Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bryan Carrott was born in Queens, New York on April 23, 1959. After graduating from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and continued at the Manhattan School of Music before studying percussion with Morris Lang at Brooklyn College, then studied vibraphone with Dave Samuels at William Paterson University, receiving his Bachelor of Music degrees in Jazz Studies and Jazz Performance.
He has toured and/or recorded with David Fathead Newman, Ralph Peterson, Henry Threadgill, Muhal Richard Abrams, Sam Rivers, Don Byron, Dave Douglas, Charlie Hunter, Bob Moses, Roy Campbell, Herbie Mann, Cassandra Wilson, John Lurie & the Lounge Lizards, Greg Osby, Tom Harrell, Bennie Wallace, Steve Kroon, Joe Batan, and Kip Hanrahan, among others.
Carrott is an assistant professor and coordinator of percussion instruction at Five Towns College. He is a clinician and has led educational performances across the United States, Taiwan and Taipai. A featured soloist with Cologne, Germany’s WDR Orchestra conducted by Gunther Schuller, he was a mallet percussionist for Disney’s Broadway production of The Lion King.
For seven consecutive years, Bryan was cited in DownBeat Magazine’s International Critics’ Poll in the vibe category for Talent Deserving Wider Recognition, and has been featured on several film soundtracks, including 3 A.M. with Branford Marsalis. He currently serves as coordinator & professor of percussion studies at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, N.Y.
Vibraphonist and composer Bryan Carrott, who also plays marimba, piano, and leads his own trio, quartet and quintet, has yet to record as a leader but continues to perform and teach new generations of musicians.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Hymie Schertzer was born Herman Schertzer on April 22, 1909 in New York City, New York and began playing violin when he was nine years old. He picked up the saxophone when he was a teenager and went on to work as a sideman for Gene Kardos at the club Birdland, then joined Benny Goodman’s band, where he was the lead saxophonist until 1938, though he recorded with Goodman intermittently until the mid-1940s.
Between 1938 and 1940 Hymie was in Tommy Dorsey’s band, and recorded in the late 1930s with Bunny Berigan and Lionel Hampton. He worked with Billie Holiday in 1941 and again in 1944, then became a house musician for NBC radio and television.
Working as a session player for studio recordings Schertzer was behind Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Sy Oliver, Louis Armstrong, and Artie Shaw during the years 1947-1953. He continued working with Goodman live, on television, and on record from 1951 until 1969.
Saxophonist and conductor Hymie Schertzer, who was a member of the Tonight Show Band during its Johnny Carson era, transitioned in New York City, on March 22, 1977 at the age of 67.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
As we begin to explore more outings, the Jazz Voyager is still practicing social distancing and mask wearing at gatherings. That said, this week as we continue to see and gather information as to which venues have survived the pandemic, I am pulling from the library the 1981 recording of The Jamfs Are Coming by tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin.
Recorded at a pair of sessions at a small nightclub in Wihelmshaven, Germany, The Blue Note in Pumpwerk provided the settings for these live performances. His explosive original blues, The Jamfs Are Coming, JAMF being an acronym for a well-known but unprintable expression, is a powerful opener recorded in October 1977.
Following an unaccompanied coda, Griffin rapidly shifts gears into a brief up-tempo rendition of Wee Dot, which unfortunately was faded out. The one-minute chorus of the December 1975 Wee is a complete performance that evidently closed a 1975 set. The LP wraps with an inspired December 1977 take of All the Things You Are, in which Griffin dodges the head initially then squeezes in a lick or two from Happy Birthday and a series of other humorous quotes throughout this frenzied 20-minute workout.
The artwork was by Don Diesveld, photography by AnkoWieringa and Hanz Harzheim and was produced by Wim Wigt Productions.
Track List | 38:15- The Jamfs Are Coming (Johnny Griffin) ~ 17:15
- Wee (Denzil Best) ~ 1:00
- All The Things You Are (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) ~ 20:00
- Johnny Griffin ~ Tenor Saxophone
- Rein de Graaff ~ Piano
- Koos Serierse, Henk Haverhoek ~ Bass
- Art Taylor ~ Drums
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alan Richard James Skidmore was born the son of saxophonist Jimmy Skidmore on April 21, 1942 in London, England. He began his professional career in his teens, and early on toured with comedian Tony Hancock. In the 1960s, he appeared on BBC Radio, then worked with Alexis Korner, John Mayall, and Ronnie Scott.
Starting a band with Harry Miller, Tony Oxley, John Taylor, and Kenny Wheeler, they won awards at the Montreaux Jazz Festival. In the early Seventies, Alan started a saxophone-only band with John Surman and Mike Osborne.
He has worked with Mose Allison, Kate Bush, Elton Dean, Georgie Fame, Mike Gibbs, George Gruntz, Elvin Jones, Van Morrison, Stan Tracey, Charlie Watts, and Mike Westbrook.
Tenor saxophonist Alan Skidmore, who has recorded seventeen albums as a leader, continues to pursue the boundaries of his musc.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Burton Franklin Bales was born on April 20, 1916 in Stevensville, Montana and began playing piano at age twelve. After moving to the West Coast in the 1930s, he played in hotels and nightclubs. He performed regularly in San Francisco, California in the 1940s, with Lu Watters’s Yerba Buena Jazz Band.
Drafted in 1943 into the Army Burt only had one opportunity to record with that group on a brief session with Bunk Johnson. Discharged for myopia, he led his own band from 1943 to 1946 before taking an extended residency at San Francisco’s 1018 Club.
He played with Turk Murphy at the end of the Forties, then with Bob Scobey and Marty Marsala. Between 1954 and 1966 he played mostly solo, with one of his regular gigs being at Pier 23.
Stride pianist Burt Bales, who recorded extensively for Good Time Jazz, Arhoolie, ABC-Paramount, and Euphonic record labels, transitioned on October 26, 1989 in San Francisco.
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