Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Roberto Magris was born June 19, 1959 in Trieste, Italy. By the 1980s he was leading the jazz trio Gruppo Jazz Marca with whom he recorded three albums, Comunicazione Sonora, Aria di Città and Mitteleuropa. In 1987 he put together an Italian quartet that stayed together for nearly 20 years, touring Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America and recording two albums, Life in Israel and Maliblues.
In the 1990s he founded the acid-jazz groups DMA Urban Jazz Funk and Alfabeats Nu Jazz, performing in Europe and in America. In 1998 Magris formed the Europlane Orchestra that included several jazz musicians from various European countries. With the Europlane Orchestra he recorded three albums Live At Zooest, Plays Kurt Weill, and Current Views.
2005 saw Magris partnering with Hungarian saxophonist Tony Lakatos on the album Check-In in 2005 he went on to collaborate with bassist Art Davis and drummer Jimmy “Junebug” Jackson on the album Kansas City Outbound issued by JMood. That same year, he hooked up with alto saxophonist Herb Geller on the album Il Bello del Jazz and some years later, JMood released another album with Herb Geller titled An Evening with Herb Geller & The Roberto Magris Trio – Live in Europe 2009.
During his time in the United States, Magris has become the musical director of JMood and has also recorded two albums in tribute to the trumpeter Lee Morgan, two trio albums with Elisa Pruett and Albert “Tootie” Heath devoted to the music of pianist Elmo Hope, and another to the legacy of alto saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley.
While in Los Angeles, California he recorded with Idris Muhammad and saxmen Paul Carr and Michael O’Neill, one album with Sam Reed, a double CD set in tribute to the bebop era, three albums with his trio from Kansas City and performed with his sextet that included trumpeter Brian Lynch at the WDNA Jazz Gallery in Miami, Florida. In Chicago, Illinois he recorded with a group including trumpeter Eric Jacobson and tenor saxophonist Mark Colby.
His influences have been Wynton Kelly, Tommy Flanagan, Bill Evans, Kenny Drew, Jaki Byard, Randy Weston, McCoy Tyner, Andrew Hill, Paul Bley, Don Pullen, and Steve Kuhn. He has recorded nearly three dozen albums as a leader or as a member of groups he has founded. Pianist, composer and arranger Roberto Magris continues to perform, record and tour.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Rudy Rutherford was born Elmer H. Rutherford on June 18, 1924 in Huachuca City, Arizona. He began performing in the early 1940s with Lionel Hampton and Count Basie. Initially taking Jack Washington’s place in Basie’s orchestra as a baritone saxophonist, once Washington returned from military service, he switched to alto saxophone.
1947 saw Rudy moving to Teddy Buckner’s band, though he continued working with Basie into the early 1950s. He worked with Wilbur De Paris late in the 1950s and appeared with Chuck Berry at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958. He would record with Dicky Wells, Dinah Washington and Lurlean Hunter.
In the 1960s he worked with Buddy Tate and spent several years with Earl Hines in the mid-1970s. Saxophonist and clarinetist Rudy Rutherford, who worked with Illinois Jacquet in the 1980s and was active in performance until his death, passed away on March 31, 1995 in New York City.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gene Sedric, born Eugene Hall Cedric on June 17, 1907 in St. Louis, Missouri into a family where his father played ragtime piano. He played with Charlie Creath in his hometown and then with Fate Marable, Dewey Jackson, Ed Allen, and Julian Arthur.
Joining Sam Wooding’s Orchestra in 1925 he toured Europe with him until 1931 when the unit dissolved. During his time in Europe he recorded with Alex Hyde. When he returned to New York City he played with Fletcher Henderson and Alex Hill, before joining Fats Waller’s Rhythm in 1934, where he remained to 1942. When Waller went on solo tours Sedric found work gigging alongside Mezz Mezzrow in 1937 and Don Redman from 1938 to 1939).
Sedric put together his own group in 1943, prior to playing with Phil Moore in 1944 and Hazel Scott in 1945. He put together another ensemble from 1946–51, playing in New York City. His later associations through the late 1940s into the early 60s include time with Pat Flowers, Bobby Hackett, Jimmy McPartland, Mezzrow again, Conrad Janis, and Dick Wellstood. He recorded sparingly as a leader in 1938, 1946, and with Mezzrow in 1953.
Clarinetist and tenor saxophonist Gene Sedric, who acquired the nickname “Honey Bear” in the 1930s because of his large camel hair coat, passed away on April 3, 1963 in New York City.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Lin Halliday was born on June 16, 1936 in De Queen, Arkansas and was raised in Little Rock, where he played the saxophone and clarinet in school. After he moved to Los Angeles, California in his teens he began playing professionally, performing with saxophonist Joe Maini.
A move to New York City in 1958, Nashville, Tennessee in 1966, and Chicago, Illinois in 1980, his style was influenced by the musical cultures of all three cities. Halliday made his debut album, Delayed Exposure, for the Chicago jazz label Delmark Records in 1991. His sophomore album the same year, East of the Sun and Where or When in 1993 with saxophonist Ira Sullivan were well received by the Chicago jazz community.
He became a staple attraction at many Chicago jazz clubs including the Green Mill, the Bop Shop, Joe Segal’s Jazz Showcase, and the Get Me High Lounge. His performance on trumpeter Brad Goode’s 1998 album Shock of the New won him greater admiration with the Chicago jazz scene. Lin was also featured on the 1995 album Stablemates with Chicago saxophonist Eric Alexander.
Saxophonist Lin Halliday, who recorded five albums as a leader and one as a sideman with Cecil Payne all on Delmark, passed away on January 25, 2000.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Paul Mares was born on June 15, 1900 in New Orleans, Louisiana and was self-taught on the cornet and trumpet and picked up his early experience laying the riverboat Capitol playing with the Tom Brown Band. Leaving his hometown in 1919 he moved to Chicago, Illinois and worked with Ragbaby Stevens before freelancing around the city.
In 1921 Paul formed the Friars Society Orchestra, a group that prominently featured trombonist George Brunies and clarinetist Leon Rappolo. From 1922-23, the band recorded for Gennett Records and became one of the best-regarded bands in the city. The band, which broke up in 1924, included up-and-coming jazz musicians, including the members of the Austin High School Gang and Bix Beiderbecke.
Mares who was influenced by King Oliver, played in New York for a short time, went back to New Orleans the following year and led a couple more sessions. In 1934, a move to Chicago the following year had him making a brief comeback and leading a recording session that resulted in four titles before he retired again.
By 1935 Mares he was playing trumpet and fronting a recording session with his band called Paul Mares and his Friars Society Orchestra. The name referred to the Friar’s Inn club where the Rhythm Kings had first played in Chicago. The 1935 band included the white New Orleanian and N.O.R.K. veteran Santo Pecora on trombone, the black New Orleanian Omar Simeon on clarinet and the Chicagoan altoist Boyce Brown, as well as George Wettling on drums, pianist Jess Stacey, bassist Pat Pattison, and guitarist Marvin Saxbe.
He then largely retired from playing to work in the family fur business, and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings passed into history. He ran a barbeque restaurant, did defense plant work during World War II, and returned to music in 1945, leading a final band from 1945-48 that unfortunately never recorded. Cornetist and trumpeter Paul Mares passed away on August 18, 1949 in Chicago.
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