Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alice Coltrane, née McLeod, was born on August 27, 1937 in Detroit, Michigan. She studied classical music and also jazz with Bud Powell and began playing professionally in Detroit, with her own jazz trio and as a duo with vibist Terry Pollard. It was while playing with the Terry Gibbs Quartet in 1962 that she met John Coltrane. Replacing McCoy Tyner as pianist with Trane’s group in 1965, the two married the following year and continued playing together until his death in 1967. She is the mother of daughter Michelle, drummer John Jr., and saxophonists Oran and Ravi.
After her husband’s death she continued to play with her own groups, later including her children, moving into more and more meditative music. Alice was one of the few harpists in the history of jazz and her essential recordings were made in the late Sixties and early 1970s for Impulse Records.
Coltrane became a devotee of the Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba in 1972, moved to California and established the Vendantic Center in 1975. By the late Seventies she had changed her name to Turiyasangitananda, became the swamini or spiritual director of Shanti Anantam Ashram established in 1983 near Malibu, California. Only on rare occasions would she perform publicly under the name Alice Coltrane.
The 1990s saw renewed interest in her work, which led to the release of the compilation Astral Meditations, and in 2004 she released her comeback album Translinear Light. Following a twenty-five-year break from major public performances, she returned to the stage for three U.S. appearances in the fall of 2006, culminating on November 4 with a concert in San Francisco with her son Ravi, drummer Roy Haynes and bassist Charlie Haden.
Alice Coltrane, pianist, organist, harpist and composer, passed away of respiratory failure on January 12, 2007 in Los Angeles, California.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Branford Marsalis was born August 26, 1960 in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana into a musical family led by the patriarch, Ellis. In the summer of 1980, while still at Berklee College of Music, Marsalis toured Europe playing alto and baritone saxophone in an art Blakey large ensemble that led to big band experience with Lionel Hampton and Clark Terry with a return the Art Blakey in the Jazz Messengers with his brother Wynton.
By 1985 he released his first recording, Scenes in the City, as well as guest appearances with Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1985 he joined Sting and The Police along with jazz drummer Omar Hakim, bassist Darryl Jones and keyboardist Kenny Kirkland, recording and performing until 1999.
Branford is primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of his own quartet, with original member Jeff “Tain” Watts drums, bassist Eric Revis replacing Robert Hurst on bass and pianist Joey Calderazzo replacing Kenny Kirkland after his death. The quartet has toured and recorded extensively, receiving a Grammy in 2001 for its album “Contemporary Jazz”.
After a two-decade association with Columbia Records serving as Creative Consultant and producer for jazz recordings between 1997 and 2001, Marsalis founded his own Marsalis Music label in 2002. producing and releasing his own band along with Harry Connick Jr., Miguel Zenon, Doug Wamble, Alvin Batiste, Michael Carvin, Jimmy Cobb, Bob French and soon to be released Claudia Acuna.
Marsalis has placed great emphasis on his classical music endeavors since the 2001 release of the album “Creation” and symphony orchestra and chamber ensemble performances worldwide became a significant part of his itinerary, touring the U.S. with Philarmonia Brasileira. He has won a 2010 Drama Desk Award for “Outstanding Music in a Play” and was nominated for a 2010 Tony for August Wilson’s Broadway revival of Fences.
Branford has been an educator on the university level at Michigan State, San Francisco State and presently at North Carolina Central University. After Hurricane Katrina he joined forces with Harry Connick Jr. and created the Musician’s Village, undertaken by New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity in the upper 9th ward, providing dozens of musicians of modest means with the opportunity to own decent, affordable housing. They received the Jefferson Awards for Public Service.
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The Jazz Voyager
Encore Restaurant and Lounge: Calle Lazaro Cardenas #51, Bucerias 63732, Bahia De Banderas, Mexico / Telephone: (52)-329-298-0140 / info@encoreonthebeach.com
Live jazz at Encore is a new concept in Bucerias’ live music scene and maybe the whole of Banderas Bay. Encore singer and owner Armi Grano has shown her versatility by working with different musical configurations at different times. Guests are treated Ms. Grano’s skillful interpretation of jazz standards which have shaped the American and Brazilian songbooks. One can listen to a diverse collection of songs composed by Gershwin, Porter, Jobim, Ellington, Rogers and Hart. With this tremendous spectrum Armi has succeeded in bringing the international sounds of jazz to Bucerias, in a way that may be unique anywhere in Mexico.
Showtime starts at 7 pm to 10:15 pm and there is no cover charge. Encore is the latest restaurant and lounge along the restaurant row on Bucerias Centro. It is located on the beach with a spectacular view of the bay. The menu offers fresh West Coast cuisine using the freshest seafood, chicken and steak.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Karriem Riggins was born on August 25, 1975 in Detroit, Michigan and growing up often played drums with his father Emmanuel’s group. He began producing hip hop in middle school and continued through Southfield High School, studying music while attending. At 17 he joined Betty Carter’s band “Jazz Ahead” soon after graduating.
In 1994 when he was 19, Karriem moved to New York City joining the Ray Brown Trio in 1998. He has also recorded and performed with Herbie Hancock, Donald Byrd, Hank Jones, Mulgrew Miller, Diana Krall, Milt Jackson, Oscar Peterson, Cedar Walton, Roy Hargrove and Bobby Hutcherson.
Aside from jazz, Riggins has done production work for hip-hop artists including Erykah Badu, Common, Kanye West, Talib Kweli, The Roots and Dwele among others. He has collaborated with J. Dilla until his death in 2006, finishing the posthumously released album “The Shining”, and with the hip hop multi-instrumentalist Madlib, performing on his 2007 album Yesterday’s Universe. He also produced a portion of the soundtrack for the 2007 film Smokin’ Aces.
His debut album on the Stone Throw label was released in three parts, the first half “Alone” was released digitally and on vinyl on July 31, 2012, the second half “Together” on October 2, with the complete release “Alone Together” later that same year on October 22. Karriem Riggins, jazz drummer, hip hop producer and sometime rapper currently performs, records and tours.
Karriem Riggins: 1975 / Drums
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From Broadway To 52nd Street
The music composed for Guys & Dolls by Frank Loesser was first heard on the stage at the 46th Street Theatre on January 24, 1950. It became a part of the blockbuster club with a total of 1200 performances. The show starred Robert Alda, Sam Levene and Vivian Blaine, the latter who would go on to star in the 1955 movie version with Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons and Stubby Kaye. Coming out of the play into jazz prominence were the songs If I Were A Bell, I’ll Know, I’ve Never Been In Love Before and Luck Be A Lady Tonight.
The Story: New York gambler, Nathan Detroit, tries to set up a floating crap game since the highest of the high rollers, Sky Masterson, is in town. All the while the police are putting on the heat to prevent the game from happening. Nathan bets Sky that he cannot woo any girl he chooses. He picks Salvation Army’s Sister Sarah and off to Cuba she and Sky go. Ultimately the game takes place in the empty Salvation Army headquarters. Nathan has promised his girl Adelaide that he has quit gambling and will marry her. Romance ensues for all and both Nathan and Sky marry in the end.
Although Guys and Dolls was selected as the winner of the 1951 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the prize was not awarded because writer Abe Burrows was being investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Do to these troubles with HUAC, the Trustees of Columbia University vetoed the selection, and no Pulitzer for Drama was awarded that year.
Jazz History: In 1950, Charlie Parker, despite a severe drug problem, was at the height of his career. It was during that same year that he became the first jazz musician to record with a string ensemble, which produced the album Charlie Parker With Strings. The year also saw the beginning point were a series of singles on Capitol Records of a nonet led by trumpeter Miles Davis, collected and released first on a ten-inch and later a twelve-inch as the Birth of the Cool. Cool jazz recordings by Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, Gil Evans, Stan Getz and the Modern Jazz Quartet usually have a “lighter” sound that avoided the aggressive tempos and harmonic abstraction of bebop. Cool jazz later became strongly identified with the West Coast jazz scene, but also had a particular resonance in Europe, especially Scandinavia, with emergence of such major figures as baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin and pianist Bengt Hallberg. However, blind Chicago pianist Lennie Tristano set out the theoretical underpinnings of cool jazz. Its influence stretches into such later developments as bossa nova, modal jazz, and even free jazz.
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