The Jazz Voyager
Flying cross-country always gives me the opportunity to unplug, watch a movie and take a nap as I head for North Carolina. As a lifelong jazz listener always on the prowl to hear someone new, The Jazz Voyager’s destination is Middle C Jazz in Charlotte. It’s an intimate upscale club setting with southern charm and hospitality, with small plates and craft cocktails.
This week I will discover the talents of vocalist Veronica Swift. A fixture in the modern jazz scene she has recorded two albums that explore mu;tiple genres of music that she incorporates into her sound.
Middle C Jazz is located at 300 South Brevard Street 28202. Get more info by visiting the Jazz Calendar at https://notoriousjazz.com/event/veronica-swift
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Rozanne Levine was born on October 19, 1945 in New York City, New York. She was introduced to the jazz/new music community as a performer with William Parker and Patricia Nicholson Parker’s Centering Music/Dance Ensemble during the late Seventies.
Throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s Levine performed in saxophonist/clarinetist Mark Whitecage’s Glass House Ensemble, playing both clarinet and Whitecage’s sound sculptures. In 1993 she rejoined the Parkers as a founding member of their New York-based Improvisors Collective, performing in the Collective Orchestra and with Collective members in smaller ensembles. During her three year tenure with the Collective she formed two ensembles, Crystal Clarinets and the Clarinet Choir, which performed in New York City and Connecticut.
In 1999 Rozanne and Whitecage formed a touring duo, RoMarkable, to showcase their acoustic and electronic forays. They performed at numerous clubs and festivals around the country. She led Chakra Tuning, with Mark Whitecage, clarinetist Perry Robinson and violinist/vocalist Rosi Hertlein. Her compositions form the thematic material from which the musicians improvise, each artist adding their distinct voice to the mix. The group released their highly-praised debut album, Only Moment, in 2009, on her and Whitecage’s label, Acoustics.
Levine performed with Mark Whitecage and The Bi-Coastal Orchestra, Anthony Braxton, The New Reed Quartet, Jason Kao Hwang, Jackson Krall, Theo Jorgensmann, Blaise Siwula, and Who Knows?, among others.
Alto clarinetist, bamboo flutist and composer Rozanne Levine, who became a noted photographer that were incorporated into her performances, transitioned in Morristown, New Jersey on June 18, 2013.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Conrad Lanoue was born on October 18, 1908 in Cohoes, New York. He started on piano when he was ten years old and attended the Troy Conservatory.
Beginning his career in his 20s, he played piano at hotels in his hometown. Conrad recorded with Red McKenzie in 1935, and under the combined leadership of trumpeter Eddie Farley and trombonist Mike Riley in 1935–36. During the 1930s he worked for Louis Prima, then Wingy Manone from 1936 to 1940 followed by playing with pianist Joe Haymes.
From the 1940s to the 1960s, he was a member of bands led by Lester Lanin, Charles Peterson, and Hal Landsberry. He also wrote big band arrangements. Pianist and arranger Conrad Lanoue, who never recorded as a leader, retired in 1968 due to illness and transitioned in Albany, New York on October 15, 1972.
Three Wishes
While in conversation with Melba Liston, girl talk turned to the granting of three wishes and she told Pannonica that she would wish for:
- “One thing I’m concerned about is the youth music program. Kids don’t have the opportunity they should have – kids with talent, I mean. There’s an awful lot of talking, but not enough doing. There should be a workshop, or a place where they’d have a chance to learn something besides rock “n’ roll. I would love to be able to do something about that.”
- “The other things are personal…. I wish I had lots of money.”
- “I wish I had equal opportunity according to energy, ability, and desire. And sex. Mainly sex.”
*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…
David Bee was born on October 17, 1903 in Brussels, Belgium. He was a multi-instrumentalist adept on clarinet, harp, piano, and alto and tenor saxophone. For a year in 1924 he played with the group Bistrouille ADO before co-founding an ensemble with Peter Packay called Red Beans. The group toured widely throughout western Europe.
After returning to Belgium, David joined Robert De Kers’s band, and also played in Paris, France at Chez Florencewith Benny Carter and Willie Lewis. He recorded with Gus Deloof in the early Forties and after World War II he played with Robert Bosmans and Chas Dolne later in the decade. He led his own bands and groups at various times in the 1950s and continued recording late into the decade and the 60s.
As a composer, Bee pennedr the tunes High Tension recorded by Luis Russell) and Obsession recorded by Ted Heath and Reg Owen.
Clarinetist, harpist, pianist, alto and tenor saxophonist, arranger and composer David Bee, also known as Ernest Craps, Ernie Sparks, and Manuel Travo, transitioned in 1992.
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