Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Meredith Irwin Flory, was born on August 27, 1926 in Logansport, Indiana and was encouraged by his organist mother to learn clarinet as a child. During World War II he was an Army Air Force pilot and after his discharge went on to matriculate through Indiana University, graduating with a degree in philosophy.
Known professionally as Med Flory, in the early 1950s he played in the bands of Claude Thornhill and Woody Herman, before forming his own ensemble in New York City. 1955 saw him relocating to California and starting a new group, which played at the 1958 Monterey Jazz Festival. In the late 1950s, he played with Terry Gibbs, Art Pepper, and Herman again, playing both tenor and baritone saxophone. He was cast in twenty-nine episodes from 1956 to 1957 of the ABC variety show, The Ray Anthony Show.
In the 1960s Med turned his attention away from music and concentrated on acting and screenwriting in television and film. His long list of credits include mostly westerns and crime dramas, which were popular at the time.
By the mid Sixties Flory returned to music and worked with Art Pepper and Joe Maini on transcriptions and arrangements of Charlie Parker recordings. In 1972, he co-founded Supersax, an ensemble devoted to Parker’s work. Supersax’s debut album, Supersax Plays Bird, won a Grammy Award.
Tenor and baritone saxophonist, bandleader, and actor Med Flory transitioned on March 12, 2014 in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
Bestow upon an inquiring mind a dose of a Logansport saxophonist to motivate the perusal of the genius of jazz musicians worldwide whose gifts contribute to the canon…
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Norman Louis Bates was born on August 26, 1927 in Boise, Idaho. His mother was an organist and he was a younger brother of bassist Bob Bates. He played in Jimmy Dorsey’s band for a year in 1945, then with Raymond Scott and Carmen Cavallaro shortly thereafter.
By 1948 he was part of the Dave Brubeck Trio, and the following year performed with Paul Desmond. Norman recorded with Jack Sheedy’s Dixieland Jazz Band in 1950.
After spending four years in the Air Force, Bates played with Wally Rose’s Dixieland Band in 1955 and then replaced his brother Bob in Brubeck’s quartet, playing on multiple albums from Dave Brubeck and Jay & Kai at Newport (1956) onwards. He also recorded with Desmond’s group again in 1956. In 1957 he left Brubeck, and led a trio in San Francisco, California.
Double bassist Norman Bates transitioned on January 29, 2004.
Bestow upon an inquiring mind a dose of a Boise bassist to motivate the perusal of the genius of jazz musicians worldwide whose gifts contribute to the canon…
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
As the Jazz Voyager continues to social distance and wears his mask inside stores when grocery shopping and following doctor office protocol, he is still finding time to listen to great jazz. This week coming off the shelves is an album titled Blossom Time at Ronnie Scott’s by pianist and vocalist Blossom Dearie and is a live recording at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho, London, England in 1966. This was her first live album and was released on the British record label, Fontana. The liner notes were written by Jimmy Parsons.
Her personal favorite recording, the swinging trio will intoxicate you with this set of songs just as if you were there in the intimate space listening. Her girlish, soft voice is her signature as she executes each song with style. This is the first of four albums she will record on the Fontana label.
Track List | 39:23
- On Broadway (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) ~ 3:55
- (Ah, the Apple Trees) When the World Was Young (Michel Philippe-Gérard, Angele Vannier, Johnny Mercer) ~ 4:20
- When in Rome (Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh) ~ 4:45
- The Shadow of Your Smile (Johnny Mandel, Paul Francis Webster) ~ 4:13
- Ev’rything I’ve Got (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) ~ 4:29
- Once Upon a Summertime (Eddie Barclay, Michel Legrand, Eddy Marnay, Johnny Mercer) ~ 3:51
- I’m Hip (Dave Frishberg, Bob Dorough) ~ 2:48
- Mad About the Boy (Noël Coward) ~ 5:05
- The Shape of Things (Sheldon Harnick) ~ 2:42
- Satin Doll” (Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Billy Strayhorn) ~ 5:15
- Blossom Dearie ~ piano, vocals
- Jeff Clyne ~ double bass
- Johnny Butts ~ drums
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Louis Freddie Kohlman was born on August 25, 1918 in New Orleans, Louisiana and studied under the famed drummer Louis Cottrell, Sr., and Manuel Manetta. He began playing professionally as a teenager, working with A. J. Piron, Joe Robichaux, Papa Celestin, and Sam Morgan.
Moving to Chicago, Illinois in the middle of the 1930s, he played with Albert Ammons, Stuff Smith, Earl Hines, and Lee Collins. After returning to New Orleans in 1941, he led his own band from 1944. Among the musicians in his band was pianist Dave “Fat Man” Williams. In the mid-1950s he played briefly with Louis Armstrong and recorded as a leader with the Jambalaya Four in 1953. He moved back to Chicago and became the house drummer at Jazz, Ltd. There he played with everyone from Billie Holiday to Art Hodes before once again returning to New Orleans in the 1960s.
Back home he played with Louis Cottrell, Jr., the Dukes of Dixieland, and the Onward Brass Band. In 1969 he appeared at the New Orleans Jazz Festival. As a member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, he traveled throughout the United States and overseas.[1]
Playing European festivals with his own groups in the 1970s and 1980s, Freddie recorded with Chris Barber and Dr. John in 1980, and also appears on record with Albert Nicholas, Art Hodes, Bob Wilber, Harry Connick, Jr., the Excelsior Brass Band, and the Heritage Hall Jazz Band.
Kohlman appeared in several films, including Pete Kelly’s Blues, Pretty Baby and Angel Heart.
Drummer, vocalist and bandleader Freddie Kohlman transitioned of cancer at his home in New Orleans, aged 72 on September 29, 1990.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bryan Spring was born on August 24, 1945 in London, England. A self-taught drummer beginning at the age of six, he later studied with Philly Joe Jones. He led and co-led his own trios and quartets from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s with Don Weller and also Art Themen.
The new millennium saw Bryan collaborating with Mark Edwards and Andy Cleyndert. He has been a member of Bill Le Sage’s Bebop Preservation Society, Alan Skidmore’s Quartet, Klaus Doldinger’s Passport, and various line-ups led by Stan Tracey.
He has worked with other leading British jazz musicians, including Tubby Hayes, Dick Morrissey, Bobby Wellins, as well as accompanying American musicians, notably George Coleman and Charlie Rouse, when they were visiting the UK.
Drummer Bryan Spring, who is sometimes credited as Brian and has led/co-led two recording sessions and played on eighteen as a sideman, continues to be active on the jazz scene.
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