Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Stein, born on June 19, 1949, was raised in Kansas City, Missouri and took up the guitar at a very early. His was musically educated on the instrument at Berklee College of Music, where he now holds the position of associate professor.
Stein collaborates with Boston hitters Bill Pierce, Kenneth Weinberger, John LaPorta and Bob Freedman but has graced stages with David “Fathead” Newman, Lou Donaldson, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Idris Muhammad.
John has published educational columns in Just Jazz Guitar Magazine, focusing on composition and arranging for jazz guitar. He has published arranging materials in a book titled Berklee Jazz Standards For Solo Guitar, as well as his compositional materials into two books. Composing Blues For Jazz Performance, and Composing Tunes For Jazz Performance.
He has also performed in Europe, conducting tours in Germany, France, Switzerland Brasil and the States. As a mainstay on the jazz circuit, guitarist John Stein continues to record, perform and tour with his compositions and performances covering a range of jazz including blues, bebop, bossa nova and swing.
Give A Gift Of Jazz – Share
More Posts: guitar
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Benny Payne was born on June 18, 1907 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and began playing piano when he was 12, working as an organist at a Philadelphia church as a teenager. His professional career started in 1926, working locally and with Wilbur Sweatman’s band for six months in 1928.
Fats Waller gave him some unofficial lessons; they recorded two piano duets in 1929. Payne worked as accompanist for singer Elizabeth Welch, was a member of the Blackbirds of 1929 show and toured Europe, appeared in Hot Chocolates and accompanied Gladys Bentley.
His foremost claim to fame was as Cab Calloway’s regular pianist during the singer’s prime years from 1931 until he had to join the Army in late 1943, then again after the war until ’46. Although he did not solo much, he was a major asset to the group and gave the big band stability in addition to contributing to the solid rhythm section.
He worked with Pearl Bailey, led his own trio and then started working in 1950 started a long relationship as pianist and musical director for lounge signer Billy Daniels until the singer’s death. In 1964, Payne appeared on Broadway in a revival of “Golden Boy” with Daniels and Sammy Davis, Jr.
He primarily performed in the cabaret world, led only one recording session as a leader for Kapp Records in 1955. Pianist Benny Payne retired and settled in Los Angeles, passing away on January 2, 1986.
Jazz Is Global – Share
More Posts: piano
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Tony Scott was born Anthony Joseph Sciacca June 17, 1921 in Morristown, New Jersey. He attended Julliard School in the early Forties and by the 50s was working with Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday and had a young Bill Evans as a sideman. Late in the decade he won on four occasions the Down Beat critics poll for clarinetist in 1955, 1957, 1958 and 1959 and was known for a more “cool” style than Buddy DeFranco.
For most of his career he was held in some esteem in New Age music circles because of his decades-long involvement in music linked to Asian cultures and to meditation. Despite this he remained relatively little known as the clarinet had been in eclipse in jazz since the emergence of bebop. In 1959 he left New York City and the United States touring South America, Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia. This led to his playing in a Hindu temple, spending time in Japan, and releasing Music for Zen Meditation and capturing Japan’s Down Beat poll for best clarinetist.
He settled in Italy in the 1980s, working with Italian jazz musicians such as Franco D’Andrea and Roman Mussolini, followed by an interest in electronica in his later years. Italian director Franco Maresco produced a documentary on the life of Tony Scott, released three years after his death on March 28, 2007. It was titled Tony Scott: The Story of How Italy Got Rid of the Greatest Jazz Clarinetists.
More Posts: clarinet
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Tom Harrell was born on June 16, 1946 in Urbana, Illinois but by 5 was growing up in San Francisco. He started playing trumpet at eight and within five years, started playing gigs with local bands. Graduating from Stanford University with a music composition degree, he joined Stan Kenton’s orchestra, touring and recording with them throughout 1969.
After leaving Kenton, the post-bop trumpeter played with Woody Herman, Azteca, Horace Silver, the Sam Jones-Tom Harrell Big Band, the Lee Konitz Nonet, George Russell and the Mel Lewis Orchestra. Through the ‘80s he became a pivotal member of the Phil Woods Quintet making seven albums with the group.
Harrell is also plays flugelhorn and is a composer and arranger who has collaborated and recorded albums with Bill Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, Ronnie Cuber, Bob Brookmeyer, Lionel Hampton, Bob Berg, Bobby Shew, Joe Lovano, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Orchestra, Art Farmer, Charles McPherson and Kathleen Battle among others.
Since 1989 Harrell has led his own groups, usually quintets but has expanded ensembles such as chamber orchestra with strings and big bands. He has appeared at virtually every major jazz club and festival venues, and recorded under his own name for such record labels as RCA, Contemporary, Pinnacle, Blackhawk, Criss Cross, Steeplechase, Chesky and HighNote Records.
The Grammy-nominated artist has arranged and composed for Carlos Santana, Arturo O’Farrill, Metropole Orchestra and other big bands as well as his compositions being recorded by Ron Carter, Kenny Barron, Tom Scott, Chris Potter, Steve Kuhn and Hank Jones to name a few. In recent years he has formed and recorded with piano-less sextet “Colors Of A Dream” and piano-less quartet TRIP.
Despite his well-documented schizophrenia, Tom Harrell has successfully coped with the illness through medication and has become an influential figure in the jazz world. Throughout his career he has won numerous awards and grants, including multiple Trumpeter of the Year awards from Down Beat magazine, SESAC Jazz Award, BMI Composers Award, and Prix Oscar du Jazz. He has amassed a recorded discography of over 260 albums and continues to actively compose, record and tour extensively around the world.
Put A Dose In Your Pocket
More Posts: arranger,composer,flugelhorn,trumpet
The Jazz Voyager
Smoke Jazz & Supper Club-Lounge: 2751 Broadway, New York, NY 10025 (Broadway between 105th Street and 106th Street (aka Duke Ellington Boulevard) in Manhattan / Telephone: 212-864-6662 / smokejazz.com / Nearby Subway Stop – #1, A, B, C @ 103rd Street
Smoke presents world-class jazz seven nights a week with candlelit tables, plush velvet banquets, antique chandeliers. A historic full-length bar creates a real jazz vibe to go with the intimate acoustics and intimate sight lines. The club serves as the perfect complement to classic jazz—the innovative American Bistro cuisine of critically acclaimed executive chef Patricia Williams. Smoke was named “Best New Jazz Club” in 2000 by New York Magazine.
Sponsored By
