Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Martin Abraham, better known as Chink Martin, on June 10, 1886 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He played guitar in his youth before settling on tuba as his main instrument. He played with Papa Jack Laine’s Reliance Brass Band around 1910, and worked in various other brass bands in the city in the 1910s.
In 1923, he traveled to Chicago, Illinois and played with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings with whom he made his first records. He also recorded guitar duets with Leon Roppolo, but these unfortunately were never issued. Returning to New Orleans with the Rhythm Kings in 1925, Martin made further recordings with them.
He also played with the Halfway House Orchestra with which he recorded on both tuba and string bass, the New Orleans Harmony Kings, and the New Orleans Swing Kings. In the 1930s, Martin worked as a staff musician at WSMB radio. He continued to play tuba for his entire career, though he also played and recorded on the double-bass from at least the 1920s onward.
He played with dozens of noted New Orleans jazz musicians, appearing on record with Sharkey Bonano, Santo Pecora, Pete Fountain, Al Hirt, and others. Tubist Chink Martin, who released one album under his own name on Southland Records in 1963, transitioned on January 7, 1981 in New Orleans.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
Once again the Jazz Voyager selects another rare gem from the stacks in his library and dusting it off places it on the turntable for another listen. This week it is an album by James Moody titled Great Day. The album was recorded on two simultaneous sessions, June 17 -18, 1963 at the Nola Penthouse Studio in New York City, produced by Esmond Edwards and released the same year on the Argo Records label.
The saxophone and flute work from Moody is always reliable and excellent for the avid listener. He has a penchant for switching from soul jazz to hard bop to mainstream, as he plays straight-ahead originals, standards, and ballads.
Benny Golson wrote the liner notes, Don Bronstein designed the cover and Esmond Edwards painted the cover art. The Great Day sessions historical significance is it is the first documented encounter for Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, who would go on to lead the Thad Jones~Mel Lewis Orchestra.
Tracks | 33:06 All compositions by Tom McIntosh, except as indicated- Great Day ~ 4:00
- The Search ~ 4:35
- Let’s Try ~ 3:22
- One Never Knows (John Lewis) ~ 5:18
- Opales’que (Dennis Sandole) ~ 5:01
- Blues Impromptu (James Moody) ~ 5:30
- Malice Toward None ~ 5:20
- James Moody ~ alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute
- Johnny Coles, Thad Jones ~ trumpet
- Hubert Laws ~ flute
- Hank Jones, Bernie Leighton ~ piano
- Jim Hall ~ guitar
- Richard Davis ~ bass
- Mel Lewis ~ drums
- Tom McIntosh ~ arranger, conductor, composer
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
James Pasco Gourley, Jr. was born June 9, 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri. He met saxophonist Lee Konitz in Chicago when both were members of the same high school band and credits Konitz with encouraging him to become a serious musician.
His father started the Monarch Conservatory of Music in Hammond, Indiana, though he didn’t teach and bought his son his first guitar. Jimmy took his first guitar classes at the school and became interested in jazz while listening to the radio, enjoying in particular Nat King Cole. For his first professional experience as a performer, he dropped out of high school to play with a jazz band in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
From 1944 to 1946 Gourley served in the U.S. Navy. Upon his return to Chicago, Illinois he met guitarist Jimmy Raney and wanted to play like him. He worked in bars and clubs with Jackie Cain & Roy Kral, Anita O’Day, Sonny Stitt, and Gene Ammons. Through the G.I. Bill he received tuition for three years to any college in the world.
Beginning in 1951, Jimmy spent the rest of his life in France, working with Henri Renaud, Lou Bennett, Kenny Clarke, Richard Galliano, Stéphane Grappelli, Bobby Jaspar, Eddy Louiss, Martial Solal, and Barney Wilen. He played with American musicians who were passing through, including Bob Brookmeyer, Clifford Brown, Stan Getz, Gigi Gryce, Roy Haynes, Lee Konitz, Bud Powell, Zoot Sims, Lucky Thompson, and Lester Young.
Guitarist Jimmy Gourley, who spent the better part of his life in Paris, France transitioned at the age of 82 on December 7, 2008 in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Joseph Harold Holmes was born in Montreal, Canada on June 8. 1916 and began playing cornet at 10, briefly studying with C. Van Camp. After playing trumpet for a year in 1940 in a co-operative band, the Escorts, he took over its leadership 1941-50.
Under the name Johnny Holmes Orchestra, they played Saturday nights at Victoria Hall in Montreal, broadcasted on CBC radio, and occasionally toured Canada’s Quebec and Ontario. One of Montreal’s leading dance bands of the day, it boasted a healthy jazz quotient and benefited from Holmes’ ability to identify talented young musicians. His sidemen included, at various times, Nick Ayoub, Al Baculis, Percy and Maynard Ferguson, Bud Hayward, Art Morrow, and Oscar Peterson. Lorraine McAllister and Sheila Graham, in turn, sang with the band.
Retiring from music from 1951 to 1959, he reemerged and from 1959 to 1969 was heard on CBC radio in The Johnny Holmes Show, Broadway Holiday, and others. Holmes’ orchestras made several broadcast recordings between 1966 and 1973 for the CBC’s LM series. He continued to perform periodically until his final retirement from music in 1978.
Trumpeter, bandleader, arranger, composer Johnny Holmes, who wrote more than 40 songs and many arrangements for his orchestra and his radio shows and has no available recordings online, transitioned on June 11, 1989.
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Three Wishes
When the Baroness asked Jimmy Jones if he had the opportunity to get three wishes granted what would they be he responded with:
- “I’d like to be a better musician.”
- “Communicate my music.”
- “To hit a golf ball straight.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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