Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Philip William Seamen was born on August 28, 1926 in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. He began playing drums at the age of six, turning professional at the age of 18 by joining Nat Gonella and his Georgians in 1944. At 20 he spent a year with Gordon Homer Big Band at the Coronation Ballroom in Ramsgate. He joined the Tommy Sampson Orchestra in 1948 and by 1949, Seamen and tenor saxophonist Danny Moss formed a bebop quintet from within the ranks and was featured on a radio broadcast by the orchestra.

He then went on to play in the Joe Loss Orchestra for about 14 months before taking the top job with Jack Parnell from 1951 until midway 1954. Seamen, being much sought after during the 1950 played in Kenny Graham’s Afro-Cubists projects from 1952 to 1958, from 1954 onwards with the Joe Harriott Quartet, the Ronnie Scott Orchestra and Sextet. He was recruited opn countless sessions as well to perform with Dizzy Reece, Victor Feldman, Jimmy Deuchar, Kenny Baker, Vic Ash, Don Rendell, Stan Tracey, Laurie Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy and Josh White, to name a few.

In 1957 Phil was on his way to America with the Ronnie Scott Sextet as part of a Musicians’ Union exchange tour deal. Unfortunately the Southhampton custom officers found him in  possession of drugs, killing his lifelong dream of visiting the States. In 1958, the West End production of West Side Story opened with him after Leonard Bernstein reputedly specifically asked for him, so the producers hired him.

During the first half of the 1960s, he worked often with Tubby Hayes, Joe Harriott, played a couple of nights with Dexter Gordon at Ronnie Scott’s, and recorded with Carmen McRae. In 1964 he played R&B with Alexis Korner and Georgie Fame.

He started teaching in 1962, one of his pupils being Ginger Baker, who went on to influence a whole generation of rock drummers. However, his addiction to alcohol, heroin and other drugs hampered his health and career as many bandleaders refused to hire him with the exception of Freddie Hubbard in 1964 and Roland Kirk in 1967 with a UK tour.  On October 13, 1972 drummer Phil Seaman transitioned in his sleep at his home in Old Paradise Street Lambeth, South London, at the age of 46.

Bestow upon an inquiring mind a dose of a Burton upon Trent drummer to motivate the perusal of the genius of jazz musicians worldwide whose gifts contribute to the canon…

SUITE TABU 200

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Lyman Woodard was born on March 3, 1942 in Owosso, Michigan. He started his musical career with a trio with drummer Melvin Davis and guitarist Dennis Coffey. They recorded the album Hair And Thangs that was released under Coffey’s name, however a single with It’s Your Thing and River Rouge was released under the name of Dennis Coffey and the Lyman Woodard Trio.

From the late 1960s, Woodard recorded with Motown acts, and served as musical director for Martha and the Vandellas. Establishing the jazz~funk band, the Lyman Woodard Organization in 1975 recorded Saturday Night Special, and in 1979, he recorded Don’t Stop The Groove, for the Corridor label. His 1987 recording, Dedicacion, featured violinist Regina Carter.

In March 2009, Wax Poetics Records reissued a limited pressing of his Saturday Night Special as a double LP on 180-gram vinyl.

Organist Lyman Woodard, who was based in Detroit, Michigan and was known for his ability to fuse Latin and Afro~Cuban inspired rhythms, transitioned on February 25, 2009 in his hometown of Owosso.

CALIFORNIA JAZZ FOUNDATION

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Andy González was born in The Bronx, New York on January 1, 1951. He and his brother Jerry González were founding members of Conjunto Libre and Grupo Folklórico y Experímental Nuevayorquíno, with whom he produced three albums: Concepts in Unity (1975), Lo Dice Todo (1976), and Homenaje a Arsenio (2011).

The band included Frankie Rodríguez, Milton Cardona, Gene Golden, Carlos Mestre, Nelson González, Manny Oquendo, Oscar Hernández, José Rodríguez, Néstor Torres, Gonzalo Fernández, Alfredo “Chocolate” Armenteros, Willy García, Heny Álvarez, Virgilio Martí, Marcelino Guerra, Rubén Blades, Orlando “Puntilla” Ríos, and Julito Collazo on the first two albums.

Over the course of his career, along with leading bands of his own, Andy worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Kip Hanrahan and Astor Piazzolla.

Double bassist Andy González, who performed primarily in the Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban idioms, transitioned on April 9, 2020 from pneumonia and complications of diabetes in the Bronx.

CONVERSATIONS

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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

Moods, also referred to as Moods Featuring Paul Quinichette is the 1954 debut album by saxophonist Paul Quinichette. It features compositions and arrangements by Quincy Jones and was released in 1955 on the EmArcy label. The tracks were recorded on two session dates, on November 4th (tracks 5–8) and 22nd (tracks 1–4) 1954 with two different line-ups at Fine Sound Studios in New York City.

The second session featured an Afro-Cuban combo with Herbie Mann on flute and also on tenor saxophone and Latin percussion instead of a drum set. The difference between the two sessions was preserved in splitting the album with the later recorded Latin jazz session on the LP’s A-side, the more straight ahead approach on the other.

Tracks | 40:40 All compositions by Quincy Jones except as indicated

  1. Tropical Intrigue ~ 3:04
  2. Grasshopper ~ 4:02
  3. Dilemma Diablo ~ 4:03
  4. I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me (Jimmy McHugh, Clarence Gaskill) ~ 6:44
  5. Plush Life ~ 7:48
  6. You’re Crying ~ 3:13
  7. Shorty Georgie (Harry Edison, Count Basie) ~ 6:33
  8. Pablo’s Roonie ~ 4:53
Musicians Quincy Jones – arranger for all tracks Tracks 1–4 (Side A of original LP)
  • Paul Quinichette – tenor saxophone
  • Herbie Mann – flute, tenor saxophone
  • Jimmy Jones – piano
  • Al Hall – bass
  • Tommy Lopez – congas
  • Manny Oquendo – bongos
  • Willie Rodriguez – timbales
Tracks 5–8 (Side B of original LP)
  • Paul Quinichette – tenor saxophone
  • Sam Most – flute
  • Sir Charles Thompson – piano
  • Jerome Darr, Barry Galbraith – guitar
  • Paul Chambers – bass
  • Harold Wing – drums

CALIFORNIA JAZZ FOUNDATION

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Alberto Socarrás Estacio was born in Manzanillo, Cuba on September 19, 1908 and started learning the flute at age seven with his mother and later joined the provincial music conservatory at Santiago de Cuba. He completed his studies at the Timothy Music Conservatory in New York, gaining the equivalent title to a doctorate in music. In the middle 1920s he moved to Havana to join the theatre orchestra of Arquimedes Pous, where his sister Estrella was playing the violin. He also played in one or two early Cuban jazz bands before moving to the United States in 1927.

Once stateside he recorded with Clarence Williams with his first flute solo taking place on Shooting the Pistol on the Paramount label, making him the earliest known jazz flute soloist. He played with The Blackbirds revue between 1928 and 1933, and played on Lizzie Miles’s 1928 recording You’re Such a Cruel Papa to Me.

During the Thirties he played with Benny Carter, led the all-female Cuban band Anacaona on a tour of Europe, played with Sam Wooding and Erskine Hawkins. He made one recording in 1935, with four numbers, then went on to record for RCA Victor, SMC Pro-Arte and Decca.

In the 1950s he took part in Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, concerts of cult music at the Carnegie Hall in New York, and in the 60s he dedicated himself to teaching.

Flautist Alberto Socarras,  who in 1983 was filmed by Gustavo Paredes playing the flute in a TV documentary Música, passed away on August 26, 1987 in  New York City.

GRIOTS GALLERY

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