Today in Jazz History

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 20th

In the spring of 1970 Antonio Carlos Jobim was in Rudy Van Gelder’s Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey studio hard at work on his sixth studio album. The title track from that record, “Stone Flower,” was recorded today 52 years ago today.

Jobim was born in Rio de Janeiro in January, 1927 and lived near Ipanema Beach as a child. As a young man he made a living as a nightclub pianist and also worked as an arranger for Continental Records. In 1958 Joao Gilberto recorded Jobim’s composition “Desifinado,” and the bossa nova craze was set in motion. Jobim’s collaboration with saxophonist Stan Getz produced the hit album “Getz/Gilberto” which won the 1965 Grammy for Album of the Year (a rarity for a jazz record) and his song “The Girl From Ipanema” won Record of the Year at that same ceremony.

The record was produced by Creed Taylor, whose label, CTI Records, released the album in the summer of 1970. It primarily featured compositions by Jobim, and made use of the talents of many well-known musicians including Hubert Laws on flute, bassist Ron Carter, saxophonist Joe Farrell, Urbie Green playing trombone, guitarist and arranger Eumir Deodato and percussionist Airto.

During his career, Antonio Carlos “Tom” Jobim recorded 14 albums as a leader and collaborated on more than a dozen more. Many of his compositions have become jazz standards and Jobim has been cited by some critics as one of the more important jazz composers of the last half of the twentieth century. His music has been recorded by Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Sergio Mendes, and he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 2012. In 1999 Rio de Janeiro changed the name of Galeao International Airport to bear the musicians name.

Here is a link to the title track from Jobim’s 1970 album “Stone Flower:”

"STONE FLOWER"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 19th

On this date in 1939 the Count Basie Orchestra went into the studio and recorded the tune “Pound Cake.” Basie was a fine stride pianist who had been born in New Jersey and cut his teeth in New York City, but was by the late 1930s associated with Kansas City. He had played with Walter Page’s Blue Devils and the Benny Moten outfit before starting his own band using many Moten sidemen after Benny’s death in 1935.

In 1936 producer John Hammond heard the band on a radio broadcast and offered Basie the chance to expand the instrumentation of the group and got him a gig playing the Roseland Ballroom on West 52nd Street in New York. The band initially struggled and there were significant personnel changes, but they did make some hit records including “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” and “One O’Clock Jump.”

By 1939 the Count Basie Orchestra was hitting its stride, offering head arrangements with an emphasis on soloists and the blues. This stood in stark contrast with the complex compositions and arrangements featured by Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman. The foundation of that band was the “All-American Rhythm Section” consisting of guitarist Freddie Greene, bassist Walter Page, Jo Jones on drums and Basie at the piano. The band featured fine soloists like Buck Clayton, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Dickie Wells, Buddy Tate and Lester Young, while Jimmy Rushing and Helen Humes took care of the vocals.

“Pound Cake” is a “head arrangement” with no written music, often created on stage with a series of riffs, or short repeating melodic phrase, usually supporting soloists. The Columbia Records label on this disc credits Basie and Edison as composers of the tune, but the real star here is the tenor saxophonist Lester Young.

Here is a link to “Pound Cake:”

"POUND CAKE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 18th

Trombonist Kai Winding was born in Denmark on this date in 1922. His father was a naturalized U.S. citizen and moved his family to New York City in 1934. After serving in World War II, Winding played with Benny Goodman and was a featured soloist in the Stan Kenton Orchestra. He was also a part of the “Birth of the Cool” sessions that took place in 1949 and 1950. He played often as a sideman with be-bop greats like Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Tadd Dameron.

Kai Winding may be best known for his long association with fellow trombonist J.J. Johnson, with whom he made recorded 14 albums between 1953 and 1969. Some were duet sessions with a rhythm section, and some included as many as eight trombones. But, he also made 34 records as a leader, and collaborated a with a wide variety of other musicians including Sarah Vaughan, Quincy Jones, Tony Bennett, Gerry Mulligan and Chuck Mangione.

In the 1970s, Kai Winding toured extensively with “The Giants of Jazz,” and eventually settled into a semi-retirement in Spain. He did perform one last time with his long-time collaborator J.J. Johnson at the Aurez Jazz Festival in 1982, just the year before his death at the age of 60.

Here is a link to Kai Winding playing "Lover Man" live in 1971:

"LOVER MAN"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 17th

Saxophonist Jackie McLean grew up idolizing Charlie Parker and spoke about skipping school with friends to go hear “Bird” in New York City. Jackie’s father was a guitarist in the Tiny Bradshaw Orchestra, and in high school the younger McLean played in a band with Sonny Rollins. Young Jackie was good enough to get to sit in for his idol Parker.

McLean recorded with Miles Davis when only 20 years old, and shortly thereafter with Charles Mingus and as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. He made his first record as a leader in 1955.

His early records fell into the hard bop category, but McLean continued to explore new areas as his career progressed, playing with musicians as disparate as Freddie Hubbard, Ornette Coleman and Donald Byrd. In 1968 he began teaching at the University of Hartford and founded its African American Music Department, which now bears his name.

In 1979 director Ken Levis made a fascinating study of McLean titled “Jackie McLean on Mars.” McLean was elected to Downbeat Hall of Fame in 2006, the year of his death at the age of 74 after a long illness.

Here is a link to Jackie McLean playing with Woody Shaw, Cedar Walton and others at the 1986 Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival in Japan:

"COOL STRUTTIN'"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 16th

Saxophonist, clarinetist, vocalist and band leader Woodrow Charles “Woody” Herman was born on May 16, 1913 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Woody’s father got him into performing at an early age and he was singing and dancing in vaudeville shows before he picked up a clarinet at the age of 12.

At age 15, Woody was working as a vocalist and sideman with several ensembles, including those of Gus Arnheim and Isham Jones, before becoming a bandleader himself. When Jones retired in 1936, Herman took over the band and before long the Woody Herman group became known as “The Band that Plays the Blues.” Their first recording was “Wintertime Dream,” made in November of 1936, but the band’s first hit was “Woodchopper’s Ball” in 1939.

Starting around 1942 Herman began to change the kind of music his band was playing, becoming one the first large ensembles to embrace the new sounds of the growing be-bop revolution. He hired “Dizzy” Gillespie to write some arrangements for the group including “Woody’n You” and “Swing Shift.” This band became known as the first of Woody Herman’s Thundering Herds. After signing with Columbia Records in 1945, the band recorded hits like Louis Jordan’s “Caldonia,” and Igor Stravinsky wrote “Ebony Concerto” specifically for Herman and his band. They performed the Stravinsky piece at their March 1946 appearance at Carnegie Hall. 1946 was not a good year for big bands and along with many others, the Herman group disbanded in December of that year.

By 1947, though, Herman had formed the second herd, or the “Four Brothers Band,” with Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, Herbie Steward and Serge Chaloff (the four brothers) in the sax section. Always adapting to the jazz environment in which he found himself, in the 1950s Herman’s band began to perform hard bop tunes by composers like Horace Silver, and by the early 1960s they were playing Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk and Herbie Hancock. When the 1970s rolled around Woody Herman began performing on soprano saxophone almost exclusively, and his band was playing arrangements of Chick Corea’s “La Fiesta,” Eddie Harris’ “Freedom Jazz Dance,” and Coltrane’s “Giant Steps.”

Woody Herman led a big band almost continuously from 1936 until his death in 1987. During that time his bands “managed the difficult feat of maintaining a feeling of continuity…while allowing a gradual stylistic evolution to take place over the decades.”

For the purposes of comparison, here are links to two recordings of the Woody Herman Orchestra. The first is their first hit record, “Woodchoppers Ball” from 1939:

"WOODCHOPPER'S BALL"

And the second link is to the Thundering Herd’s 1973 recording of John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps:”

"GIANT STEPS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 15th

On May 15, 1953 “The Quintet” gave a concert at Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada. “The Quintet” consisted of “Dizzy” Gillespie on trumpet, Charlie “Bird” Parker playing alto saxophone, Bud Powell at the piano, bassist Charles Mingus and Max Roach on drums. The performance was recorded and released as “Jazz at Massey Hall” by Mingus’ Debut label later in that same year. It was the only time the five musicians recorded together, and it was the last time Bird and Dizzy were recorded together.

The concert was poorly attended as it conflicted with the “Jersey Joe“ Walcott/Rocky Marciano heavyweight title bout, and thus there were insufficient funds to pay the musicians. It is said that Gillespie kept leaving the stage while others were soloing so he could check on updates from the fight. Powell reportedly arrived drunk for the gig, and because he played a plastic alto sax in violation of certain contractual agreements Parker had, he was listed on the original issue of the record as ”Charlie Chan." Mingus over dubbed some of the bass parts with Roach on drums in the studio after the concert and before release of the record.

The event was billed by some as “the greatest jazz concert ever,” and the recordings have been re-released several times over the years, each time with additional material. The album was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1995, and is recognized by the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings as an “essential recording.”

Here is a link to three tunes recorded that night at Massey Hall from the original 10" LP:

"JAZZ AT MASSEY HALL"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 14th

Among New Orleans musicians of the early 20th Century, perhaps only Louis Armstrong demonstrated more virtuosity than did clarinetist and soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet, born on this date in 1897. Known for his wide vibrato and powerful sound, Bechet dominated any musical group in which he played.

Before leaving his hometown in 1914, Bechet played clarinet with luminaries Freddie Keppard, Bunk Johnson and “King” Oliver. By 1919 he was in New York performing with Will Marion Cook’s Southern Syncopated Orchestra and joined them on a European tour that included a five month run in London. It was around this time that Bechet bought his first soprano saxophone.

Bechet stayed on in London, but was arrested and deported to the United States in 1922. Upon his return he worked with “Duke” Ellington and pianists Willie “The Lion” Smith and James P. Johnson before returning to Europe in 1925 to play in the show Le Revue Negre with Josephine Baker in Paris. After another run-in, this time with the French authorities, Bechet was once again back in New York around 1930.

Sidney Bechet was an important part of the traditional jazz revival in the 1940s, playing with the likes of Eddie Condon and Muggsy Spanier. He spent the last decade of his life living in France and died there in 1959.

Here is a link to Sidney Bechet's 1939 recording of the Gershwin classic "Summertime" from "Porgy and Bess:"

"SUMMERTIME"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 13th

Ian Earnest Gilmore “Gil” Evans was a Canadian composer, arranger, conductor and pianist born in Toronto on this date in 1912.

Best known for his collaborations with Miles Davis, Evans first drew notice as an arranger for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra in the 1940s. By 1948 he was living in New York City in a basement apartment below a Chinese laundry where musicians interested in finding new musical paths would meet and play. Among the regulars were Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Gerry Mulligan. This collaboration resulted in a set of nonet arrangements that culminated in the “Birth of the Cool” recordings made in 1949 and 1950.

Miles Davis and Gil Evans later worked together to create three of the most loved albums in jazz: “Miles Ahead,” “Porgy and Bess,” and “Sketches of Spain.”
Later Evans began recording under his own name and regularly featured artists like Lee Konitz, “Cannonball” Adderley and Astrud Gilberto. A planned recording project that would feature Jimi Hendrix with a big band was shelved upon the guitarist’s untimely death, although Evans did release an album featuring arrangements of Hendrix tunes in 1974.

Gil Evans was an early adopter of electronic instruments in jazz and worked with Jaco Pastorius, John Abercrombie and Sting. Late in his career Evans led a big band that performed every Monday at the Sweet Basil Jazz Club in Greenwich Village. Evans is a member of the Downbeat Magazine Jazz Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. He died in 1988.

Here is a link to a 1959 performance featuring Gil Evans conducting his arrangements with Miles Davis as soloist:

"GIL EVANS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 12th

Gary Peacock was born in Idaho on this date in 1935. He played piano, trumpet and drums while in high school in Yakima, Washington, and studied piano at the Westlake School of Music in Los Angeles. But it was when he was playing keyboard in an army band in Germany that he began to develop an interest in the bass. When the bass player quit the band, he took over the chair and immediately knew it was the instrument for him.

In the 1960s Peacock was living in New York and collaborating with Paul Bley, and their playing was a major influence in developing the sound now associated with the ECM record label.

Gary Peacock also played with pianist Bill Evans, drummer Tony Williams and briefly replaced Ron Carter in the Miles Davis Quintet. After studying Zen in Japan and biology at the University of Washington in Seattle, he became a longtime member of Jack DeJohnette’s Standard’s Trio and recorded 22 albums with pianist Keith Jarrett.

Peacock passed away in September of 2020 at the age of 85.

Here is a link to a 1993 performance of the Standards Trio in Tokyo with Keith Jarret, Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock:

"I FALL IN LOVE TOO EASILY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 11th

Joe Oliver was born in Louisiana on this date in 1885. Oliver was a trombonist in his early years but switched to cornet as a teenager. By the turn of the 20th Century he was playing with various musical organizations in New Orleans, including “Kid” Ory’s band. By 1914, now leading his own ensemble, Joe “King” Oliver was the toast of the town, and mentor to a young cornet player named Louis Armstrong.

By 1922 King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band was headlining at the Lincoln Gardens on the south side of Chicago when Oliver sent for his protégé Armstrong to join the band. The following year Oliver’s outfit made some of the most memorable sides in jazz history. Records like “Chimes Blues” and “Dippermouth Blues” demonstrated a sophisticated collective improvisation previously unheard by most Americans. The complex interplay between the two cornet players is remarkable to this day.

Unfortunately, by 1924 many of the musicians in the Creole Jazz Band had moved on. Oliver led a band called The Dixie Syncopators for a few years later in the 20’s, but by 1929 his failing health and poor business decisions made him a mostly forgotten figure. By his death at the age of only 52 he had pawned his cornet and was working at a pool hall in Savannah, Georgia. Today, however, he is recognized for his significant contribution to the development of jazz.

Here is a link to the 1923 recording of "Dippermouth Blues" by Joe "King" Oliver's Creole Jazz Band:

"DIPPERMOUTH BLUES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 10th

Mel Lewis’ father was a professional drummer and Mel would follow in his footsteps. Mel was working full time by the time he was 15, and kept time for the Boyd Raeburn, Stan Kenton and Gerry Mulligan big bands. In 1962 he toured the Soviet Union with Benny Goodman. Beginning in 1966 Mel Lewis co-led a big band with trumpeter and cornetist Thad Jones that played Monday nights at the Village Vanguard in New York City. The band, made up of studio musicians, specialized in compositions and arrangements by Jones, but when Jones moved to Europe in 1978 Lewis kept the band together for until his death twelve years later.
Lewis is probably best known as a big band drummer, but he also participated in countless small group recording dates with musicians Chet Baker, Eric Dolphy, Stan Getz and bluesman Jimmy Witherspoon.

Here is a link to Lewis playing in a small group setting for Swiss television. The excerpt begins with a drum solo by Mel, followed by a harmonica solo by Toots Thielemans, Horst Jankowski on piano, Pierre Cavalli playing guitar, and Mats Vinding on bass. The tune is the Neal Hefti tune "Cute:"

"CUTE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 9th

The first recording of the Billie Holiday/Arthur Herzog, Jr. song "God Bless the Child" was made on May 9, 1941. This recording, the first of three Holiday would make of her song during her life, was made at CBS Studios on 7th Avenue in New York City. Vocalist Billie Holiday was accompanied by Eddie Heywood and his Orchestra, featuring Roy Eldridge on trumpet. She would later record the song in 1950 for Decca Records, and in 1956 for Verve.

One of Holiday's best-known tunes, Billie recounted the story of its inception in her autobiography "Lady Sings the Blues." She said that the phrase "God bless the child that's got his own" was one she used while having an argument with her mother about money. She later collaborated with songwriter Arthur Herzog, Jr. to complete the composition.

Many musicians considered "God Bless the Child" to be Holiday's signature song, and therefore shied away from recording it during her lifetime. In the ensuing years, however, there have been numerous interpretations released by artists like Harry Belafonte, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Eric Dolphy, Eddie Harris, Sam Cooke and Blood, Sweat and Tears. Sonny Rollins included the tune on his album "The Bridge," and Diana Ross sang the song in the 1972 film "Lady Sings the Blues."

Here is a link to the original 1941 Billie Holiday recording of "God Bless the Child," which was released by Okeh Records in 1942:

"GOD BLESS THE CHILD"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 8th

Pianist, composer, arranger and music educator Mary Lou Williams was born on this date in 1910. Although she was born in Atlanta, Georgia, she spent most of her youth living in Pittsburgh where she initially learned to play the piano by ear. By the age of 13 she was performing at carnivals and in vaudeville shows. She married at 16 and moved with her husband, also a musician, to Memphis where she made her first recordings with his group called the Synco Jazzers. When he left to take a job playing in what would become Andy Kirk and his Twelve Clouds of Joy, a popular territory band based out of Kansas City, she hired Jimmie Lunceford to take her husband's place and ran the band herself. By 1929 she was in Kansas City, too, and soon thereafter was playing piano and writing arrangements for the Andy Kirk band.

Mary Lou Williams stayed with the Kirk ensemble until 1942, but during much of that time she was composing and writing arrangements for other groups including Benny Goodman's Orchestra, for whom she composed the tune "Roll 'Em" among others. After leaving Kirk, Williams formed her own group that included Art Blakey on drums. In the early 1940s she moved to New York City and was hired as a staff arranger for the Duke Ellington Orchestra. In 1945 Mary Lou performed her piece "Zodiac Suite" with the New York Philharmonic at Town Hall. Always innovative and forward-looking in her music outlook and composing style, her friendships with Bud Powell, Tadd Dameron and Thelonious Monk made her influential in the bebop movement in the 1940s.

During the 1950s Williams lived in Europe briefly and then retired from the music business completely for a few years. But, after an appearance with the Dizzy Gillespie group at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival, she began writing and performing regularly again. Later in her career she played at the Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall anniversary concert in 1978 and played a solo recital at the Montreux Jazz Festival the following year. Important as a jazz educator, Mary Lou Williams was artist in residence at Duke University from 1977 until shortly before her death in 1981.

In 2015 director Carol Bash released a documentary about the life and music of Mary Lou Williams called "The Lady That Swings the Band," featuring interviews with musicians like Geri Allen and Teri Lyne Carrington and writer Stanley Crouch.

Here is a link to Mary Lou Williams playing "The History of Jazz According to Mary Lou," a live recording from 1977:

"THE HISTORY OF JAZZ ACCORDING TO MARY LOU"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 7th

One of the great ballads to come out of the be-bop era, this is “If You Could See Me Now,” composed by pianist Tadd Dameron, and sung by the great Sarah Vaughan. It was recorded 76 years ago today on May 5, 1946. Dameron and Sarah Vaughan collaborated regularly, and he wrote this song for her to sing.

Vaughan had only been working as a solo artist for about a year when this record was made. She had previously worked with the Earl Hines and Billy Eckstein bands after having won an amateur night contest at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

Sarah Vaughan was blessed with an extensive vocal range and had an impeccable musical ear. Nicknamed “Sassie,” she went on to become recognized as one of the seminal vocalists in jazz over a career that spanned nearly half a century. Her final recording was as a guest on Quincy Jones’ 1989 “Back on the Block” album.

Here is a link to that 1946 Sarah Vaughan recording:

"IF YOU COULD SEE ME NOW"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 6th

98 years ago today a band called the Wolverines from Cincinnati, Ohio walked into the Gennett Records recording studio in Richmond, Indiana and made jazz history. Many greats of the 1920’s recorded for Gennett, including “Jelly Roll” Morton, “Blind Lemon” Jefferson and “King” Oliver’s band featuring Louis Armstrong. But, that day the Wolverines, a band that had been together for less than a year, would record Hoagy Carmichael’s first composition, “Riverboat Shuffle,” and it would feature a young cornet player from Iowa named Leon Bismarck “Bix” Beiderbecke, making his first record. The song would go on to become a traditional jazz standard, and Beiderbecke to become a legendary performer.

Carmichael went on to write some of the best known American popular songs of the era, including “Heart and Soul,” “Georgia on my Mind” and “Stardust,” and appear in several Hollywood movies, including as the piano player Cricket in “To Have and Have Not.”

Beiderbecke would live a short and troubled life, but he is recognized as the first important white soloist in jazz, and his improvised solo on 1927’s “Singin’ the Blues,” recorded with Frankie Trumbauer inspired players like Jimmy McPartland, Rex Stewart and Bobby Hackett. The book and movie “Young Man with a Horn” are loosely based on Beiderbecke’s life.

Here is a link to the recording of "Riverboat Shuffle" the Wolverines recorded that day in 1924:

"RIVERBOAT SHUFFLE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 5th

Today marks the 62nd anniversary of the recording of the song “Giant Steps” by saxophonist John Coltrane. “Giant Steps” is the title track on Coltrane’s fifth studio album. The record, featuring Coltrane on tenor sax, Tommy Flannigan on piano, Paul Chambers playing bass and Art Taylor at the drums, although recorded in 1959, was not released by Atlantic Records until the next year.

Jazz critic Nat Hentoff quoted Coltrane on the album’s liner notes as saying the name “Giant Steps” came from the fact that “the bass line is a kind of loping one” that moves in a kind of “lop-sided pattern.”

Over the six decades since its release, the tune has become a jazz standard that presents an improvisational challenge to musicians everywhere due to its rapid tempo and technically demanding chord pattern. The song is constantly changing keys – as in every two beats.

Here's a link to "Giant Steps:"

"GIANT STEPS"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 4th

Bassist Ron Carter was born on this date in 1937 near Detroit, Michigan. A multi-instrumentalist, Carter started on cello at age 10, and switched to string bass while a student at Cass Technical High School. After graduation he studied at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he earned a bachelor's degree in music. He later got a master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. Carter played and recorded with the Rochester Philharmonia Orchestra while at Eastman, and his first jazz gig was with Chico Hamilton in 1959. As a freelance artist Carter performed and recorded with the likes of Eric Dolphy, Cannonball Adderley, Randy Weston, Jaki Byard and Bobby Timmons in the early 1960s.

Ron Carter's big break came in 1963 when he was asked to join the Miles Davis Quintet that also featured Herbie Hancock at the piano, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and a teenaged Tony Williams on drums. Many experts consider this one of the greatest time-playing rhythm sections of all time. They often took "outrageous liberties with the pulse without ever losing the beat, with a freedom bordering on, but never disintegrating into, total abstraction." The Miles Davis Quintet of the mid-1960s was one of the most influential ensembles in the entire history of jazz. Carter left Davis' employ in 1968.

After time playing with George Benson and Lena Horne and recording with CTI Records, Ron reunited in 1977 with Hancock, Shorter and Williams in the all-star group VSOP that also included Freddie Hubbard on trumpet. In the years since, he has also played with jazz greats like Wynton Marsalis, McCoy Tyner and Sonny Rollins. Carter remains in demand as a session bassist having appeared on more than 500 albums. He also continues to be active in music education having both private students and associations with academic institutions.

Here is a link to a recent Ron Carter performance as part of the NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series:

RON CARTER TINY DESK (HOME) CONCERT

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 3rd

Pianist and composer John Lewis was born in LaGrange, Illinois on this date 102 years ago, although he really grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he began piano lessons at the age of 7. Lewis double-majored in Music and Anthropology at the University of New Mexico. and served in the army during World War II. It was there that he met drummer Kenny Clarke who, after the war, convinced Dizzy Gillespie to hire Lewis for his band. Although best known for his work with the Modern Jazz Quartet, John Lewis also played with Charlie Parker, Lester Young, and recorded and arranged music for Miles Davis’ seminal 1949 “Birth of the Cool” album.

The Modern Jazz Quartet was originally made up of members of that Dizzy Gillespie band rhythm section, but by 1955 until they disbanded in 1974 the personnel were Lewis on piano, Percy Heath bass, Connie Kay on drums and Milt Jackson played the vibes. The MJQ made a point of presenting jazz as serious music, often performing in tuxedos and in formal concert halls instead of nightclubs. John Lewis was the group’s leader and wrote much of their music.

During his career Lewis also composed music for several movies and television projects, taught at City College of New York, led the faculty at the Lenox School of Jazz and was the director of the Monterey Jazz Festival in California from 1958 until 1983. Lewis died in 2001.

One of his best-known compositions is “Django,” recorded by the MJQ in 1954 and dedicated to jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. Here’s a link to that performance:

"DJANGO"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 2nd

Richard “Groove” Holmes was born in Camden, New Jersey on this date in 1931. A self-taught organist, Holmes’ was discovered by Les McCann playing in Pittsburgh and was signed to record for Pacific Jazz in 1961. He gained national attention through the records he made with McCann, Ben Webster and Gene Ammons. Holmes also appeared with Gerald Wilson’s big band, but for most of his career worked in a trio setting with guitar and drums. He also frequently recorded with tenor saxophonist Houston Pearson.

“Groove” Holmes had a large and loyal following with soul-jazz fans, and has been described as a “very accessible, straightforward and warm player…who could effortlessly move from the grittiest of blues to the most sentimental of ballads.” His playing has been credited in part for a resurgence in the popularity of the organ in jazz circles since the 1990s. Holmes died of a heart attack at age 60 in 1991 after battling prostate cancer for some time.

Perhaps his best-known and most popular performance was his 1965 recording of the Erroll Garner tune “Misty.” Here is a link to that record on the Prestige label:

"MISTY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - May 1st

Today is May Day, the first day of May, and it's also the birthday of vocalist and pianist Shirley Horn, born on this date in 1934. A native of Washington, D.C., Shirley began piano lessons at the age of 4. She earned a degree in classical music performance at Howard University and was offered a place at the Julliard School, but her family could not afford to have her attend.

Influenced by the work of Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson, Horn formed her first piano trio in 1954. She was heard by a representative of Stere-O- Craft records playing at a club in D.C. and was signed by the label. Her first recording was "Embers and Ashes," released in 1960. It received public praise from Miles Davis who invited Shirley to play between his sets at the Village Vanguard. In 1962 Quincy Jones signed Horn to Mercury records where she sang on two pop-oriented albums and did not play piano. She recorded another album for ABC/Paramount Records in 1965 and then went into semi-retirement for more than a decade.

In 1978, a Danish record label found Horn and asked her to make records for them. She agreed and produced four albums for Steeplechase, including two live albums recorded at the North Sea Jazz Festival. Shirley began to tour Europe and North America regularly for the rest of her life, recording often. Miles Davis appeared on one of her albums in the early 1990s. Some jazz critics have compared Horn's piano style with that of Bill Evans, and her intimate vocal stylings were quite influential.

Shirley Horn received a Grammy for "Best Jazz Vocal Performance" for her record "I Remember Miles," and was nominated a total of nine times. In 2002 she received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Berklee College of Music, and was awarded the National Endowment of the Arts "Jazz Masters Award" in 2005. Shirley Horn passed away from complications arising from diabetes on October 20, 2005.

Here is a link to live performance of "Once I Loved" by Horn and others at an All-Star Tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim:

"ONCE I LOVED"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - April 30th

In November 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially designated April 30 as International Jazz Day in order to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe. International Jazz Day is chaired and led by UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay and legendary jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock, who serves as a UNESCO Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue and Chairman of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz. The Institute is the nonprofit charged with planning, promoting and producing this annual celebration.

International Jazz Day brings together communities, schools, artists, historians, academics, and jazz enthusiasts all over the world to celebrate and learn about jazz and its roots, future and impact; raise awareness of the need for intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding; and reinforce international cooperation and communication. Each year on April 30, this international art form is recognized for promoting peace, dialogue among cultures, diversity, and respect for human rights and human dignity; eradicating discrimination; fostering gender equality; and promoting freedom of expression.

International Jazz Day is the culmination of Jazz Appreciation Month, which draws public attention to jazz and its extraordinary heritage throughout April. In December 2012, the United Nations General Assembly formally welcomed the decision by the UNESCO General Conference to proclaim April 30 as International Jazz Day. The United Nations and UNESCO now both recognize International Jazz Day on their official calendars.

Here is a link to follow for more information:

"INTERNATIONAL JAZZ DAY"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - April 29th

One of America's greatest composers and an icon in the jazz world was born on April 29, 1899. Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was born to Edward, Sr. and Daisy Ellington of Washington, D.C., who had young Edward taking piano lessons at the age of 7. By his teens he was more interested in baseball than music, but was fascinated by the pianists he heard playing ragtime in Frank Holiday's Poolroom. Those pianists inspired young Duke to take the piano more seriously. His music teacher at Dunbar High School gave him lessons in theory and harmony, and in 1914, while working as a soda jerk, Ellington composed his first piece "Soda Fountain Rag."

By 1917 Ellington put together a small group called "The Duke's Serenaders" who played for dances, balls and private parties around Washington. In 1919 Sonny Greer, one of Ellington's longtime collaborators, joined the group on drums. When Greer was offered a gig playing in New York City with Wilber Sweatman's ensemble, Duke moved there, too. Living in Harlem in the 1920s, Ellington was very much a part of the artistic explosion that was the Harlen Renaissance. In 1923 his group, now known as "The Washingtonians," was hired to be the house band at the Hollywood Club on West 49th Street just off Broadway. They made their first recordings in 1924, and in 1925, after closing for repairs due to a fire, the club reopened as the Club Kentucky and the house band's new name was "Duke Ellington and his Kentucky Club Orchestra."

In 1927, after "KIng" Oliver had turned down the same offer, Ellington and his band were asked to become the house band at Harlem's prestigious Cotton Club. The club's clientele was exclusively white and well-to-do, and a night at the Cotton Club with Duke and the band providing the music for floor shows as well as playing their own tunes, became the thing to do. Ellington's Cotton Club Orchestra also appeared on the weekly radio broadcast from the club. In 1929 the band appeared on Broadway, and Ellington appeared on film for the first time in the RKO movie "Black and Tan."

Ellington's band ended their stay at the Cotton Club in 1931 and spent the better part of the next 40 years touring the world and playing such masterpieces as "Mood Indigo," "It Don't Mean a Thing," "Cottontail," "Sophisticated Lady" and "Take the A Train" which was composed by close collaborator Billy Strayhorn. Great musicians like Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Ben Webster, Juan Tizol, Cootie Williams, Lawrence Brown and Rex Stewart graced his bandstand, and Ellington knew how to write for each of them.

Musical tastes began to change in America after the end of World War II and it became more difficult for the Ellington band to find consistent work. This was true for all of the big bands that had dominated the music scene in the 1930s and during the war. However, The Ellington Orchestra's appearance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival and the live recording that was made of that performance re-energized the group and their popularity grew again. The group continued to tour until Duke Ellington's death in May of 1974 at the age of 75. Ellington was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 and received a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 1999.

It is impossible to discuss the entirety of Ellington's life, career and influence in so short a piece, but suffice it to say that many in the music world consider him America's greatest composer. Ellington's innovative compositions and his sense of style made him one of the great ambassadors of jazz, famous throughout the world.

Here is a link to the 1941 short subject "Hot Chocolate" with Arthur White's Lindy Hoppers and Jitterbugs dancing and the Ellington Orchestra playing "Cottontail" featuring tenor saxophonist Ben Webster:

"COTTONTAIL"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - April 28th

One of the most influential men in the development of Latin Jazz was born on this date in 1911 in Havana, Cuba. Mario Bauza was a child prodigy on the clarinet and was featured as a soloist with the Havana Symphony at age 11. While still in his teens, Bauza travelled to New York City as a member of a touring orchestra and became enamored of the Harlem jazz scene of the 1920s. After the orchestra returned to Cuba, Bauza declared his goal in life was to become a New York jazz musician and began learning the alto saxophone. Oddly enough, however, his chance to go back to America and came when a Cuban vocalist offered him a chance to record there with him, but Mario would need to learn to play the trumpet. Bauza got a trumpet and, after practicing for only two weeks, could handle the parts for the recording session and was hired. Now he decided to focus all of his musical energy on the trumpet and before long was playing lead for the Chick Webb Orchestra and, not long after that, was acting as musical director for the band. Legend has it that Bauza was the one who introduced Ella Fitzgerald to Webb.

By 1938, Bauza was playing with Cab Calloway and convinced Calloway to hire Dizzy Gillespie for the trumpet section. The next year Mario became co-founder and musical director for Machito and his Afro-Cubans. This band played Latin style dance music like the mambo, but also performed straight-ahead big band jazz at venues like the Palladium Ballroom in New York. Bauza hired a little known timbalero named Tito Puente for the group in 1942. Recording their first sides in 1941 for Decca Records, in 1943 the group recorded perhaps their most famous tune "Tanga." Bauza remained the musical director for the orchestra for more than thirty years until 1976.

After his retirement from the Afro-Cubans in the mid-1970s, Bauza seemed to slip into obscurity, but thanks to some tribute concerts his career was revived in later life and he went on to record additional music in the 1980s and received two Grammy nominations, a tribute concert on the occasion of his 80th birthday featuring Dizzy Gillespie and Celia Cruz, and an appearance by his band on the Cosby Show in the early 1990s.

Mario Bauza's contributions to the development of Latin jazz are immeasurable, as are the contributions to the music world by some of the people he discovered and promoted. Bauza passed away on July 11, 1993.

Here is a link to a Machito recording of "Tanga," considered by many to be the first authentic Latin jazz song:

"TANGA"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - April 27th

Today is the birthday of drummer Connie Kay. He was born Conrad Henry Kirnon on April 27, 1927. Best known for his time as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet, Kay a self-taught drummer, was playing gigs in Los Angeles by the time he was in his late teens. Even though he made scores of records during his lifetime he never recorded as a session leader, but always as a sideman.

Perhaps Connie Kay's first appearance on vinyl was as part of the rhythm section at a jam session in 1947 featuring the saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray. Kay continued to play and record with important jazz figures such as Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. In the early 1950s he took part in recording sessions at Atlantic Records backing artists like Big Joe Turner and Ruth Brown.

The Modern Jazz Quartet was founded in 1952 and originally included vibraphonist Milt Jackson, pianist John Lewis, Percy Heath on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums. When Clarke moved to Europe in 1955 Kay was asked to join the group where he remained until they broke up in 1974. The group incorporated their jazz with elements of blues, bebop and classical music, often performing in tuxedos and preferring the concert hall to playing in jazz clubs.

During his time with the MJQ, Kay continued to record with other artists like Paul Desmond, Stan Getz and appeared on three albums with Van Morrison. Kay also appeared with the Benny Goodman Orchestra at the 40th anniversary of the that band's Carnegie Hall concert of 1938. In 1989 Connie Kay received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Kay suffered a stroke in 1992 but was able to recover sufficiently to resume performing. However, he passed away after suffering a heart attack in New York City just two years later at the age of 67.

Here is a link to a 1961 performance by the Modern Jazz Quartet in Belgium. They're playing "Bag's Groove," a blues composed by vibraphonist Milt Jackson:

"BAG'S GROOVE"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - April 26th

Known as the “Mother of the Blues,” Gertrude “Ma” Rainey was born on this date in 1886 in Columbus, Georgia. She was the first popular female blues singer and had a great deal of influence on those who followed, including her friend Bessie Smith.

Rainey’s first known public performance was at a talent show in her home town when she was 14 years old. She married at 18 and toured with traveling minstrel and vaudeville shows for most of the first two decades of the twentieth century. She and her husband often performed as a duo billed as “Rainey and Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues.” Their act was not just music, but included comedic and dramatic routines, too. In 1917, after their marriage ended, “Ma” Rainey continued to tour and perform with her own company called “Madame Gertrude Rainey and her Georgia Smart Sets.”

“Ma” Rainey signed a contract with Paramount Records in 1923 and made almost 100 records for them over the next five years. These recordings included collaborations with many musicians including fellow Georgian Thomas Dorsey, guitarist Tampa Red, and trumpeter Louis Armstrong. As the 1920s came to a close and the Great Depression took hold of America, Rainey’s music was being replaced in popularity by new forms of jazz and, although she continued to tour the southern United States for several years, her audience was growing smaller. In 1935, “Ma” Rainey retired to manage theaters in Rome and Columbus, Georgia until her death from heart failure in 1939.

There is no doubt of the influence “Ma” Rainey had in the music world as both an entertainer and as a businesswoman. Her legacy lives on in the blues singers that have followed in her footsteps for the next century.

Here is a link to one of "Ma" Rainey's most famous recordings:

"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - April 25th

The “First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald was born on this date in 1917 in Newport news, Virginia. Soon after her birth, Ella’s parents separated and she moved with her mother to Yonkers, New York. Although her childhood was a difficult one, she developed a love of singing and dancing and, at age 17, entered and won an amateur night contest at the Apollo Theater in Harlem with her rendition of “Judy.” Her prize was a week-long engagement at the theater, during which she impressed saxophonist Benny Carter, who helped her in the early years of her career.

In 1935, while performing at the Harlem Opera House, Bardu Ali, the master of ceremonies for several New York area bands, heard Ella and persuaded Chick Webb to give her an audition. He did and hired her as his new “girl singer.” The Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb collaboration soon began to gain notoriety and popularity with their catchy tunes that enjoyed widespread popularity among the general public across the country, not just Black audiences in New York City. Their most popular record was “A -Tisket, A-Tasket” released on Decca Records in 1938. Fitzgerald sang the song in the 1942 Abbot and Costello movie “Ride ‘Em Cowboy.”

After Webb’s death in 1939, Ella became leader of the band that performed under the names “Ella Fitzgerald’s Orchestra” and “Ella Fitzgerald and her Famous Band,” becoming perhaps the first woman to front an all-male band. By 1942, she had tired of leading a full orchestra and concentrated on working with small groups like The Three Keys and the Ink Spots. In 1946 Fitzgerald recorded with Louis Armstrong and Louis Jordan and she began to be regarded as a major star. Be-bop musicians appreciated her impeccable intonation and creative “scat singing” abilities. During the 1950s and 1960s Fitzgerald appeared regularly on television, in a handful of movies and toured extensively. She was the commercial spokesperson for Memorex audio tapes and continued to tour regularly until her health began to fail in the mid-1980s. In 1986 she underwent heart surgery and was diagnosed with diabetes. Ella Fitzgerald passed away on June 15, 1996 in Beverly Hills, California.

Here is a video clip of Ella Fitzgerald singing "A-Tisket, A'Tasket" on the way to the Lazy S Ranch from the film "Ride 'Em Cowboy:"

"A-Tisket, A-Tasket"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - April 24th

Tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin was born on this date in 1928. A native to Chicago, Griffin played alto saxophone in high school and sometimes played gigs with T-Bone Walker while he was still in school. Three days after graduation high school, Lionel Hampton hired Johnny to play in his big band. Hampton encouraged him to switch to tenor sax, and Griffin appeared on his first recording while with the Hampton band at the age of 17.

Returning from a two-year stint in the army in 1951, Griffin returned to Chicago and played small group gigs while honing his craft and drawing a good deal of critical acclaim. He was signed by Blue Note Records and began a long career recording as a leader that yielded no less than 59 albums between 1956 and 2002. On many of those records, Griffin is listed as co-leader with his frequent collaborator and fellow tenor player Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis.

Griffin also recorded extensively as a side man with the likes of Wes Montgomery, Chet Baker, Nat Adderley, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. In addition, he was a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1957 and played regularly with the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band after he moved to France in 1963. Johnny subsequently moved to the Netherlands in 1978, the same year he played a gig with fellow expatriate Dexter Gordon in the United States for the first time in many years. During the late 1970s, Griffin played with an all-star big band in Europe that featured many American musicians that had moved to Europe.

Johnny Griffin played his last gig in France at the age of 80 just four days before dying from a heart attack in 2008.

Here is a link to a video of one of Griffin’s groups playing live on Italian television:

"Blues for Harvey"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - April 23rd

New Orleans clarinetist Jimmie Noone was born on this day in 1895. He was considered one of the elite clarinet players in early jazz along with Johnny Dodds and Sidney Bechet (who later switched almost exclusively to the soprano saxophone). In contrast to those two, Noone's playing was considered "smoother" and "more romantic," and his playing became an influence for many players of the swing era. Maurice Ravel also indicated that his famous piece "Bolero" was in large part based on a Jimmy Noone solo.

Born on a farm near Cut Off, Louisiana, Noone's family moved to New Orleans in 1910. As a teenager Noone studied with Lorenzo Tio, Jr., a legendary music teacher in the early twentieth century New Orleans. Eventually Noone got a regular gig playing with Freddie Keppard in the famous Olympia Band, and in 1917 moved to Chicago to play in the Original Creole Orchestra led by Keppard. That group broke up in 1918 and Noone became a member of King Oliver's band, where he played for two years. His next musical employer was "Doc" Cook and his Dreamland Orchestra, with whom he played for six years before starting his own group.

In 1927 Noone fronted his own group for the first time at the Apex Club in Chicago. He hired pianist Earl Hines for his group and recorded on the Brunswick label beginning in 1928. His record "Four or Five Times" was a best seller. During his time fronting Jimmie Noone's Apex Club Orchestra a young Benny Goodman was often in the audience.

During the 1930s Noone worked steadily and even tried fronting a big band featuring vocalist Joe Williams for a short time, but soon returned to his small ensemble roots. In the 1940s he moved to California and played with trombonist "Kid" Ory's popular New Orleans style revival band , making several appearances on Orson Welles' radio program. Noone signed a contract with Capitol Records in 1944, but died suddenly and unexpectedly from a heart attack in April of that year. That August a memorial concert sponsored by the Musician's Congress was organized to benefit Noone's family.

Jimmie Noone is remembered as a talented musician that performed with and led popular jazz groups throughout his lifetime, and an important influence on a younger generation of jazz artists.

Here is a link to Noone's Apex Club Orchestra's 1928 recording of "Four or Five Times" with Noone on clarinet and Earl Hines at the piano:

"FOUR or FIVE TIMES"

TODAY IN JAZZ HISTORY - April 22nd

Today is the 100th anniversary of Charles Mingus’ birth. Mingus was born in Nogales, Arizona and raised in the Watts district of Los Angeles. In his youth he played the trombone and was an excellent cellist, but knowing that the chances of employment in the classical music field for an African-American in 1930s America were slim, he began to play the string bass in high school and focus on jazz.

Mingus studied bass with Red Callender, and played with Lionel Hampton and Louis Armstrong while in his 20s. In the early 1950s Mingus played briefly in the orchestra led by one of his idols, Duke Ellington, but Charles’ well-documented short temper got the better of him one night when he got into a fight with trombonist Juan Tizol. Ellington fired him. Mingus also took advantage of chances to play with another of his musical idols, Charlie Parker, before becoming a bandleader himself. In fact, he was the bass player on Parker's last performance before his death in 1955. Mingus was the driving force behind the Jazz Workshop, a group of New York musicians who played his compositions and, in some ways, anticipated the development of the free jazz movement of the 1960s.

The 1960s were an extremely productive period for Charles Mingus. During that decade he recorded more than 30 albums, started his own record label with Max Roach, and continued to compose. His compositions included elements of gospel music, blues, collective improvisation and classical music. His compositions reflected the times in which he lived and the struggles of being Black in America. He was uncompromising in his music, and was well known for his confrontations with fellow musicians and sometimes his audiences.

Charles Mingus' playing career was cut short when he developed ALS in the 1970s, although he continued to compose and produce. He died in Mexico on January 5, 1979 and his ashes were scattered in the Ganges River.

Here is a link to one of his best-known albums ("Ah Um," Columbia Records, 1959) that includes several signature compositions including "Better Git It In Your Soul," "Boogie Stop Shuffle" and "Goodbye Porkpie Hat," his tribute to Lester Young:

AH UM