Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Will Lee was born September 8, 1952 in San Antonio, Texas. Greatly influenced to pursue music because of his parents, his father played piano, trumpet and the upright bass professionally and his mother sang with big bands. He took up drums after seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, and by the time he was 12 had formed his first band in Miami, Florida.
Due to the great numbers of drummers in Miami, Lee studied French horn for a year before shifting to bass and studying at the University of Miami. He became part of a succession of bands including top 40 bands with names like Chances R, The Loving Kind, Green Cloud and Goldrush.
A move to New York City saw Will selected by trumpeter Randy Brecker to join the jazz-rock group Dreams. He played on the album Imagine My Surprise as a bassist and vocalist. After Dreams disbanded, his career as a session musician flourished, and he toured with many artists. In 1982,he became one of the original members of The World’s Most Dangerous Band, the house band on NBC‘s Late Night with David Letterman.
Bassist Will Lee, who has played in both the jazz, rock and r&b genres, continues his career as a seesion and touring musician and recording artist.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Harry Percy South was born on September 7, 1929 in Fulham, London, England. He came to prominence in the 1950s, playing with Joe Harriott, Dizzy Reece, Tony Crombie, and Tubby Hayes. In 1954, he was in the Tony Crombie Orchestra with Dizzy Reece, Les Condon, Joe Temperley, Sammy Walker, Lennie Dawes, and Ashley Kozak.
Returning from a Calcutta, India tour with the Ashley Kozak Quartet, he spent four years with the Dick Morrissey Quartet, where he both wrote and arranged material for their subsequent four albums. He formed the Harry South Big Band in 1966 with Latin, ballads and straight-forward swingers.
By the mid-1960s, he began working with British rhythm & blues singer and organist Georgie Fame, recording the album Sound Venture. He composed and arranged for Humphrey Lyttelton, Buddy Rich, Sarah Vaughan, and Jimmy Witherspoon and was musical director and arranger for Annie Ross.
He branched out into session work, writing themes for television and music libraries. He is credited with the arrangements used for Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s Works Vol. 1 (1977). In 1981, he again arranged for Annie Ross and Georgie Fame in a collaboration on what was to be Hoagy Carmichael’s last recording, In Hoagland.
Pianist, composer and arranger Harry South, who was honored with an album released by the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, died on March 12, 1990 in Lambeth, London at the age of 60.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Henry Hagemann was born on September 6, 1910 in Copenhagen, Denmark He became a professional musician in 1931 and played primarily saxophone and clarinet. Throughout his career, he played with Kai Ewans, Winstrup Olesen and Leo Mathisen, among others.
From 1944 to 1949 he led his own ensemble. Afterward he performed as a theater musician, first with Hans Schreiber in the Fiffer revues and later in the Circus revue . He has also been engaged at the New Scala, where he regularly served as bandmaster.
Saxophonist and clarinetist Henry Hagemann died April 5, 1964.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jeff Lofton was born on September 5, 1966 in Badhershfiele, Germany while his father was in the military. Returning to the States briefly in Virginia before moving back to their hometown of Columbia, South Carolina. Getting his first trumpet at eleven he began playing in the middle school band. In high school he was in the concert and jazz bands.
Graduating from the University of South Carolina his interest led to the avant-grade prior to moving to Dallas, Texas and then going on to performing in Austin, Texas. He has performed theater shows, released several recordings and formed an electric fusion group.
Trumpeter Jeff Lofton has been honored with a day in Austin and continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Mark Jay Levine was born on October 4, 1938 in Concord, New Hampshire and began playing the piano at the age of five, trombone in his early teens. Attending Boston University, graduating with a degree in music in 1960, he also studied privately with Jaki Byard, Hall Overton and Herb Pomeroy.
Moving to New York City in the Sixties he freelanced and then played with musicians Houston Person, Mongo Santamaría, and Willie Bobo from 1971 to 1974. Levine then moved to San Francisco, California and played with Woody Shaw for two years. His debut album was made as a leader for Catalyst Records in 1976.
He went on to play with the Blue Mitchell/Harold Land Quintet, Joe Henderson, Stan Getz, Bobby Hutcherson, Luis Gasca, and Cal Tjader. From 1980 to 1983, he concentrated on valve trombone, but then returned to playing mainly the piano. He then led his own bands, and recorded for Concord as a leader in 1983 and 1985. From 1992 Mark was part of Henderson’s big band. He created a new trio in 1996 and recorded it for his own, eponymous label. His Latin jazz group, Que Calor, was formed in 1997.
He put on his educator hat in 1970, teaching in addition to private lessons at Diablo Valley College, Mills College, Antioch University in San Francisco, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Sonoma State University, and the JazzSchool in Berkeley. Levine wrote two method books: The Jazz Piano Book, and The Jazz Theory Book.
Pianist, trombonist, composer, author and educator Mark Levine, whose album Isla was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album, died of pneumonia on January 27, 2022 at the age of 83.
Get a dose of the musicians and vocalists who were members of a global society integral in the making and preservation of jazz for over a hundred and twenty-five years…
Mark Levine: 1938~2022 | Clarinet, Composer, Educator, Director, Producer
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