beats in a measure.” This was an important step in the development of the drumming style that would be prevalent during the Swing Era. Pollack can also be seen in movies playing himself in both “The Glenn Miller Story” and “The Benny Goodman Story.”

Here is a link to Ben Pollack and his Park Central Orchestra from a 1929 short film:

"BEN POLLACK AND HIS PARK CENTRAL ORCHESTRA"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 21st​

On June 21,1969 pianist and vocalist Les McCann and his group played at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. The performance was recorded and released by Atlantic Records as the album "Swiss Movement."  One of the tunes on the date, "Compared to What?,” became a hit single. The performance and the recording also put the Montreux festival “on the map,” making it a preferred destination for jazz musicians to play and record live.

McCann’s group that day included Eddie Harris on tenor saxophone, Benny Bailey playing the trumpet, Leroy Vinnegar on bass and Donald Dean at the drums. The original pressing of the album featured five tracks including the well-known “Cold Duck Time” written by Harris. The album reached #1 on the jazz record charts and #2 on the R&B charts. It was also nominated for a Grammy.

Les McCann’s first recording was “Les McCann Ltd. Plays the Truth” which was released in 1960. “Swiss Movement” was his 26th release. To date McCann has released 53 albums as a leader, his most recent being “28 Juillet” in 2018. He has also appeared as a sideman with Herbie Mann, Stanley Turrentine, Lou Rawls and Bill Evans. After suffering a stroke in the mid-1990s, McCann returned to performing in 2002. Today Les McCann is 86 years old and along with his music has exhibited his work as a photographer and painter.

Here is a link to “Compared to What” from the album “Swiss Movement” recorded 53 years ago today:

"COMPARED TO WHAT?"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 20th

Multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy was born on June 20, 1928 in Los Angeles, and had one of the most influential careers in jazz despite his early death. His parents had immigrated to the United States from Panama, and they made sure young Eric had private music lessons on saxophone and clarinet beginning at age six.
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While in junior high school he began to play the oboe and considered a career in classical music, and was sufficiently proficient while attending Dorsey High School to be offered a scholarship to study music at the University of Southern California. During college he played with Art Farmer and Jimmy Knepper as a member of Roy Porter’s big band, and made his first recordings with that group.

In 1950 Dolphy was inducted into the U.S. Army and was stationed at Fort Lewis near Tacoma, Washington. Two years later he was studying at the Navy Music School. Following his discharge he returned to southern California and played with Gerald Wilson’s ensemble among others. When he was 26, Eric recorded with Clifford Brown and in 1958 began playing with Chico Hamilton’s quintet.

By the early 1960s Eric Dolphy was making a name for himself while playing with Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Oliver Nelson and Booker Little. He recorded his first album as a leader was “Outward Bound” released in 1960. Six more records featuring Dolphy as leader were released over the next four years. Following his death in 1964, recordings of 22 additional Eric Dolphy dates, both live and in the studio were made available.  

Eric Dolphy died from undiagnosed diabetes in Berlin on June 29, 1964 at the age of 36. Dolphy is often categorized as a free jazz or avant-garde musician, but his playing encompassed more than that. He was an important figure in popularizing the flute in jazz, and was the leading figure in introducing the bass clarinet to the genre.

Here is a link to a performance of the Charles Mingus Sextet featuring an Eric Dolphy solo on bass clarinet. The group performs a Duke Ellington standard during an appearance in Norway:

"TAKE THE A TRAIN"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 19th

Dave Lambert was a founding member of the highly popular vocal jazz trio Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. The group was together between 1957 and 1962. They are considered by many to be the greatest practitioners of vocalese, the art of putting words to existing jazz melodies and solos. Lambert was born in Boston, Massachusetts on June 19, 1917.

Lambert began his singing career midway through the big band era when he was in his early 20s. One of his first gigs was singing with the Johnny Long Orchestra, a group that had also backed Ella Fitzgerald, another pioneer of vocalese, on at least one record date. By the late 1940s Lambert was working with Buddy Stewart, a former singer with the Gene Krupa band.  Their partnership was cut short, though, when Stewart was killed in an automobile accident in 1950.

Later in that decade Lambert had met and was singing with Jon Hendricks, yet another vocalist who was interested in moving the art of vocal jazz forward. Established songstress Annie Ross joined them in 1957 during a recording project that produced the album “Sing a Song of Basie,” which caused a sensation and led to the trio being in demand for public performances throughout the world, as well as spawning a succession of hit LPs.

Like his friend and singing partner Stewart, Lambert also died in a traffic-related accident while changing a tire along the roadway at night. He and another man were killed by a passing truck.

Dave Lambert’s influence on vocal jazz is significant and the records he made during his career still enchant listeners and inspire jazz vocalists around the world today.

Here is a link to Lambert, Hendricks and Ross performing live at a jazz festival in France in 1961:

"FOUR"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 18th

Drummer, vocalist, composer and band leader Ray McKinley was born on June 18, 1910 in Fort Worth, Texas. His parents bought him his first drum set at the age of nine and by 15 he had begun a career playing with several of the territory bands in the mid-west.

He met his good friend Glenn Miller in 1929 while they were both playing with the Smith Ballew group. The two played together again in the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in 1934 before Miller left for Ray Noble’s band and eventually to start his own group. After the Dorsey brothers broke up McKinley stayed on with the Jimmy Dorsey band until 1939. In that year he teamed up with trombonist Will Bradley and the two fronted a band that specialized in boogie-woogie arrangements.

After a brief stint fronting his own ensemble, McKinley joined up with his old friend Glenn Miller’s Army Air Force Band and then co-led the group with Jerry Gray for a time after Miller’s disappearance in December of 1944. Following the war McKinley formed his own band but after a few years was unable to keep the group together due to changing public tastes and the economics of keeping a big band going. Following on the popularity of the movie “The Glenn Miller Story,” the Miller orchestra was re-formed and Ray led the band for ten years. He returned to lead the group again from 1973 until 1978. Ray McKinley passed away on May 7, 1995.

Ray McKinley was not a prolific composer, but the unique titles of his tunes are definitely memorable.  He wrote “Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar,” “Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat,” “Bounce Me Brother with a Solid Four” and the unforgettable “Fry Me a Cookie with a Can of Lard.”

Here is a link to Will Bradley and his Orchestra featuring Ray McKinley on drums and vocals from their 1940 recording of “Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar” parts 1 and 2:

"BEAT ME DADDY, EIGHT TO THE BAR"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 17th

The big band formed by trumpeter Thad Jones and drummer Mel Lewis was founded in 1965 and featured the finest studio musicians in New York City. They played every Monday night at the Village Vanguard for 12 years until Jones moved to Denmark. For the next 13 years they were known as the Mel Lewis Orchestra and continued their Monday night gig. Since Lewis passed away in 1990 the band has performed as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.  But, on this date in 1969, they were in the studio recording the album “Central Park North” for Solid State Records. The record would receive a Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Large Group.

The record featured four compositions by Thad Jones including the title track, “The Groove Merchant” by band member Jerome Richardson and an arrangement of Nat Adderley’s “Jive Samba.” Along with Jones, Lewis and Richardson, the ensemble featured reedmen Joe Farrell and Eddie Daniels, Jimmy Knepper on trombone, Snooky Young on trumpet and Sir Roland Hanna at the piano.

The song “Central Park North” is an ambitious nine-minute opus that moves from a somewhat schizophrenic up-tempo intro to a boogaloo-ish theme, followed by a mellow ballad and a blues. The piece “captures the essence of life” north of 110th Street in New York City in the late 1960s.

Here is a link to “Central Park North:”

"CENTRAL PARK NORTH"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 16th

Tenor sax man Lucky Thompson was born on June 16, 1924 in Columbia, South Carolina and grew up in Detroit. He has been described by one jazz critic as being the saxophonist that "connected the swing era to the more cerebral and complex bebop style. His sophisticated, harmonically abstract approach to the tenor saxophone built off that of Don Byas and Coleman Hawkins; he played with beboppers, but resisted Charlie Parker's pervasive influence."

Thompson’s mother passed away when he was young and he became responsible for the care of his siblings, all the time practicing saxophone fingerings on a broomstick until he could afford to purchase an instrument. In the 1940s he played with bands led by Lionel Hampton and Lucky Millinder and spent some time as a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. In 1944 he was briefly a member of the Billy Eckstein group along with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. In 1948 Lucky Thompson led a band at the Savoy Ballroom in New York.

During the 1950s Thompson worked with some rhythm and blues artists and became active in composing, recording and publishing. During that decade he also performed and recorded with Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, Kenny Clarke and Milt Jackson. By the time the 1960s rolled around Thompson was becoming tired of the music business and spent some time living in Europe. He is quoted as describing the business side of the music industry as being run by “parasites” and “vultures.”

After teaching at Dartmouth in the early 1970s, Lucky Thompson retired from the music business. He spent his final years living in Seattle, Washington where he was homeless for a while. Thompson suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and died in an assisted living facility in 2005.

Here is a link to Lucky Thompson playing “I’ll Remember April” during a televised appearance on French television in 1957:

"I'LL REMEMBER APRIL"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 15th

Pianist Erroll Garner was one of the most popular performers of his era. Garner was born on this date in 1921 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Erroll’s burgeoning talent as was recognized in early childhood and by the age of 10 he was performing regularly on radio programs broadcast by station KQV in his home town. At 16 he was playing with saxophonist Leroy Brown, and moved to New York City in 1944. Once there he gigging regularly in nightclubs and soon thereafter in the best hotels and on concert tours as a solo act or with a trio. With the exception of the occasional jam session and the time he spent with Slam Stewart in the mid-1940s Garner preferred to work alone or with his three-piece band.

Pianists continue to marvel at Garner’s creativity and the unique quality of his playing to this day, 45 years after his death on January 2, 1977. While Garner was deadly serious about his technique, his performances always exuded joy and individuality, and he included a bit of sly humor in much of his playing.  He was a world-wide audience favorite for more than 30 years.

Erroll Garner’s best known of his more than 200 compositions is undoubtedly “Misty,” one of the most universally recognizable of the jazz standards. Originally composed as an instrumental for his trio in 1954, singer Johnny Mathis had lyrics written for the tune by Johnny Burke. Mathis’ 1959 recording of the song rose to #12 on the pop charts that year. “Misty” has been covered by artists as diverse as Sarah Vaughan and Ray Stevens, and was central to the 1971 Clint Eastwood movie “Play Misty For Me.”

Here is a link to a performance of Erroll Garner playing “Misty” with his trio on Belgian television:

"MISTY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 14th

On June 14, 1929 24-year-old Chick Webb and his “Jungle Band” made their first record and it was called “Dog Bottom.” On the flip side of the record was a tune called “Jungle Mama.” This was Webb’s first time in the studio as a leader and was part of his musical journey that had begun when he bought his first set of drums using the money he made selling newspapers and started playing dance gigs on pleasure boats around his home town of Baltimore, Maryland.


At the age of 17, Chick moved to New York City and was soon performing in jam sessions at Small’s Playhouse with musicians like Bobby Stark, Duke Ellington and with Webb’s cousin, Johnny Hodges. By 1933 Chick Webb would be leading an energetic band with expanded instrumentation and be offered the position of house band at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. There he and his orchestra became the premier “battling band” of the swing era, according to Ellington baritone saxophonist Harry Carney. Their manager would make sure that any “name band” that came to town was booked for a stop at the Savoy to take on the Chick Webb organization. Most did not fare well when pitted against Webb’s group, including Benny Goodman’s orchestra. The Chick Webb ensemble finally achieved widespread national popularity when they signed a teenaged Ella Fitzgerald as their vocalist in 1935 and recorded a series of hit records with her.


Chick Webb was a small man with physical disabilities that often left him in great pain as he played the drums. He suffered from tuberculosis of the spine and succumbed to that ailment in 1939, leaving leadership of his band to Fitzgerald.
“Dog Bottom” includes performances by Louis Jordan and Hilton Jefferson in the reed section and Ward Pinkett on trumpet. The tempo is extremely fast (238 bpm) which would make it a tune that would be almost impossible to dance to, except for the most proficient hoofer.


Here is a link to the 1929 Brunswick recording of Chick Webb’s Jungle band performing “Dog Bottom:”

"DOG BOTTOM"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 13th

“A Night in Tunisia” is one of the best-known Dizzy Gillespie compositions and was recorded on this date in the year 1944 by Boyd Raeburn and his Orchestra. It is one of the first recorded examples of a bebop influence in a big band arrangement and features a then-unique ostinato bass line, as opposed to the standard “walking bass.” Gillespie originally called the tune “Interlude,” but, as Dizzy said “some genius decided to call it ‘A Night in Tunisia.’” The label on the original Musicraft 78rpm record does say “Interlude,” but “A Night in Tunisia” appears on subsequently pressed V-Discs.


The 1940s were a productive time for the tremendously influential Gillespie.  During that decade he composed not only “Night in Tunisia,” but “Groovin’ High,” “Salt Peanuts” and “Woody ‘N’ You,” all of which have become part of the standard jazz repertoire. Conflicting accounts have Gillespie composing this tune around 1942 when he was either playing with the Earl Hines band or with Benny Carter’s group.


On a copy of the aforementioned V-Disc recording handwritten notes indicate that, along with Gillespie, trombonist Trummy Young and alto player Johnny Bothwell appear on the record.  Tenor man Al Cohn is also mentioned in those notes, but some jazz historians seem to feel that the tenor solo on the record was actually played by Lucky Thompson. The song was also recorded that same year by both Sarah Vaughan and the Gillespie-Oscar Pettiford quintet.


Here is a link to Boyd Raeburn’s 1944 recording of “A Night in Tunisia” (or “Interlude” - your choice):

"A NIGHT IN TUNISIA"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 12th

Keyboard player and composer Chick Corea was born on June 12, 1941 in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He began playing piano at the age of four, encouraged by his father, a trumpeter that led a Boston area traditional jazz group in the 1930s and 1940s.

By the early 1960s, after spending time studying music at both Columbia university and Julliard, Chick was developing a reputation as a fine keyboard player in the New York area. He gigged with Blue Mitchell, Herbie Mann, Mongo Santamaria and Stan Getz. In 1966 he recorded “Tones for Joan’s Bones,” his first album as a leader, which was released two years later.

Between 1968 and 1970 Corea’s work with Miles Davis on albums like “In a Silent Way,” “Filles de Kilimanjaro” and “Bitches Brew” brought him world-wide acclaim. After leaving Davis’ group he formed the group Circle with bassist Dave Holland, reedman Anthony Braxton and drummer Bill Altschul.  That group explored some of the more abstract aspects of jazz, but Corea left the group barely two years after their first gig.

The following year Corea formed another group with bass player Stanley Clarke, percussionist Airto Moreira, reed player Joe Farrell and vocalist Flora Purim. The band was called Return to Forever and it was one of the best fusion groups of the era combining elements of Latin jazz, classical music and rock. They filled concert halls around the world during their eight year run (with several personnel changes), and then had several post-breakup reunions thereafter. Following the Return to Forever years, Corea continued working with his Elektric Band, the Akoustic Band and later in a trio setting. In 2015 he toured with fellow Davis alum Herbie Hancock in a “dueling piano format.”

Chick Corea is a member of the Downbeat magazine Hall of Fame, an NEA Jazz Master and was awarded 23 Grammys during his career. Along with Hancock and Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea is considered “one of the leading keyboard virtuosi, composer and bandleaders” of the late 20th Century.  Corea passed away on February 9, 2021.

Here is a link to a Return to Forever performance recorded in 1974 for American television:

"SPACE CIRCUS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 11th

On this date in 1937 stride pianist Fats Waller recorded his version of “I Ain’t Got Nobody.” It’s solo piano with no vocal and none of the comedy elements that sometimes obscure Waller’s tremendous musical talent. In fact, this Victor record seems to find him in a more reflective mood as he plays the well-known tune at a slower tempo than many popular renditions.

The origin of the tune is somewhat murky as credit for the composition has been asserted by at least a handful people.  Ragtime pianist Charles Warfield claims to have written the tune and obtained a 1914 copyright for “I Ain’t Got Nobody and Nobody Cares For Me.” Two years later, a copyright tune for “I Ain’t Got Nobody” was obtained by Spencer Williams with lyrics by Roger A. Graham. To add to the confusion, in 1911 two St. Louis musicians, Clarence E. Brandon and Billy Smythe, both applied for copyrights to a tune called “I Ain’t Got Nobody.”

Whoever the rightful composer may be, the tune has enjoyed several revivals in popularity over the years, the best known version probably being Louis Prima’s 1956 recording where he marries the tune with “Just a Gigolo.”  It has also been recorded by Booker T. and the MG’s, Mos Def, David Lee Roth, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and The Village People.

Here is a link to the Fats Waller 1937 recording of “I Ain’t Got Nobody” on Victor Records:

"I AIN'T GOT NOBODY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 10th

Trombonist Dicky Wells was born in Centerville, Tennessee on June 10, 1907 and is remembered as one of the important solo voices of the Count Basie orchestras of the 1930s and 1940s. Dicky is also remembered as being a man with a great sense of humor, which often was reflected in his playing. Wells designed his own trombone mute that he called the “pepperpot mute” which he often employed in his solo work, much as a later Basie trombonist, Al Grey, would do with the plunger mute.

As a young man, Wells, now based in New York City, worked with many of the finest bands in town at that time.  He played with Fletcher Henderson and Benny Carter before joining up with the Basie organization in 1938. After eight years with the Basie band, Wells played with Lucky Millinder and Sy Oliver’s groups, and by the late 1950’s was playing and recording in Europe with Buck Clayton’s All-Stars. Alcoholism began to affect Wells’ playing in the 1960s and some tours had to be truncated due to his drinking. At one point he left the music business to work on Wall Street. By the late 1970s, though, he was playing again and could be heard as a member of Earle Warren’s Countsmen.  He continued to play and record until his death in 1985.

Dicky Wells published an autobiography with British jazz writer and critic Stanley Dance called “The Night People,” which recounts his life in music and the racism that plagued Black musicians touring in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. Although the book addresses that deadly serious topic, Wells’ sense of humor also comes through.

Here is a link to a 1961 performance by trombonist Dicky Wells:

"BLUES IN F"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 9th

Les Paul was not just a guitarist or a producer or a composer or an inventor.  Les Paul was all of these things and more. And he was born on June 9, 1915, 107 years ago today.

A self-taught guitarist, Les Paul was one of the pioneers of the solid body electric guitar.  Born in Wisconsin, Les started by playing harmonica and then switched to piano before finally beginning to play guitar. By the time he was in his teens, Les Paul was performing as a guitarist/harmonica player/singer at country music venues. Even at that early age, Paul was experimenting with methods to amplify his guitar.

After dropping out of high school in favor of his musical career, Les Paul found himself playing on a country music radio show as a part of Sonny Joe Wolverton’s band, first in St. Louis and later in Chicago. He was living a double life: one as “Rhubarb Red” on the radio playing country music, and one as Les Paul playing jazz at night. Les Paul’s guitar style was heavily influenced by Django Reinhardt. Paul’s trio was regularly featured on the Fred Waring radio program in the late 1930s.

In the 1940s Paul began recording with his second wife, singer Mary Ford. They put out a series of hit records using the then-novel technique of multi-tracking, allowing Paul and Ford to harmonize with themselves.  Paul used a close micing technique to add intimacy to the sound of Mary’s voice as well. These unique and popular recordings sounded quite different than much of the other post-war music available at the time. Their hits included “How High the Moon,” Vaya Con Dios“ and ”The World is Waiting for the Sunrise.“  Les Paul and Mary Ford had a radio program beginning in 1950 and moved to NBC television beginning in 1954 and ending in 1960. After their divorce in 1964, Les went into semi-retirement, emerging every once in a while to record, produce, or engineer.

Les Paul is the only person to be a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame. His contributions to guitar construction resulted in one of the most successful lines of guitars ever produced by the Gibson company, and some of the playing techniques he developed are still used to this day by countless guitarists in many genres. His innovations in sound recording like multi-tracking, the use of echo, close micing and phasing techniques were also groundbreaking and have influenced recording engineers and producers for more than half a century.

Here is a link to Les Paul and Mary Ford’s 1951 hit record “How High the Moon:”

"HOW HIGH THE MOON"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 8th

Trombonist Bill Watrous was born in Connecticut on this date in 1939. His father played trombone and Bill started on the instrument at a young age and grew up to be one of the most respected trombonists in the music business, noted for his fat sound and tremendous technique.

After a stint in the U.S. Navy, Watrous worked and made his first records while a member of the Billy Butterfield band. By the mid-1960s Bill was working regularly as a studio musician in New York and was a member of the studio orchestra for the Merv Griffin Show. He also found time to perform and record with Maynard Ferguson, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan. He made his first record as a leader in 1964.

By the very early 1970s he was a member of the unfortunately now-forgotten jazz-rock band Ten Wheel Drive, and by 1974 he had formed his own jazz big band made up primarily of New York studio musicians called Manhattan Wildlife Refuge. The band recorded two acclaimed Columbia albums in the mid-1970s, the second of which, Tiger of San Pedro, received a Grammy nomination. Bill’s cadenza on the tune “Fourth Floor Walkup“ is the stuff of trombone player legend. When Watrous relocated to Los Angeles in the early 1980s the band was renamed Refuge West.

Throughout his career, Bill Watrous, who passed away in 2018, continued to record extensively as both a leader and as a sideman. Watrous played with such notables as Quincy Jones, Arturo Sandoval, Kai Winding, and Paul Desmond and was in the studio group that recorded Deodato’s 1973 hit “Also Sprach Zarathustra.” He wrote the book “Trombonisms” in the 1980s which discusses various technique issues peculiar to trombone performance. For the last two decades of his life he taught at the University of Southern California. Watrous recorded 23 albums as a leader.

Here is a link to Manhattan Wildlife Refuge’s 1974 recording of “Fourth Floor Walk-up” featuring Bill Watrous on trombone:

"FOURTH FLOOR WALKUP"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 7th

During June 1967 the Miles Davis Quintet was busy recording the album “Nefertiti” and the unique title tune was recorded on June 7th, 55 years ago today. The album was the fourth by the second quintet whose membership was Davis on trumpet, Wayne Shorter playing saxophone, Herbie Hancock at the piano, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams drumming. None of the six tracks on this record were composed by Davis, with Hancock contributing two songs, Williams one and Shorter three including “Nefertiti.” It would be the last time Davis would ever record with a fully acoustic group.

“Nefertiti” is interesting as a composition because the traditional function of rhythm section and horn players in a jazz combo is reversed. The rhythm section improvises as Wayne Shorter at first, and later Davis with him, repeat the melody. George Coleman had been the original saxophonist with this group but lasted only a year before Shorter was hired to replace him.

This combo is sometimes called “the second great quintet,” and it was formed as Miles was absorbing the groundbreaking work of Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor and John Coltrane in the early 1960s. His response was for this ensemble to incorporate their “structure-loosening” concepts to his own music. The reason the work of this group was so successful (it is arguably Miles’ finest band - let the debate begin!), was the care taken by Davis in choosing his young and immensely talented bandmates. They were five musicians who played together with such sensitivity that these challenging ideas and concepts were mastered and translated into interesting and fascinating music.

Here is a link to the June 7, 1967 recording of “Nefertiti” by the Miles Davis Quintet:

"NEFERTITI"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 6th

Jamaican pianist Monty Alexander was born in Kingston on June 6, 1944 (D-Day!). At an early age his parents noticed that he had a real knack for picking out melodies on the piano and Monty was taking piano lessons at the age of 6. His interest in jazz began in his early teens.

When he was 17 his family moved from Kingston to Miami and soon after Monty was playing in clubs. He was heard one night by Frank Sinatra who got him a gig as the house pianist at Jilly’s in New York City. While there he befriended bassist Ray Brown, vibraphonist Milt Jackson and trumpeter Miles Davis. Alexander recorded his first album as a leader in 1964 and has released nearly 70 more since then.  He has also played as a sideman on dozens more including appearing on records with Tony Bennett, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, Clark Terry and Ernestine Anderson. In the 1970s he fronted a trio featuring himself on piano, John Clayton on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums that recorded one of Alexander’s best records live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1976.

Alexander’s style is clearly influenced by Oscar Peterson and he has often played with other musicians associated with the Canadian pianist. Beginning in the mid-1970s Monty Alexander began to feature more Caribbean musicians in his performances and recordings, and fronted his own reggae band in the 1990s. Alexander’s live performances are always exciting and he continues to tour today.

Here is a link to “Satin Doll” from the 1976 live recording of the Monty Alexander Trio called “Montreux Alexander:”

"SATIN DOLL"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - June 5th

Trumpeter and percussionist Jerry Gonzalez was a major figure in the development of Latin jazz from the 1970s until his death in 2018.  Gonzalez was of Puerto Rican descent and was born in New York City on June 5, 1949, 73 years ago today.

Jerry Gonzalez started playing in Afro-Cuban bands alongside his brother while still in his teens. He studied at New