Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frank Emilio was born Francisco Emilio Flynn Rodríguez on April 13, 1921 in Havana, Cuba to an American father and Cuban mother. Despite being blinded at birth due to damage to his eyes by the doctor’s forceps, unable to distinguish shapes as a child he became totally blind by his late teens. Orphaned at age five he was raised by his aunt and uncle. At 13 years old, he won an amateur music contest and shortly after began to play danzones by Antonio María Romeu. In 1938 he interrupted his career to complete his studies at a school run by Cuba’s National Association for the Blind.
During the 1940s, Flynn became part of the filin music scene which comprised jazz-influenced bolero composers. He accompanied singer Miguel de Gonzalo. In 1946 he founded the Loquibambia ensemble together with guitarist and composer José Antonio Méndez, and they started to work for the Mil Diez radio station. By 1949 they accompanied the famous Conjunto Casino in the recording of their song Átomo. Two years later he founded Los Modernistas, and played at Radio Cadena Habana, toured the island before disbanding. Flynn then joined a son ensemble, Alejandro y sus Muchachos, and in 1955 he recorded four songs with Arcaño y sus Maravillas.
By the late Fifties he would go on to pioneer small-ensemble Cuban jazz. After the Cuban Revolution, the members of the Quinteto Instrumental remained in Havana, playing and recording. In the late 1970s and 1980s, his band expanded and recorded their debut album. During the 1990s Flynn recorded several albums including Barbarísimo, Tribute to Ernesto Lecuona and A Tiempo de Danzón for Milan/RCA Records, and Ancestral Reflections for Blue Note. In 1998 he made his American debut, with Los Amigos, in a Jazz at Lincoln Center gig and the following year he reunited with his American relatives.
Between 2000 and 2001 he spent much of his time with his relatives in California, where he played live occasionally and gave lectures at California State University, Los Angeles. Pianist Frank Emilio, who played danzas, danzones, filin, descarga, and Afro-Cuban jazz, passed away on August 23, 2001 in Havana.
More Posts: bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Tullio Mobiglia was born in Carezzano, Italy on April 12, 1911. Passionate about music, he graduated in violin at the Niccolò Paganini Conservatory in Genoa, Italy. In 1934 he began playing in orchestras on ships, often traveling to the United States where he was able to approach jazz, becoming friends with some musicians such as Coleman Hawkins.
He quickly emerged as the best Italian saxophonist of the period, and was called to play in the Mirador Orchestra. By 1940 Tullio was to Berlin, Germany achieving great success, to the point of being hired for a certain period in Heinz. Wehner Orchestra. 1941 saw him forming his first band of Italian musicians, with whom he published the first 78 rpm recordings.
During his career he had the opportunity to play with Django Reinhardt in another Berlin club, the Femina Bar. Due to the ban on playing American music he was only allowed to play European music, however, many pieces are written by Mobiglia himself.
Mobiglia returned to Italy in 1943 and two years later reformed his orchestra with other musicians, obtaining a contract with Columbia Records, where he recorded several 78s. In the following years he recorded with Telefunken, Cetra and Durium, resuming the playing of his first instrument, the violin. By 1967 he was teaching violin at the Jan Sibelius Conservatory of Helsinki, Finland to teach the violin, a position he held until the 1980s, while continuing to perform in the Finnish capital where he spent the last few years of his life. Saxophonist and bandleader Tullio Mobiglia passed away on July 24, 1991 at the age of 80 in Helsinki, Finland.
More Posts: bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Emil Mangelsdorff was born April 11, 1925, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. In 1942 and 1943, he studied clarinet at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, Germany.
As a member of the Frankfurt Hot Club, his performance of jazz with Hans Otto Jung among others, led to his being imprisoned by the Gestapo. He was forced into the German army and was a Russian prisoner of war for four years. In 1949 he returned to Frankfurt and decided to become a professional jazz musician. Emil played in the combos of Joe Klimm and Jutta Hipp, and was also a member of the Frankfurt All Stars and the Jazz-Ensemble des Hessischen Rundfunks from 1958.
Since the 1960s he has directed his own quartet. In 1964 Mangelsdorff wrote an instruction manual for jazz saxophone. In 2006 he was awarded the Goethe-Plakette des Landes Hessen and in 2008 he received the Bundesverdienstkreuz.
Alto saxophonist Emil Mangelsdorff, who also played soprano saxophone, clarinet and flute, has retired from music at 96.
More Posts: bandleader,clarinet,flute,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Morty Corb was born Mortimer Gerald Corb on April 10, 1917 in San Antonio, Texas. He played four years with Bob Crosby’s television program, Morty also worked extensifly as a studio session musician in studios, appearing on some 300 recordings. He worked in Disneyland bands after moving to California in 1947.
Particularly interested in scary, haunted house stuff, in 1973 Morty developed the “Hallowed Haunting Grounds”, a trick or treating evening with a special flair for theatrical effects that made his homemade shenanigan impressive even to the Tinsel Town crowd.
His name has been mentioned alongside Wrecking Crew studio bassist Carol Kaye, he curbed his session availability as the rock and roll era progressed or perhaps regressed. The bassist instead went to work at Disneyland, playing in the attraction’s bands but also mingling with special effects folk.
Corb’s long career began in 1946 and lasted until his death. He performed and recorded with Pete Fountain, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Pearl Bailey, Louis Armstrong, Claude Thornhill, Kid Ory, Jack Teagarden, Benny Goodman, Pete Kelly, Barney Kessel, Claire Austin, George Van Eps, Eartha Kitt, Mel Lewis, Earl Grant, Red Nichols, Wild Bill Davison, Muggsy Spanier, Plas Johnson, Gene Krupa, Louie Bellson, Jonah Jones, and Billy May among numerous others.
Double bassist Morty Corb, whose only album as a leader recorded in Los Angeles, California was his 1957 Strictly From Dixie featuring His Dixie All Stars, passed away on January 13, 1996 Las Vegas, Nevada..
More Posts: bandleader,bass,guitar,history,instrumental,jazz,music
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Monty Sunshine was born on April 9, 1928 in Stepney, London, England. Along with Lonnie Donegan, Jim Bray and Ron Bowden, he formed the back line of what was the embryo Chris Barber Band. First trumpet Ken Colyer and the original 1953 band took the Colyer name until he left. Pat Halcox took over the spot and the band formally adopted the Chris Barber Jazz Band as its title.
The band quickly made an international reputation following their inaugural tour of Denmark, before their professional debut in the United Kingdom. Sunshine stayed with the band for several years, until he left in 1960, to be replaced by Ian Wheeler. He formed his own band, staying true to the original six-man line up, whilst Barber expanded his band membership to seven, then eight and finally to eleven.
Sunshine returned to play a reunion concert with the original Chris Barber Band at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon in 1975. Well received, the band reformed for an international reunion tour in 1994 and he retired from music around 2001. His discography is extensive, and compact discs have been issued of recordings with Colyer and Barber, as well as with his own band.
Clarinetist Monty Sunshine, known for his clarinet solo on the track Petite Fleur, passed away on November 30, 2010 at the age of 82.
More Posts: bandleader,clarinet,history,instrumental,jazz,music