Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Claire Austin was born Augusta Marie on November 21, 1918 to Swedish-American parents in Yakima, Washington. She played in nightclubs throughout the northwest in the 1930s and toured with the Chuck Austin Band in the 1940s.

Retiring from professional singing by the early 1950s, Claire began working as an accountant in Sacramento, California. After singing with Turk Murphy, she frequently performed in San Francisco, California for two years. She remained active through the 1970s.

Vocalist and pianist Claire Austin, whose singing style has been compared to Peggy Lee, passed away on June 19, 1994.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Clifton “Skeeter” Best was born on November 20, 1914 in Kinston, North Carolina. Playing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1935 to 1940, he recorded with Slim Marshall and Erskine Hawkins. By 1940, he was a member of Earl Hines’s orchestra, playing with him until he joined the U.S. Navy in 1942.

After the war, he played with Bill Johnson, toured East Asia with Oscar Pettiford, and formed his own trio in the 1950s. He did a critically acclaimed session with Ray Charles and Milt Jackson in 1957 called Soul Brothers.

In 1958, he recorded with Mercer Ellington and taught in New York City. He also recorded with Harry Belafonte, Etta Jones, Nellie Lutcher, Milt Hinton, Osie Johnson, Paul Quinichette, Jimmy Rushing, Sonny Stitt, Charles Thompson, and Lucky Thompson.

Guitarist Skeeter Best passed away on May 27, 1985 in New York City.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Tommy Stewart was born November 19, 1939 in Gadsden, Alabama. He attended Industrial High in Birmingham, Alabama where John T. “Fess” Whatley trained him along with Erskine Hawkins, Dud Bascomb, Paul Bascomb, and Sun Ra. Alvin “Stumpy” Robinson, the band director at Washington Jr High School, was also influential in his development.

Enrolling at Alabama State College and having no way to pay tuition, the problem solved itself when he joined the Bama State Collegians, a dance band that made enough money to fund Stewart’s way through four years of college. He attended Alabama State University, where he directed the Bama State Collegians. Later, he studied jazz arranging at the Eastman School of Music and studied arranging under John Duncan, a classical composer and teacher at Alabama State University.

As an educator he began his teaching career at Fayette High School in St. Clair County Alabama, 1961 to 1963. Moving to Atlanta, Georgia in 1969 he taught in Fayetteville, Georgia, worked for Morris Brown College doing band arrangements and taught jazz and arranged for the Morehouse College band. He also taught band classes at West End High School in Birmingham, Alabama from, and taught A Survey of Popular Music at Georgia State University.

During the 1970s, he worked with Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Tams, Johnnie Taylor, Jackie Moore, King Floyd, Z. Z. Hill, and The Stylistics. He toured as musical director for Johnnie Taylor and for Ted Taylor and went on to record disco in the Seventies with Final Approach, Cream De CoCo, Tamiko Jones, Moses Davis, and his own album.

In 1990, he co-founded the African American Philharmonic Orchestra with founder and conductor John Peek. He moved from Atlanta to Birmingham in 1992.  He was a member of the Magic City Jazz Orchestra, Cleveland Eaton, the Alabama All-Stars, the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame All-Stars, and Ray Reach and Friends, continues to be involved in music. In 1988, he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. At 81, trumpeter, arranger, composer, and record producer Tommy Stewart remains involved in the music industry.

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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

As a nation of thinkers trepidly venture out to events, not out of fear but in caution, we continue to perform the safe practices of mask wearing and social distancing, this quarantined jazz voyager remains steadfast in protecting himself. Today I am playing one of my favorite genres, the big band, and this one is being led by a most wonderful woman. In 2020 Lenora Zenzalai Helm produced a fabulous record For The Love Of Big Band bringing to the fore the Tribe Jazz Orchestra and new arrangements to some of jazz’s classic compositions. There is something wonderful about listening to music that was created with love.

Track Listing | 1:16:00

1. Blues For Mama (Nina Simone) ~ 4:42
2. Bebop (Dizzy Gillespie, Deborah Brown) ~ 6:22
3. Chega De Saudade (Antonio Carlos Jobim, Jessie Cavanuagh, Vinicius de Moraes, Jon Hendricks) ~ 6:39
4. It Could Happen To You (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke) ~ 5:26
5. Soul Eyes (Mal Waldron) ~ 5:24
6. Everything But You (Duke Ellington, Harry James) ~ 4:30
7. I Didn’t Know About You (Duke Ellington, Bob Russell) ~ 5:50
8. Sandu (Clifford Brown, Dupresha L. Townsend) ~ 9:00
9. But Not For Me (George & Ira Gershwin) ~ 5:26
10. A Conversation With God (Dear Lord) (John Coltrane, Lenora Zenzalai Helm) ~ 7:25
11. Mississippi Goddam (Nina Simone) ~ 6:06
12. Stella By Starlight (Victor Young,Ned Washington) ~ 8:23

Tribe Jazz Orchestra  Brian Horton ~ orchestra conductor, saxophone, composer, arranger Ernest Turner, Lydia Salett Dudley, Ed Paolantonio ~ piano Baron Tymas ~ guitar Ginnae Koon ~ bass Thomas Taylor, Dorien Dotson ~ drums Saxophone James “Saxsmo” Gates ~ 1st alto, Sam King ~ 2nd alto, Brian Miller ~ 1st tenor, Matt York ~ 2nd tenor, Ariel Kopelove ~ 2nd tenor, Shaena Ryan Martin ~ baritone Trumpet Al Strong ~ 1st, Lynn Grissett ~ 2nd, Tyler Perske ~ 3rd, Zoe Smith ~ 4th Trombones Isrea Butler ~ 1st, Robert Trowers ~ 2nd, Tenay Harrell ~ 3rd, Reggie Greenlee ~ 3rd, Cameron MacManus ~ bass Tribe Jazz Orchestra Septet Lenora Zenzalai Helm ~ conductor/voice, Ed Paolantio ~ piano, Barontymas ~ guitar, Timothy Holley ~ cello, Serena Salome Wiley ~ tenor saxophone, Lance E. Scott Jr. ~ acoustic bass, Thomas Taylor ~ drums, NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble ~ guest artists Special Guest Instrumentalists Joey Calderazzo ~ piano, Ameen Saleem ~ acoustic bass, Kobie Watkins ~ drums, Ira Wiggins ~ flute Special Guest Vocal Soloist Maurice Myers ~ A Conversation With God Special Guest Vocals North Carolina Central University (NCCU) Vocal Jazz Ensemble Sopranos Dupresha Lache Townsend, Susie Cross, Tyra Scott Altos Najma Pettiford, Kadiatou Fofana, Karen Taylor Tenors Jawan Davidson, Tyquon Garrett Baritone~Bass Malik Denny, Jay Attys, Laurence Horn Production Rob “Wacko” Hunter ~ recording, mix & mastering engineer Jason Merritt ~ studio editing engineer Atiba Berkley ~ concert engineer Malachi Blanding ~ student concert assistant engineer Jay Attys, Malachi Blanding, Tyra Scott, Dupresha Townsend ~ concert production assistant Thembisa S. Mshaka for Mshaka Media ~ creative direction Charnelle Anderson ~ cd cover design/art direction Ewery Harvey-Smith for Mariposa Designs ~ cd back cover/d artwork direction Chi Brown ~ photography Najma Pettiford ~ stylist & makeup

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Henry “Boots” Mussulli was born in Milford, Massachusetts on November 18, 1915. His first instrument was clarinet, which he first played at age 12.

By the Forties he was playing with Mal Hallett in Massachusetts and joined Teddy Powell’s group in 1943-44. He played with Stan Kenton from 1944 to 1947, then returned to play with Kenton again on tour in 1952 and 1954.

He played with Vido Musso, Gene Krupa, Charlie Ventura, Serge Chaloff, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Herb Pomeroy.

In 1949, Boots opened a jazz club in his hometown, called The Crystal Room and from the mid-1950s, he concentrated more on music education, leading a local youth orchestra, the Milford Youth Band. They performed at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1967.

Saxophonist Boots Mussulli, based chiefly out of Boston, Massachusetts, passed away from cancer on September 23, 1967 in Norfolk, Massachusetts.

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