Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Nelson “Cadillac” Williams was born on September 26, 1917 in Montgomery, Alabama and began playing piano at age 13, however, he settled on the trumpet soon afterwards. It has been speculated that while still a teenager he may have played with blues pianist/singer Cow Cow Davenport.
In the 1930s, he played in the territory bands Trianon Crackerjacks and Brown Skin Models, and acted as musical director for the Dixie Rhythm Girls. Around 1940, he left Alabama for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he played with Tiny Bradshaw’s band before joining the U.S. Army during World War II.
After the war, Billy Eckstine hired Williams, before working with John Kirby and pianist Billy Kyle. In 1949, he began the first of several stints with Duke Ellington, who bestowed upon him the nickname “Cadillac”.
In 1951, he left Ellington’s employ and moving to Paris, France he led his own bands and recorded for French labels. He returned to Ellington in 1956, and played with him again in 1969 on a tour of Europe. Trumpeter Nelson “Cadillac” Williams settled in the Netherlands and passed away in 1973 in Voorburg.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Charlie Allen was born in Jackson, Mississippi on September 25, 1908 and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He began playing in the early 1920s just out of high school and through the decade worked as a member of the bands of Hugh Swift, Dave Peyton, Doc Cook, Clifford King, and Johnny Long.
Allen worked with Earl Hines from 1931 to 1934, then did a short stint in Duke Ellington’s orchestra in 1935, though he never recorded any solos with Ellington. He played with Fletcher Butler in 1936 and then returned to play with Hines again in 1937.
He played in various groups in Chicago in the 1940s and 1950s. Later in his life he became a music educator, worked in the Chicago Musicians’ Union, and designed custom trumpet mouthpieces, used by Cat Anderson, among others.
Trumpeter Charlie Allen passed away on November 19, 1972 in Chicago.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Wallace Carter was born on September 24, 1929 in Fort Worth, Texas and attended I.M. Terrell High School, and played music with schoolmates Ornette Coleman and Charles Moffett in the 1940s. Earning a Bachelor of Arts from Lincoln University in Jefferson, Missouri in 1949 and a Master of Arts from the University of Colorado in 1956. He also studied at the North Texas State and University of California at Los Angeles, California.
From 1961, Carter was based mainly on the West Coast. There he met Bobby Bradford in 1965, with whom he subsequently worked on a number of projects, notably the New Jazz Art Ensemble. He also played with Hampton Hawes and Harold Land. In the 1970s Carter became well known on the basis of his solo concerts.
At the New Jazz Festival Moers in 1979, he and the German clarinet player Theo Jörgensmann performed for three days. Carter received complimentary reviews and wide recognition from around the world. He and Jörgensmann met again in 1984, and played the Berlin JazzFest, both as a soloist and in duo.
Between 1982 and 1990, John composed and recorded Roots and Folklore: Episodes in the Development of American Folk Music. It was a five album set that focused on African Americans and their history, and was acclaimed by jazz critics as containing some of the best releases of the 1980s.
He recorded seventeen albums as a leader and thirteen albums with Tim Berne, Clarinet Summit, Vinny Golia, Richard Grossman, John Lindberg, James Newton and Horace Tapscott. Carter planned a clarinet quartet with Perry Robinson, Jörgensmann and Eckard Koltermann was planned for 1991, but it never came to fruition.
Clarinetist, saxophonist, and flutist John Carter passed away from a non-malignant tumor on March 31, 1991. Later that year he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
To maintain my health during this variant period of the pandemic I am continuing to listen to great music as I remain socially distant. This week I am pulling out from my shelves the album Easy Like, Volume 1 by guitarist Barney Kessel.
The album was released by Contemporary Records in 1956. Eight songs were released on the 10-inch album Barney Kessel which were recorded on November 14, and December 19, 1953, while other songs were recorded on February 23, 1956. It was recorded at Contemporary Records Studio in Los Angeles, California. The album was produced by Lester Koenig.
Track Listing | 46:04All tracks are written by Barney Kessel except where noted.
- Easy Like ~ 4:04
- Tenderly (Walter Gross/Jack Lawrence) ~ 4:06
- Lullaby of Birdland (George Shearing/George David Weiss) ~ 3:16
- What Is There to Say? (Vernon Duke/Yip Harburg) ~ 3:10
- Bernardo ~ 3:34
- Vicky’s Dream ~ 2:37
- Salute to Charlie Christian ~ 2:52
- That’s All (Alan Brandt/Bob Haymes) ~ 3:18
- I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart (Duke Ellington/Irving Mills/Henry Nemo/John Redmond) ~ 4:12
- Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don’t Tease Me) (Ellington/Lee Gaines) ~ 3:41
- April in Paris (Duke/Harburg) ~ 3:00
- North of the Border ~ 2:46
- Barney Kessel ~ guitar
- Buddy Collette ~ alto saxophone, flute
- Bud Shank ~ alto saxophone, flute
- Arnold Ross ~ piano
- Claude Williamson ~ piano
- Harry Babasin ~ double bass
- Red Mitchell ~ double bass
- Shelly Manne ~ drums
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bardu Ali was born September 23, 1906 in Mississippi. His mother, Ella, moved to the Bronx, New York, with her children and her sister Fanny. He moved into New York City in the 1920s and became leader of the Napoleon Zyas band. He was master of ceremonies for this band and for the bands of Leroy Tibbs and Chick Webb. He is credited with persuading Webb to hire singer Ella Fitzgerald.
Ali got involved with black cinema in the late 1920s and 1930s. He went on tour in England with Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds revue. Returning to the States, he replaced Webb as bandleader after Webb died.
1940 saw him move to California, where he became the business partner of Johnny Otis, performed as a singer in Otis’s band, and opened The Barrelhouse club with him in 1947. He played an important role in the early career of Charles Brown and was Redd Foxx’s business manager.
Guitarist, singer and promoter Bardu Ali, who performed in both jazz and R&B genres, passed away on October 29, 1981.
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