Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Rashid Bakr was born Charles Downs on October 3, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois but grew up in Bronx, New York from the age of four. His decision to become a musician came from the profound influence of John Coltrane had on him, along with his uncle, drummer Papa Jo Jones. As a child surrounded by jazz musicians growing up, he was given his first set of sticks by Art Blakey and was soon sitting in with his uncle in a Dixieland band.
He attended Queens College studying chemistry and psychology and on to Brooklyn College grad school gaining a degree in clinical psychology. While in college he never missed a Coltrane or Miles Davis performance and his father bought him his first drum set.
During the Seventies, after college and a stint in the Army saxophonist Bobby Zankel took him to an auspicious audition for him with Cecil Taylor, becoming part of his big band. He was active in the New York City loft jazz scene, performing at venues such as Rashied Ali’s Ali’s Alley and Sam Rivers’ Studio Rivbea. He was a member of Ensemble Muntu with Jemeel Moondoc, among others.
In 1976, Bakr performed in a production of Adrienne Kennedy’s A Rat’s Mass directed by Cecil Taylor at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in the East Village of Manhattan. Also in the production were Jimmy Lyons, Andy Bey, Karen Borca, David S. Ware, and Raphe Malik. Taylor’s production combined the original script with a chorus of orchestrated voices used as instruments. 1981 saw him with Taylor touring Europe for three years before returning to New York City.
Free jazz drummer Rashid Bakr is a member of Other Dimensions in Music with Roy Campbell, Daniel Carter, and William Parker.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Roy Powell was born on October 2, 1965 in Langham, Rutland, England. His mother was a historian, his father a scientist who moved the family to Canada. His father had given him piano lessons and had been playing the piano for five years. Returning to England when he was ten, he attended New Mills Grammar School at the same time as Lloyd Cole.
In the 1970s, Powell was listening to Duke Ellington and Miles Davis and buying albums through the mail from America. He attended the Royal Northern College of Music, studying piano and classical composition during the day and playing in Manchester jazz clubs at night. After departing school, he started a jazz fusion band and choreographed a ballet. In 1992 he was a member of the Creative Jazz Orchestra. Three years later he moved to Norway to teach.
Powell has been a member of the group InterStatic with Jacob Young, and Jarle Vespestad, and the group Naked Truth with Lorenzo Feliciati, Pat Mastelotto, and Graham Haynes. He recorded the album Mumpbeak with Feliciati, Mastelotto, Bill Laswell, Tony Levin, and Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz. Pianist, organist, composer, and educator Roy Powell has recorded fifteen albums as a leader and continues to perform and record.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
As we await the opening of the country this Quarantined Jazz Voyager presses on with his listening to great jazz by placing on the turntable the classic Kenny Dorham disc titled Inta Somethin’. This live album by the trumpeter features performances recorded at The Jazz Workshop in San Francisco, California on November 13, 1961. It was released in the first quarter of 1962 on the Pacific Jazz label. Dorham contributed two originals to the set, track #1 and track #6.
Track Listing | 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
- Kenny Dorham ~ trumpet (except tracks 3 and 5)
- Jackie McLean ~ alto saxophone (except track 2)
- Walter Bishop Jr. ~ piano
- Leroy Vinnegar – bass
- Art Taylor – drums
As you listen and enjoy this wonderful addition to the jazz catalogue, I emplore you follow your conscience to stay healthy and encourage you to remain vigilant in your social distancing. During this sabbatical from jet setting investigations of jazz around the globe, this voyager’s choices are ever-present. The world will be back and so will I.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Johnny Meyer or Johnny Meijer was born Jan Cornelis Meijer on October 1, 1912 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He began playing accordion as a child and before World War II was playing in Dutch big bands. The post-war years were fertile for him and the liberating sound of his swing accordion, opened opportunities for him to record many swing standards from 1952 to 1957.
He toured Europe but mainly performed in the Netherlands and for a time was known as a virtuoso jazz accordionist. Besides the popular songs, Meyer also played fast swing numbers, Romanian music and classical pieces. In 1974 he recorded the Dutch Swing College Band Johnny Goes Dixie LP, which went gold.
Typically seen during performances with a cigar in his mouth, his accordion showed several burn marks as a result of this. In the last years of his life, Johnny Meyer was rarely invited to play large performances, mainly in connection with his short temper and his drinking, and thus the King of the Accordion saw out his final days mostly in silence, reduced to occasionally playing weddings and parties.
Accordionist Johnny Meyer, who played jazz, swing, classical, folk and was the subject of a film, passed away on January 8, 1992 in Amsterdam.
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