Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Charles Sumner Kennedy was born on July 2, 1927 in Staten Island, New York. He played with Louis Prima’s big band orchestra in the 1940s, earning himself a solo on that band’s 1943 recording of The White Cliffs of Dover. He put together his own band and after a brief stint as a leader, he joined Gene Krupa’s big band.
Over the course of his career, he also played with Terry Gibbs’s Dream Band, as well as Charlie Ventura, Flip Phillips, Chico O’Farrill, and Bill Holman. In addition to live performances and recordings with big-name bands, he also was a frequent studio musician. He played in the orchestras for popular movies including My Fair Lady and West Side Story.
By the 1970s, he gave up his career as a full-time musician in order to support his family, but continued to perform in clubs near his home in southern California. Alto saxophonist Charlie Kennedy, who was a big band-era musician, passed away of pulmonary disease on April 3, 2009 in Ventura, California at the age of 81.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
Social distancing and masking are still forefront in the pursuit of health and this time has given me a steady flow of opportunities to sit and listen to albums I played songs from during my tenure at WCLK. This is one of those times that I am rediscovering music that has fed my soul for years. This week I turn to a 1965 album whose title is so appropriate for these times, Lucky Strikes by tenor and soprano saxophonist Lucky Thompson.
Recorded on September 15, 1964 at the Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, it was released on the Prestige record label the following year. The album was produced by Don Schlitten, engineered by Rudy Van Gelder, and the liner notes were written by David A. Himmelstein.
This was his sixth studio recording and of the eight compositions on this date, six are originals by Thompson, and two songs selected by the saxophonist are In A Sentimental Mood by Duke Ellington/Irving Mills, and the Bronisław Kaper composition Invitation.
Track Listing | 39:25
- In a Sentimental Mood ~ 5:49
- Fly With the Wind ~ 4:01
- Mid-Nite Oil ~ 5:08
- Reminiscent ~ 4:04
- Mumba Neua ~ 4:47
- I Forgot to Remember ~ 6:36
- Prey-Loot ~ 4:05
- Invitation ~ 4:55
- Lucky Thompson – tenor, soprano saxophone
- Hank Jones – piano
- Richard Davis – bass
- Connie Kay – drums
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Sameer Gupta was born July 1, 1976 in San Francisco, California. Now based in Brooklyn, New York he is a co-founder of Brooklyn Raga Massive, the jazz ensemble The Supplicants and drummer for the Marc Cary Focus Trio.
He has also worked with vidyA, Kosmic Renaissance, Grachan Moncur III, Victor Goines, Vincent Gardner, Sekou Sundiata, Sonny Simmons, Marcus Shelby, Calvin Keys, Richard Howell, Dayna Stephens, and Julian Lage.
Percussionist, tabla player, and composer Sameer Gupta continues to compose, perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Harry Shields was born on June 30, 1899 at 2319 First Street in Uptown, New Orleans, Louisiana, two doors down from Buddy Bolden’s house. He spent almost his whole career in New Orleans. He played with the bands of Norman Brownlee, Sharkey Bonano, Tom Brown, Johnny Wiggs, and others.
Many of his fellow musicians regarded Harry as a superior clarinetist to his brother Larry, who became a noted musician. Wiggs had once commented that Harry was the only clarinetist he’d heard who could always play the right note without fail. He was a part of George Girard and His New Orleans Five, and Johnny Wiggs and His New Orleans Band.
Clarinetist Harry Shields passed away in his hometown on January 19, 1971.
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Three Wishes
Queried by Pannonica as to what, if given, would be his three wishes and Illinois Jacquet told her:
1. “That people would become civilized.”
2. “That the whole world would believe in God.”
3. “That everyone would dig music.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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