Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Salvatore Nistico was born on April 2, 1940 in Syracuse, New York. He started playing alto saxophone, switching to tenor in 1956, and briefly played baritone saxophone. From 1959 to 1961, he played with the Jazz Brothers band, with Chuck Mangione and Gap Mangione.
Nistico played in the 1962–65 Woody Herman group, considered one of his best bands, with Bill Chase, Jake Hanna, Nat Pierce, and Phil Wilson. In 1965, he joined Count Basie but returned on many occasions to play with Herman. Around that time he was also a member of Dusko Goykovich’s sextet with other musicians associated with the Herd, such as Carl Fontana, Nat Pierce, and Michael Moore.
He also played with Nat Adderley, Don Ellis, Buddy Rich, and Stan Tracey. Moving to Europe in his latter years he worked with mostly European musicians as Joe Haider, Isla Eckinger, Billy Brooks, Fritz Pauer. He went on to record with the Larry Porter/ Allan Praskin Band and Three Generations Of Tenor Saxophone with Johnny Griffin, Roman Schwaller, Paul Grabowsky, Roberto DiGioia, Thomas Stabenow, Joris Dudli and Mario Gonzi. The first live performance from 1985 was released under the band’s name on JHM Records Switzerland.
Nistico’s solo work is a contrast to his big band work, with his solo work more oriented towards bebop, as heard on the Heavyweights recording on Riverside Records. Tenor saxophonist Sal Nistico, who was associated for many years with Woody Herman’s Herd, passed away on March 3, 1991, in Berne, Switzerland.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
Fourteen months and the end of social distancing and mask wearing is not in sight, and remains the fare for the times as does my continual joy of listening to music. So going into my music room I’ve selected for this week’s enjoyment from the shelves the album Good Gracious!. The studio album was recorded on January 24, 1963 at the Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersy and released on the Blue Note label by saxophonist Lou Donaldson. The album was produced by Alfred Lion and released in the early part of June 1964.
If you’re a fan of Donaldson’s you will notice that his tone is richer and fuller than it is on many of his early-’60s records. He connects with the laid-back R&B grooves and soul-jazz vamps and it remains one of his best soul-jazz sessions.
Track List | 41:59
All compositions by Lou Donaldson except where noted- Bad John ~ 8:18
- The Holy Ghost ~ 8:38
- Cherry (Don Redman) ~ 5:17
- Caracas ~ 7:19
- Good Gracious ~ 6:52
- Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me (Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler) ~ 5:35
- Lou Donaldson – alto saxophone
- Grant Green – guitar
- Big John Patton – organ
- Ben Dixon – drums
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Edwin Frank Duchin was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 1, 1909 to Bessarabian Jewish immigrants. After graduating from Beverly High School he attended the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and originally took up the profession of pharmacist before turning full-time to music. He began his new career with Leo Reisman’s orchestra at the Central Park Casino in New York City, an elegant nightclub where he became popular in his own right. This would cause strife between him and Reisman.
By 1932, with Reisman’s contract with the Central Park Casino being terminated, it left violinist Leo Kahn as the interim leader of the orchestra. After 6 weeks, Duchin had assumed Kahn’s place as the orchestra’s leader. He became widely popular thanks to regular radio broadcasts that boosted his record sales, and he was one of the earliest pianists to lead a commercially successful large band.
Entering the Navy during World War II, he served as a combat officer in a destroyer squadron in the Mediterranean and Pacific. He attained the rank of lieutenant commander and was highly decorated with several military awards. After his discharge Eddy was unable to reclaim his former stardom in spite of a stab at a new radio show in 1949.
Pianist and bandleader Eddy Duchin, who rose to fame during the 1930s and 1940s, passed away at age 41 on February 9, 1951 of acute myelogenous leukemia.
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