Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Kellye Gray was born in Dallas, Texas on February 22, 1954. Beginning her career on Austin’s Sixth Street, she provided a rare jazz experience that attracted the college crowd as well as the more sophisticated up-and-coming baby boomers.
In 1990 her first album, Standards In Gray soared to #12 on the Gavin Report. Three years later, another chart-topper, Tomato Kiss helped her move into the national spotlight. An induction into the Texas Jazz Heritage Society along with moving to San Francisco continued to raise the bar and legitimized her as a career jazz vocalist
Her career stalled in 2000 after bereavement and divorce. Not one to be driven too far off-track, in 2002–03 Kellye produced the double live album Blue and Pink. By early 2007 she had put a new team together and released the concert recording, Live at the Jazzschool recorded in Berkeley.
2008 opened with another live recording, KG3 Live! at the Bugle Boy an acoustic trio project featuring classical guitar, acoustic bass and jazz voice. In the summer of 2010 she was the Vocal Intensive instructor at Jazz Camp West in California.
Kellye Gray has performed for dignitaries and heads-of-state throughout the U.S. and Europe performing with a wide variety of jazz, blues and R&B stars. She continues to sing at festivals, concerts and nightclubs.
Put A Dose In Your Pocket
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Hollywood On 52nd Street
10 Cents A Dance is a song originally written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the Broadway play Simple Simon, which became the inspiration for the 1931 romance-drama film of the same name. The film starred Barbara Stanwyck as a married taxi dancer who falls in love with one of her customers.
The Story: A beautiful streetwise taxi dancer named Barbara O’Neill works at a New York City dance hall called Palais de Dance. One of the dance hall’s wealthy patrons, Bradley Carlton comes to the hall and gives Barbara $100. Concerned about her unemployed friend and neighbor Eddie Miller, Barbara asks Bradley to give him a job, and he agrees. They fall in love, get married, Eddie philanders, they get divorced, they remarry, and then he wanders off to South America. Realizing their love is not strong enough she tries to get another divorce but gets denied by the judge. But after a fight and his gambling she packs her bags, goes to the dance hall and leaves with Bradley for France.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Christian Howes was born on February 21, 1972 in Rocky River, Ohio but grew up in Columbus. From the age of five he studied classical violin and by 16 was performing with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. He would go on to matriculate through Ohio State University with a degree in philosophy.
When Christian turned twenty he began playing at regular gospel church services and his interest turned to becoming a jazz voice. Over the next few years he became one of the world’s most respected jazz violinists. He worked with Les Paul for eleven years. Since 2001 he has become an in-demand violinist on the New York jazz scene collaborating with Greg Osby, D.D. Jackson, Frank Vignola, Joel Harrison, Dafnis Prieto, Dave Samuels, Spyro Gyra and a 4-year chair in Bill Evans “Soulgrass” band.
Howes has been recognized by Jazz Times as one of three top violinists, Down Beat Critics Poll’s #2 Rising Star and the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune called him the fiercest violinist since Billy Bang.
As an educator he has taught as an Associate Professor at Beklee College of Music and established the Creative String Workshop and Festival. Teacher, composer, producer and violinist Christian Howes also plays the viola, guitar and bass guitar and continues to perform and record.
Give The Gift Of Knowledge
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Darek “Oles” Oleszkiewicz was born on February 20, 1963 in Breslau, Poland. He had five years of piano lessons at the State Conservatory in his hometown, later learning guitar, electric bass and upright bass. As a teenager, he played pop styles of rock music, blues and jazz-rock and jazz. In the early 1980s he performed at numerous jazz festivals and national competitions. In 1983 in Krakow and was awarded the first place for jazz composition and a second for ensemble playing at the Youth Jazz Competition.
Subsequently, he joined saxophonist Ptaszyn Wroblewski’s quartet and in the following years worked with several bands. In 1988, he moved to Los Angeles where he received a fellowship at the California Institute of the Arts and studied with Charlie Haden. After his graduation in 1992, he taught at the Institute and has performed in Los Angeles Jazz Quartet with Chuck Manning and managed various jazz ensembles. He has been a lecturer at the University of California since 2002.
In addition to teaching, he worked with a number of American jazz musicians such as Brad Mehldau, Billy Higgins, Pat Metheny, Joe Lovano, Charles Lloyd, John Abercrombie, Bennie Maupin and Lee Konitz.
In 2004 he released his debut album Like A Dream, which he recorded with Mehldau and Bennie Maupin for Cryptogramophone. He was selected Best Acoustic Bass in the 2005 Reader Poll the European Jazz Forum. He recorded a duo album Raindance with Adam Czerwinski, and a trio album with Peter Erskine and Alan Pasqua titled The Interlochen Concert in 2010. Bassist, composer and educator Darek Oles continues to perform and record.
Take A Dose On The Road
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jackie Allen was born on February 19, 1959 in Brown Deer, Wisconsin and raised in McFarland. She first became interested in music through her father, Louis (Gene) Allen, an accomplished tuba player.[3] Growing up she sang in choirs and played French horn, but was not exposed to modern jazz until she attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Limited by the available majors offered at the time, she moved to Milwaukee where she performed five nights a week for four years in a duo with Mel Rhyne at the Wyndham Hotel.
Moving to Chicago in 1990 she began to compose and self-produced her first release, Never Let Me Go, for the short-lived Lake Shore Jazz label. Hitting the top twenty of the Gavin Jazz Charts where it drew the attention of Grammy winning producer Ralph Jungheim who brought her to Naxos Records. out to Los Angeles to record Which with Red Holloway, Gary Foster and Bill Cunliffe. Success sent Jackie on an Asian tour and made her the first jazz artist to perform at the Beijing Music Festival.
By the late 90’s Allen again began enjoying the interactive possibilities in duo settings. She began a collaboration with pianist Judy Roberts, started a series of successful holiday duet concerts, released “Autumn Leaves” the following year. In 1999 she began performing in a voice-bass duo with Hans Sturm and record for the Red Mark label.
Since 2002 Jackie Allen has performed and recorded primarily with the same core rhythm section of bass, guitar and percussion and adding piano, trumpet or woodwinds. She produced The Men in My Life, was picked up by the Chicago label A440, and followed with Love Is Blue. Again success brought her to Michael Cuscuna, Bruce Lundvall, John Clayton Frank Proto, Bill Cunliffe, Mark Buselli and Matt Harris. In 2008 Allen was approached by the Muncie Symphony Orchestra to create a project for their 60th Anniversary Season that resulted in the 2009 live release Starry Night.
Jackie has taught at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, the Old Town School of Folk Music, Elmhurst College, Roosevelt University, Ball State University, The Cornerstone Center for the Arts, E.B. Ball Center, Doane College, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has taught privately, conducted master classes and community outreach projects teaching small groups of adult students learn to sing in public. She continues to record, perform and tour.
Dose A Day – Blues Away
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