Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Laurie Antonioli was born on March 9, 1958 in Marin County. California. At the age of sixteen she began playing guitar and performing primarily her own original music as well as that of the singer-songwriters of the era. In 1975 she won the American Songwriters Contest for high school students, studied jazz at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon and Cal State Long Beach. She took private lessons from Mark Murphy and Joe Henderson.
After graduation, Laurie continued composing and performing. In 1980 she toured Europe for eight months with New Orleans saxophonist Pony Poindexter. When he suffered a stroke, a record date in Paris with pianist Kenny Drew was canceled and they were unable to finish out their tour. Laurie brought Pony back to California where she lived and led her own bands based out of San Francisco.
1985 saw Antonioli signing with Catero Records and her first album was the live two-track Soul Eyes, with the title song given to her by composer Mal Waldron. She was accompanied by pianist George Cables. After a hiatus from music, she settled in Vienna, Austria from 2002 to 2006 and began recording again.
Her Nabel Records album Foreign Affair was a Balkan jazz hybrid recorded in Slovenia with musicians from Serbia, Albania, Germany, and the U.S. It was well received in Europe. Her next album The Duo Session enlisted Richie Beirach where she wrote lyrics to his compositions. Laurie also wrote lyrics to some Miles Davis tunes and free improvisation pieces. This recording was also well-received but like Foreign Affair was known primarily to European audiences.
As an educator she held the position of Professor of the Vocal Department at KUG University’s Jazz Institute in Graz, Austria from 2002 to 2006 while living and performing in Europe. Antonioli was offered a position at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, California as the school’s vocal program director and created an eight-semester vocal performance curriculum. Singer and record producer Laurie Antonioli, who between 1985 and 2018 she has recorded seven albums, continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Herb Bushler was born on March 7, 1939 in New York City and played piano and tuba in his youth before picking up double bass. Classically trained in bass he has performed with symphony orchestras in this capacity.
In 1966 he began a longtime association with ballet and film composer Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson. Herb played with The Fifth Dimension in the 1960s. He worked extensively in jazz idioms in the 1960s and 1970s, including with David Amram, Ted Curson, Blossom Dearie, Tony Williams, and Paul Winter.
He first played with Gil Evans in 1967 and the association would continue on and off until 1981. During the 1970s Bushler recorded sessions with Enrico Rava, Joe Farrell, Ryo Kawasaki, David Sanborn and Harold Vick. He also worked with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Billy Harper, Les McCann, Enrico Rava, Joe Chambers, and Howard Johnson.
Bassist Herb Bushler, whose composition Herbs was recorded by David Sanborn, at 85 years old continues to occasionally play both double bass and electric bass.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Harry Charles Prime was born on March 5, 1920 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from St. Bridget’s Elementary and Roman Catholic High School. In the fall of 1944, he entered and won a singing contest at the 400 Club in Washington, D.C. and was offered a week’s engagement at the Club.
From there he proceeded to perform with big bands such as Randy Brooks, Tommy Dorsey, Jack Fina and Ralph Flanagan throughout the 1940’s and 50’s. Prime’s recording of the song Until with Tommy Dorsey sold a million records, but recording most of his hit songs with the Flanagan band.recording most of his hit songs with the latter.
In 1945, the Nations Disc Jockeys voted the Ralph Flanagan Band as the #1 band in the country and Prime was voted 20th best singer ahead of Dennis Day, Eddie Fisher and Dean Martin.
In the years following his tenure with the big bands, Prime never strayed far from the music business and worked as a disc jockey and radio host in various cities including WCAU in Philadelphia and WNPV in Lansdale.
His impeccable phrasing and vocal prowess led him to record Dear Hearts and Gentle People, Oh, What a Beautiful Morning, Nevertheless and Just One More Chance. He sits among the likes of Bob Eberle, Billy Eckstine, Dick Haymes, Frank Sinatra and Perry Como.
Prime recorded nearly 100 songs in the 1940s and 1950s, including Until, a million-seller with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. The song peaked at number four in the US chart.
Big band vocalist Harry Prime died on June 15, 2017 in Chalfont, Pennsylvania at age 97.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Raymond Eberle was born on January 19, 1919 in Mechanicville, Saratoga County, New York. He started singing in his teens without formal training. In 1938 while looking for a male vocalist for his big band asked Bob Eberly if he had any siblings at home who could sing and his brother was hired on the spot.
Eberle went on to find success with Miller, deeming the songs for the film Orchestra Wives, such as the jazz standard “At Last”, to be among his favorites, as they were songs he could make a story out of. During the Forties he appeared in Twentieth Century Fox movies, and several Universal Studios films, singing mostly ballads.
He led his own orchestra, The Ray Eberle Orchestra, as well as the Serenade In Blue Orchestra from 1943. In the 1950s and 1960s.he also appeared on numerous television variety shows. He maintained his band until his death.
After his departure from Miller, Eberle briefly joined Gene Krupa’s band before launching a solo career. He later joined former Miller bandmate Tex Beneke’s orchestra in 1970 for a national tour, and reformed his own orchestra later in the decade.
Vocalist Ray Eberle died of a heart attack in Douglasville, Georgia on August 25, 1979, aged 60.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
James Charles Jackson Jr. was born on January 18, 1957 and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Hailing from a musical family, he grew up surrounded by instrumentalists and vocalists. Before reaching high school, he was the drummer in his brother’s band, Ripple, that recorded and played gigs in the area. When it was time to go on the road his mother was adamant that he must finish high school.
Graduating in 1977 he landed a job in Atlanta, Georgia as the drummer for The Counts. Jimmy played with them for a few years until they disbanded, then transitioned to the Mose Davis Trio. Though much younger than his bandmates, he played well beyond his years.
Getting his big break came with meeting jazz organist Jimmy Smith, who had a show in Atlanta and Davis loaned him his Hammond organ for the performance. After moving the instrument, Jackson asked if he could sit in on the sound check. Blowing Smith away with his playing during the sound check landed him a job with the organist. He would tour the world with the band.
While residing in Atlanta, Jimmy played with the Paul Mitchell Trio at Dante’s Down the Hatch, as well as freelancing around town. Leaving Atlanta in 2006 for New York City and then on to the Washington, D.C. area a year or so later. His heart always considered Atlanta as his second home
Drummer and vocalist Jimmy Jackson, who was affectionately known by most as Junebug, died on January 28, 2012 of complications associated with congestive heart failure at the age of 55.
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