Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jothan Callins was born October 29, 1942 in Birmingham, Alabama. The third of nine children he received his childhood education in Ensley at Council Elementary School and Western-Olin High School. Obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida A&M University, he subsequently became a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and performed with Max Roach, Milt Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Sun Ra, Cecil McBee, Consuela Lee, George Coleman, Geri Allen, Joseph Jennings, Jeff Watts and many others.
In 1978, Jothan became the first Jazz Artist-In-Residence for the Birmingham Public Schools and helped found the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and City Stages. In 1982, after receiving a fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh, he obtained a Masters’ Degree in Ethnomusicology and Jazz Studies and remained there for five years teaching jazz history. As a prolific, creative artist, Jothan was a performer, composer, arranger, educator, consultant, musical director, and cultural catalyst, who earned the respect and admiration of fans, musicians, and critics throughout the world.
With his band, The Sounds of Togetherness, he toured and performed around the United States and the world. He specialized in Jazz performances and workshops for children and adults. In the ‘90s, Callins founded the Birmingham Youth Jazz Ensemble, Inc. (BYJE), serving as Director until his death. Trumpeter, flugelhornist, electric bassist, and composer Jothan Callins, who was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1979, passed away on April 30, 2005 at Baptist-Princeton Medical Center.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
April Barrows was born on April 28, 1954 in Milford, Connecticut and grew up in the San Francisco Bay area where she moved with her family when she was five. The first music she heard came from listening to her mother’s collection of boogie-woogie 78s by such pianists as Meade “Lux” Lewis, Albert Ammons and Pinetop Smith. Singing along with the records and imitating the sounds she learned the formats. She became a record collector herself as a teenager and was always interested in older styles.
She played violin for a few years and in high school sang and played rhythm guitar. Barrows performed duets with a country singer, frequently performing roots music, and learned both steel guitar and electric bass. For a time she had a regular day job as a chemist but her main dream was to become a professional musician.
In the late ’70s she spontaneously quit her job and headed for Nashville where her talents were quickly recognized. She played electric bass in a variety of bands for the next six years working with the Judds’ first band, the Memphis Horns, Vassar Clements, and even Woody Herman. In 1985 she switched her focus and became a songwriter and while she had success writing country, bluegrass, and blues songs, her true love was writing and performing her own new swing tunes.
In addition to her jazz inspirations of Ella Fitzgerald, the Boswell Sisters, Mildred Bailey, Louis Armstrong, Ivie Anderson, Bing Crosby, Ruth Etting, Annette Hanshaw and Cliff Edwards, she listened to Bob Dylan, country music and rock of the ’60s. While continuing in the commercial field, she has recorded as a leader, her debut release of original swing tunes on My Dream Is You followed by her sophomore project All You Need Is the Girl. Vocalist, guitarist and composer April Barrows is currently working on a third project with clarinetist Evan Christopher and cornetist Duke Heitger, and continues to compose and perform.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ken Gregory was born on April 26, 1950 in Atlanta, Georgia and began playing trumpet at age nine, playing in the Northside Highlander Concert Band for three years beginning in 1960. After four years of private training, during his time in high school he sat 1st chair trumpet in the concert band from 1963 to 1968. He went on to work as conductor and lead trumpeter for the Six Flags Over Georgia orchestra until 1971, then learned to play guitar, electric bass and keyboards.
Gregory started playing the nightclub circuit in 1971 for the next nine years. By the Eighties as performance venues transitioned from clubs to private parties, he partnered with an electronics technician and moved into the professional studio business.
As a composer he has been commissioned to write for Warner Bros. Films, CNN, the Weather Channel, numerous radio and television advertisers, songwriters and lyricists. He has added trombone to his arsenal of instruments and has been recorded on thousands of studio sessions and has engineered audio and MIDI programming.
He performs original compositions with his band Solid State and has been featured on some of Atlanta’s best radio stations, on PBS Television’s Jazz Atlanta, and has performed at the Montreux Jazz, Atlanta Jazz and Inman Park festivals. Trumpeter and engineer Ken Gregory continues to be active in the professional music and record business in Atlanta.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Monk Montgomery was born William Howard Montgomery on October 10, 1921 in Indianapolis, Indiana the older brother of Wes and Buddy. A student of the double bass, his professional career did not start until age 30, after Wes’ career began, and from 1951 to 1953 he worked in Lionel Hampton’s Orchestra.
Following that stint Monk worked with his brothers and Alonzo Johnson in the Montgomery Johnson Quintet. He would go on to record with his brothers as the Montgomery Brothers, releasing a number of albums together. 1955 saw him moving to Seattle, Washington to form the Mastersounds from 1957–1960. From 1966–1970, he freelanced with Cal Tjader, settled in Las Vegas, Nevada and continued to play with the Red Norvo Trio and worked with Kenny Burrell, Art Farmer and Eddie Harris among others.
In his final years he founded and was active in the Las Vegas Jazz Society and was planning a world jazz festival. He is perhaps the first electric bassist of significance to jazz, introducing in 1951 the Fender Precision Bass to the genre. Bassist Monk Montgomery died of cancer in Las Vegas on May 20, 1982.
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