Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Örjan Kjellin was born on July 21, 1944 in Ljungby, Sweden and didn’t pick up the clarinet until the age of 15 and two years later formed his first band in partnership with pianist Lars Edegran. The band played music in the New Orleans style. He made his first records in his native Sweden at the age of 17.

Moving to New Orleans, Louisiana in 1966 he became a regular performer at several leading jazz venues including Preservation Hall. In 1968 he was a founder member of the New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra. He also led his own bands in the city including, in 1970, a band which held a residency at the Maison Bourbon Club. Two years later he formed the New Orleans Joymakers.

He recorded with several veteran New Orleans musicians including Josiah ‘Cié’ Frazier, Preston Jackson, Jim Robinson, Jabbo Smith, Zutty Singleton and Kid Thomas Valentine. In 1978, Örjan played with NORO for the soundtrack of the movie Pretty Baby. The following year he appeared in New York City as musical director, co-arranger and on-stage clarinetist with the stage musical One Mo’ Time.

In the early 80s he appeared with the same show during its long and successful run in London’s West End. Kellin has toured extensively with his own bands and with bands formed largely from New Orleans veterans. In 1992 he made his first solo tour of the UK.

Clarinetist Örjan Kjellin, a gifted and highly musical player who is known to the jazz world as Orange Kellin, continues to fan the flames of the music of New Orleans.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

James “Plunky” Branch was born on July 20, 1947 in Richmond, Virginia and educated in the city’s segregated schools. He then attended Columbia University in New York City, but by 1971 he had moved to San Francisco, California. It was here that he formed Juju, a musical group that combined rhythm and blues, jazz, soul, and African musical influences.

He founded the band Plunky & Oneness, which began as Juju in 1971 which he renamed twice, Oneness of Juju and Plunky & the Oneness of Juju, before it was given its current name in 1988. One of Plunky & Oneness’ songs, Every Way But Loose, is featured on the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, playing on fictional radio station Paradise FM.

Branch is the president and founder of the independent record label N.A.M.E. Brand Records, through which he has released 25 albums. As a studio musician Plunky has worked for The Cosby Show and has appeared on several avant-garde jazz albums.

As an educator he has been Director of the Jazz Ensemble at Virginia Union University as well as an instructor of Afro-American Music History at Virginia Commonwealth University.

He has been the recipient of two NEA Jazz Fellowships and was appointed to the Governor’s Task Force for the Promotion of the Arts in Virginia. In 1999 he was recognized by Richmond Magazine as Musician of the Year for 1999. J. Plunky Branch continues to perform, record, compose and produce.

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Three Wishes

While hanging out at the Cathouse one evening Pannonica inquired of Rudy Powell as to his three wishes if they could come true and he told her:

1. “I’d like to be equipped to further jazz.”
2. “Through that I’d be able to promote a spotlight for musicians who’ve never had a chance and deserve some.”
3. “I would try to effectuate a way to alleviate the cliques that have been developing through the years, and which have hindered some fine players from exploring their talents.”

*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Dick Collins was born Richard Harrison Collins on July 19, 1924 in Seattle, Washington into a musical family where several of his parents and grandparents were professional musicians. He attended Mills College in 1946–47, where he studied music formally under Darius Milhaud, and moved with Milhaud to Paris, France for the next academic year. As a student at Mills, he first met Dave Brubeck, and while in Paris he played with Hubert Fol and Kenny Clarke.

Returning to the States he landed in San Francisco, California where he began playing with Brubeck in his Bay Area-based octet, then completed his bachelor’s degree in music at San Francisco State College. In the 1950s he performed and recorded with Charlie Barnet, Charlie Mariano, Nat Pierce, Paul Desmond, Cal Tjader, and Woody Herman. By 1957 Dick was working with Les Brown, an association that continued for nearly a decade that included worldwide tours.

In 1965, Collins took a position as a music librarian, which he held through 1967, and took a second position from 1971 to 1986, mostly receding from active performance. In later years, he still occasionally performed live or recorded, including with Nat Pierce, Mary Ann McCall, and Woody Herman.

Trumpeter Dick Collins transitioned on April 19, 2016 in Hesperia, California, at the age of 91.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Donald Neff Bagley was born on July 18, 1927 in Salt Lake City, Utah and received formal training on the double bass. He went on to study in Los Angeles, California and played in 1945 with Shorty Sherock and Wingy Manone, and in 1948 with Dick Pierce.

During the early Fifties from 1950 to 1953, and sporadically thereafter, Bagley played with Stan Kenton. HIs time with Kenton, A Study for Bass by Bill Russo and Bags by Bill Holman were written to feature Bagley’s playing. By 1954 he was fronting his own ensembles. His session work between 1950 and 1952, Don worked extensively with Nat King Cole, Maynard Ferguson, and Dexter Gordon. He played in Europe with Zoot Sims, Lars Gullin, Frank Rosolino, and Åke Persson. He would go on to work with Les Brown, Jimmie Rowles, Shelly Manne, Pete Fountain and Phil Woods. In 1957 and 1958, he recorded three albums under his own name.

The Sixties saw him playing with Ben Webster and Julie London. Into the 1970s and 1980s he worked with Burt Bacharach while composing and arranging for film and television, including the scores to Mama’s Dirty Girls, The Manhandlers, The Swinging Barmaids, The Student Body, Young Lady Chatterley and Sacred Ground.

Double bassist, composer and arranger Don Bagley transitioned of natural causes on July 26, 2012 at the age of 85.

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