Daily Dose Of Jazz…
James Theodore Powell was born October 24, 1914 in New York City. In the Thirties he worked with Frank Newton and other leaders in the city. In 1940 and ‘41 he recorded with Billie Holiday, whose band was composed of Roy Eldridg, Carl Frye, Kermit Scott, Sonny White, Lawrence Lucie, John Williams and Hal West. The second date had him working with Lester Boone, Ernie Powell, Eddie Heywood, Paul Chapman, Grachan Moncur, and Herbert Cowans.
Throughout the decade he recorded with Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra. The resulting album was released in 1960 as Mr. B. He also recorded in New York with Don Byas and Hal Singer. Powell then joined the Illinois Jacquet Orchestra with Tadd Dameron and Jimmy Mundy arranging
The Fifties saw Jimmy as a member of the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band that recorded Groovin’ High live at Birdland. He went on to record several albums with Gillespie. He recorded with Betty Carter, Bernard Purdie and Otis Redding. Throughout the rest of his career he performed and recorded into the !970s.
Alto saxophonist Jimmy Powell died on February 16, 1994.
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The Jazz Voyager
Autumn in New York is one of my favorite times of year. The weather is wonderful and the jazz is plentiful. This month the Jazz Voyager is flying nowhere but around the isldanrelegated to the city’s cabs, private cars or Lyfts. Last week was Dizzy’s at Columbus Circle, this week I’ll be right up Broadway to Lincoln Center to be in the audience at Alice Tull Hall.
For the listening pleasure of this week’s audience I will be in attendance to witness the talent of Trindadian trumpeter and composer Etienne Charles with his band Creole Soul. Joining him is the University of Miami Frost Symphony Orchestra along with special guests. They’ll be paying tribute to San Juan Hill, a story about the Black neighborhood that was destroyed in order to build the venerable performance venue complex, Lincoln Center.
More Posts: adventure,club,ensembles,genius,jazz,music,preserving,travel,trumpet
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bernard Peiffer was born on October 23, 1922 in Épinal, France and was raised in a musical family, with his father and uncle playing the violin and the organ, respectively. Learning piano at age nine, he studied under Pierre Maire and quickly demonstrated his abilities by repeating long sections of classical works by ear. He won the 1st Prize in Piano at the Paris Conservatory and began his professional career at the age of twenty. playing with André Ekyan and Django Reinhardt.
During World War II, he joined the French resistance after witnessing the execution of a friend by the Gestapo in the streets of Paris. Soon afterwards he was captured, and was incarcerated for over a year. By the early 1950s, he began a successful career, playing with Django Reinhardt, leading his own quintet, composing film soundtracks, and achieving notice in the clubs of Paris, Monte Carlo and Nice, and eventually became nationally known.
He moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1954 with his wife Corine and daughter Rebecca. The subsequent loss of his third daughter profoundly affected him, resulting in Poem for a Lonely Child. During his first years in America, Bernard achieved considerable success, performing at Carnegie Hall, Birdland, and the Newport Jazz Festival. He recorded for the EmArcy, Decca and Laurie labels.
Peiffer released his last commercial album in 1965 and, after having kidney surgery a few years later, restricted himself to performing and teaching, mainly in Philadelphia. His students included Uri Caine, Sumi Tonooka, Tom Lawton, and Don Glanden. His last major appearance was at the 1974 New York/Newport Festival at Carnegie Hall. Pianist, composer and teacher Bernard Peiffer, whose nickname was Le Most for his piano skills, died on September 7, 1976. He was 53.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Harry Austin was born on October 22, 1958 in Capetown, South Africa. His passion for guitar was evident at a very tender age and spent his youth mingling with gifted street musicians around the city who greatly influenced him over the years.
A versatile guitarist and a wholehearted Jazz composer. In the late 70’s, he co-founded and performed with the “Touch” band and enjoyed great national success until the mid 80’s. Following this first accomplishment, he toured and made appearances with various musicians and live bands across South Africa until he made his international debut with the Andrew Young band in 2002. For the next 3 years, he played with the band in numerous countries such as China, Turkey and Tunisia.
Between 2005 and 2008, he performed at Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa in Dubai. During 2009 & 2010, he toured throughout the United Arab Emirates. After touring Harry released 2 albums over the net titled Mojaezz, and Easylike.
Guitarist Harry Austin, who performs in the smooth jazz idiom, continues to play, tour and record.
More Posts: bandleader,guitar,history,instrumental,jazz,music
On The Bookshelf…
THE LAST HOLIDAY: A MEMOIR | GIL SCOTT-HERON
From a humble childhood divided between his grandmother in Jackson, Tennessee and his mother in New York City, Gil Scott Heron became one of the most uncompromising and fearless truthtellers of his generation.
His memoir provides a remarkable glimpse into his life and times, from the young man who gained entry into New York’s prestigious Fieldstone School, finding a path out of poverty even as his mother was being hospitalized in a diabetic coma, to the bill budding activist who led his university in a strike to demand better student healthcare.
As he comes of age as a man and as an artist, he provides keen observations on the civil rights movement and the tumultuous changes of the 1960s.
The Last Holidday, published by Grove Press on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 16, 2012 in honor of the historic tour in which he participated in the fall of 1980. It serves as both the climax of the book and the inspiration for the title.
His friend Stevie Wonder decided to use his Hotter Than July tour to raise popular support for a national holiday honoring the great civil rights leader, and he invited Scott-Heron to join him. Thus, the book is not just a tribute to Gil’s activism but also offers highly personal recollections of Wonder, Clive Davis, and other musical peers and acquaintances, as well as insights into the music industry, the Civil Rights movement, modern America, governmental hypocrisy, and our wider place in the world.