Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen was born in New York City, on December 26, 1921. As an only child and with his father dying when he was raised on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois largely by his mother’s Irish Catholic family. Running away from home at 16 he easily took to begging. A short stint in the Army was derailed by asthma and he was discharged.
He was a pianist and a prolific composer. By his own estimate, he wrote more than 8,500 songs, some of which were recorded by numerous leading singers. Allen won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition for “Gravy Waltz, for which he wrote the lyrics. His songs have been performed and/or recorded by Count Basie, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald, Mark Murphy, Judy Garland, Aretha Franklin, Lionel Hampton, Claire Martin, Oscar Peterson, the McGuire Sisters and Ray Brown among otheres.
He also wrote more than 50 books, including novels, children’s books, and books of opinions, including his final book, Vulgarians at the Gate: Trash TV and Raunch Radio published in 2001.
Pianist, composer, writer, actor, comedian, television and radio personality Steve Allen, who in 1954 co-created and was the first host of The Tonight Show, died due to a ruptured blood vessel on October 30, 2000 in Los Angeles, California. He was 78.
More Posts: composer,history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano,writer
The Jazz Voyager
It’s a four hour drive through Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey on I95 north to get to the Big Apple. Crossing the Verrazanno Bridge into Brooklyn and up the BQE to the Williamsburg Bridge into Lower Manhattan. This Jazz Voyager will arrive in Greenwich Village where I’ll spend a few hours before showtime at the Village Vanguard, one of my favorite hangouts for jazz.
My Christmas present taking the stage this week is a phenomenal pianist called Kenny Barron. I’ve seen here several times throughout his career and he always has great sidemen and sidewomen with him. He’s bringing saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, vibraphonist Steve Nelson, Yoshi Kitagawa on double bass, with drummer Johnathan Blake. Unfortunately for you jazz voyagers who haven’t got your tickets or reservations, this engagement is sold out.
The Village Vanguard is located at 178 7th Avenue S, New York City 10014. For more information visit villagevanguard.com.
More Posts: adventure,club,ensembles,genius,jazz,music,piano,preserving,travel
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Herbert Anthony Charles Spanier was born in Cupar, Canada on December 25, 1928. He played guitar and harmonica at five, bugle in Regina, Canada cadet bands, and trumpet in high school. One of the first beboppers in Canada, and a figure of some legend on the Canadian jazz scene,
He played with Paul Perry and with his own band ‘Boptet’ in Regina before working in Chicago, Illinois from 1949-1950 and from 1950-1954 in Toronto, Canada. He was a sideman to Paul Bley in New York 1954-1955 and Los Angeles, California 1958-1959, and toured out of New York with the Claude Thornhill and Hal McIntyre orchestras in 1955.
He was an influential jazz musician in Montreal, Canada from 1956-1958 and between 1960-1971. Spanier taught briefly at Sir George Williams University, performed in various dance, hotel, and CBC orchestras, contributed music to NFB films. Herbie was the leader on the CBC’s ‘Jazz en Liberté’ and in various clubs. Returning to Toronto in 1971, he was a featured soloist for nine years with Nimmons ‘N’ Nine Plus Six.
For the next two and a half decades he led his own groups, won the Juno Awards, received a Special Recognition Award and recorded sessions in 1993-1994 in which he produced new works which combined with earlier recordings on compact discs.
Trumpeter, flugelhornist, pianist, and composer Herbie Spanier died in Toronto, Canada on December 13, 2001.
More Posts: bandleader,composer,flugelhorn,history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano,trumpet
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Tatsuya Takahashi was born December 24, 1931 in Tsuruoka, Yamagata, Japan. He played on U.S. military bases in the early 1950s, and later in the decade moved to Tokyo, Japan.
He worked with Keiichiro Ebihara from 1961, but by 1966 was leading his own ensemble, Tokyo Union, which remained active until 1989. In the 1970s he played at the Monterey and Montreux Jazz Festivals.
After leaving Tokyo Union, Takahashi worked in jazz education, and in 1996 founded a new ensemble, Jazz Groovys.
Saxophonist Tatsuya Takahashi died on February 29, 2008 in Tokyo, Japan.
More Posts: bandleader,educator,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone
On The Bookshelf
Satchmo: The Genius of Louis Armstrong | Gary Giddins
Gary Giddins has been called “the best jazz writer in America today” by Esquire Magazine. Louis Armstrong has been called the most influential jazz musician of the twentieth century. His magnificent career as trumpeter, singer, bandleader and actor made him a legend in his own time. His influence on jazz and popular music is impossible to overstate. Satchmo is one of the most vivid and insightful portraits ever drawn of the great man and superlative artists in the history of American music.
This edition is an authoritative introduction to Armstrong’s life and art for the curious newcomer and offers fresh insight even for the serious student of the musician. Whether he was known as Pops, Satch,Satchelmouth, Gatemouth, Dippermouth, Louie or King Menelik, this recounting of Louis’s colorful and controversial life brings the man to life.
Satchmo ~ The Genius of Louis Armstrong: 2001 | Gary Giddins
Da Capo Press
