Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Horst Konrad “Conny” Jackel was born on August 30, 1931 in Offenbach am Main, Germany. Initially working as a steel construction fitter, he attended the conservatory in 1951 and from 1952 played in the clubs of the US Army in France, the Netherlands and Germany.
In 1955 he became a member of the Helmut Brandt Combo, contributing to its success. In 1959 he went on to perform the equally demanding arrangements of the Media Band of Harald Banter in Cologne. 1961 saw Jackel moving to the Erwin Lehn Orchestra in Stuttgart, where he performed with Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie and Frank Sinatra.
From 1964 to 1969 he was a member of the Hessischer Rundfunk Jazz Ensemble led by Albert Mangelsdorff, then became first trumpet of the orchestra in 1967 under Willy Berking and the HR Big Band under Heinz Schönberger. He would go on to perform with Joki Freund, Rudi Sehring, Attila Zoller, Charly Antolini and the Sugar Foot Stompers among other traditional bands.
Suffering from cancer, he lost his lower jaw to amputation forcing him to give up the trumpet. Occasionally he was active as a drummer with The Bookreaders. After a long illness as a result of an operation, trumpeter and flugelhornist Conny Jackel, whose motto was “No beer – no music!”, passed away on April 28, 2008 in Bad Nauheim, Germany.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gilbert Rovère was born on August 29, 1939, Toulon, France and attended the Conservatory of Nice studying the double bass. He becme one of the most in-demand musicians in France in the Sixties.
He appeared and/or recorded with Bud Powell, Dexter Gordon, René Thomas, Jean-Luc Ponty, Barney Wilen, Al Haig, and Steve Grossman among others. For several years during his career Rovère was a member of the Martial Solal Trio with Daniel Humair.
Bibi was hired by Duke Ellington to play a Paris recording session with the orchestra and Alice Babs in 1963. He also hired him the following year to play with one of Duke’s small groups on the Italian Riviera.
Bassist Gilbert ‘Bibi’ Rovère, who received the Prix Django Reinhardt award in 1967, passed away from cancer in southern France on March 13, 2007 in Gorbio, France. He was 67.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
George F. Clarke was born on August 28, 1911 in Memphis, Tennessee. He attended Manassas High School, where he was Jimmie Lunceford’s pupil before joining the orchestra and playing with Lunceford until 1933.
Relocating to Buffalo, New York, there he played with Guy Jackson, Lil Armstrong and Stuff Smith in 1935. He and Smith worked together again on tour in 1939-1940 and in the recording studio. Returning to Buffalo, Clarke led an ensemble at a local club from 1942 to 1954.
Following this he moved to New York City and worked with Wild Bill Davis and Jonah Jones, and toured internationally in Europe in 1959 with Cootie Williams and Africa with Cozy Cole in 1962. He was occasionally active through the ‘60s in New York City. Tenor saxophonist George Clarke passed away in September 1985 in the Bronx, New York.
More Posts: history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
William English was born on August 27, 1925 in New York City and studied at the Greenwich House of Music in the Village. His early career hit just as rock & roll was on the rise and he played with rhythm and blues musicians in the 1950s, such as Sonny Thompson and Amos Milburn.
He went on to venture into jazz working with Julian Dash, Bennie Green, and Erskine Hawkins in the mid-1950s before becoming the house drummer at New York’s Apollo Theatre. Later in the decade he worked at Connie’s with his own ensemble, and during the 1960s he freelanced playing with Coleman Hawkins, Earl Hines, Prestige Blues Swingers, Gene Ammons, Quincy Jones Orchestra & Big Band, Sonny Stitt, Philly Joe Jones, Frank Foster Quintet, Etta jones, Joe Newman, Stanley Turrentine, Kenny Burrell, The Ray Bryant Combo and Eddie Jefferson, among others.
He remained active into the 1970s, working with the Eric Dixon Sextet among others. Drummer Bill English passed away on March 4, 2007 in his home city.
More Posts: bandleader,drums,history,instrumental,jazz,music
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frances Wayne was born Chiarina Francesca Bartocci or Clara Bertocci, on August 26, 1924 in Somerville, Massachusetts. After graduating from Somerville High School she moved to New York City in her teens, where she sang in an ensemble led by her brother, saxophonist Nick Jerret.
Early in the 1940s, she recorded with Charlie Barnet’s big band, and in 1943 sang with Woody Herman’s band. After marrying Neal Hefti, who formed his own big band in 1947, Frances soloed in this ensemble well into the 1950s. She later sang with smaller ensembles, featuring Hank Jones, Milt Hinton, Jerome Richardson, Richie Kamuca, John LaPorta, Billy Bauer, and Al Cohn.
Wayne was the female vocalist on The Woody Herman Show for his radio broadcasts. After a long bout with cancer, vocalist Frances Wayne, best known for her recording of ”Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe, passed away in her hometown at age 58 on February 6, 1978.
More Posts: bandleader,history,music,vocals