Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Raymond Burke was born Raymond Barrois on June 6, 1904 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His first instrument was a flute he carved from a fishing pole, then played the tin whistle, kazoo, and clarinet. His first job in music came in 1913 when he panhandled on the kazoo with future New Orleans Rhythm Kings drummer Leo Adde who played percussion on a cigar box.
A polite, albeit eccentric with wavy hair and a thin mustache, the conservatively dressed clarinetist did not drink, smoke, or gamble. Burke rarely left the city except for out-of-town gigs or tours with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band later in life.
In the 1930s Burke played with The Henry Belas Orchestra, spent a short period of time in Kansas City for a musical job, but soon returned. In the 1940s and ’50s, he played with Alvin Alcorn, Sharkey Bonano, and frequently in a trio with pianist Jeff Riddick and bassist Sherwood Mangiapane. Through the 1960s and 70s Burke he played with Preservation Hall musicians.
For a time he ran a rabais shop, a personal collection that the owner makes semi-available to the public for sale. Located in a residential section of Bourbon Street which had light pedestrian traffic the shop was filled with old jazz records, historical memorabilia, musical instruments and equipment, books, magazines, and a collection of sheet music. It generated little financial income.
During his active years, he never achieved mainstream popularity or commercial success. He was known for playing modestly, and in large ensembles, his clarinet could easily be overpowered. Refusing to let contemporary music influence his sound for commercial reasons, he associated with “Second Line” jazz, which differentiated White imitators who simplified the style from Black or Creole musicians.
He gained some popularity around 1939 when fans started using portable recorders at live performances during local jam sessions. Clarinetist Raymond Burke, who played in the Dixieland style, passed away on March 21, 1986.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Kurt Edelhagen was born on June 5, 1920 in Herne, Germany. He studied conducting and piano in Essen and b 1945, he started a trio, then a big band a year later. He performed on a Frankfurt radio station, am Main, then for three years beginning in 1949 led the Bayerischer Rundfunk in Nuremberg.
From 1952 to 1957 he led the Südwestfunk big band, and 1954 saw him participating in the concerto for jazz band and orchestra by Rolf Libermann. Three years later he began leading the radio station Westdeutscher Rundfunk Big Band (WDR) in Cologne. Members included Dusko Goykovich and Jiggs Whigham. During the 1960s the band toured East Germany, USSR, Czechoslovakia, and several Arab countries.
His radio orchestra played at the opening ceremony of the 1972 Munich Olympics. Big band leader Kurt Edelhagen passed away on February 8, 1982 in Cologne, Germany.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager is pulling from the stacks the 1962 album by Kenny Dorham titled Inta Somethin’ to spin this week. Recorded at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco, California on November 13, 1961 and released on Pacific Jazz Records. Una Mas and San Francisco Beat were composed by Dorham. Track List | 38:31
- Una Mas ~ 7:13
- It Could Happen to You (Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen) ~ 6:00
- Let’s Face the Music and Dance (Irving Berlin) ~ 6:06
- No Two People (Frank Loesser) ~ 6:59
- Lover Man (Jimmy Davis, Ram Ramirez, James Sherman) ~ 5:01
- San Francisco Beat ~ 7:12
The players on this date are Kenny Dorham – trumpet (except tracks 3 and 5), Jackie McLean – alto saxophone (except track 2), Walter Bishop Jr. – piano, Leroy Vinnegar – bass and Art Taylor – drums.
So stay diligent my fellow voyagers in being healthy, continue your social distancing, and take your time getting back to the new normal. Listen to great music and share that music to give another soul a little insight into the choices of a voyager during this sabbatical from what we once knew. The jet setting investigations of jazz around the globe will continue again.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Grant Stewart was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on June 4, 1971. His father was a part-time jazz guitarist and at age ten, he played alto saxophone solos from saxophonists Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, and Wardell Gray that had been transcribed by his father. In his early teens, he was gaining experience with such artists as Pat LaBarbera and Bob Mover. By 18 he was leading a quartet in Toronto and had a regular gig at C’est What café and pub.
A move to New York City when he was 19 saw Grant working with guitarist Peter Bernstein and saxophonist Jesse Davis. He then began playing at Smalls Jazz Club from when it opened in 1993. His younger brother, Philip, has been his drummer since 2005.
For his 2007 recording Young at Heart, Stewart chose some challenging compositions, including by Elmo Hope and Neal Hefti, as well as originals. On Around the Corner in 2010, Stewart also played soprano sax.
Saxophonist Grant Stewart continues to play steady swinging hard bop, with a current catalog of seventeen albums as a leader and has recorded with Ehud Asherie and John Swana.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Aubrey Frank was born on June 3, 1921 in London, England. He started playing alto saxophone at fourteen, then switched to tenor the following year. HIs first gig was with Jack Harris, then joined the RAF but continued playing with Ambrose, Johnny Claes, Geraldo, Lew Stone, and George Evans. He was in the first Ted Heath band and the RAF Fighter Command Band. During World War II he played with Sam Donahue and Glenn Miller.
Leaving the RAF, he continued to work with Ambrose until 1947, as well as the Skyrockets and the Squadronnaires. From 1949 to 1954 a member of Jack Nathan’s band alongside Ronnie Scott and Harry Klein. He freelanced and became a staple on early British bebop dates where his adaptability allowed him to play in any type of band, from Dixieland to modern jazz.
He recorded with the George Shearing Sextet, Harry Hayes, Alan Dean All-Star Sextet and had a long career regarded as a first-class session musician but was a jazzman at heart. With the advent of bop, his style changed little, leading the Aubrey Frank Modern Music Sextet consisting of Hank Shaw or Wyatt Forbes, Harry Klein, Andy Denits, Stan Wasser, and Douggie Cooper. Tenor saxophonist Aubrey Frank passed away on his seventy-second birthday in 1993.
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