Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Floyd O’Brien was born May 7, 1904 in Chicago, Illinois and first played trombone with the Austin High School Gang in the 1920s and later in the decade he played with Earl Fuller, Floyd Town, Charles Pierce, Thelma Terry, and Husk O’Hare. Between 1930-31 he worked in a pit band at a theater in Des Moines, Iowa.
O’Brien moved to New York City and played with Mal Hallett, Joe Venuti, Smith Ballew, Mike Durso, Phil Harris, Gene Krupa and Bob Crosby between 1932 and 1942. Relocating to Los Angeles, California in 1943 he played with Eddie Miller, Bunk Johnson, Shorty Sherock, Jack Teagarden, and Wingy Manone.
By 1948 Floyd was back in Chicago performing with with Bud Freeman, Art Hodes and Danny Alvin. He recorded with Freeman as early as 1928 and other recordings include sessions with Eddie Condon, Fats Waller, Mezz Mezzrow, George Wettling, Charles LaVere, Albert Nicholas and Smokey Stover.
Trombonist Floyd O’Brien, whose lone session as a bandleader yielded two singles for Jump Records in 1945 and were also released under Charles LaVere’s name, passed away on November 26, 1968.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
David Friesen was born on May 6, 1942 in Tacoma, Washington, the younger brother to actress Dyan Cannon. An autodidact on bass, he picked it up while serving in the U.S. Army in Germany.
He played with John Handy and Marian McPartland and following this, with Joe Henderson and in 1975 he toured through Europe with Billy Harper. His first album as a session leader, Cool Pool on the Muse label was recorded in ‘75. The following year Friesen began collaborating with guitarist John Stowell that produced many dates where they would work together.
He performed with Ted Curson at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1977 and then worked with Ricky Ford, Duke Jordan, Mal Waldron, and Paul Horn. David’s 1989 album Other Times, Other Places reached No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart. He would go on to perform or record with has Chick Corea, Michael Brecker, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Kenny Garrett, and Dizzy Gillespie.
Double bass and electric upright bassist David Friesen has recorded forty-three albums as a leader and continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Cal Collins was born on May 5, 1933 in Medora, Indiana and first played the mandolin professionally as a bluegrass musician in the early 1950s. After service in the Army, a move to Cincinnati, Ohio that lasted twenty years, saw him switching to jazz guitar after hearing swing guitarists Charlie Christian, Irving Ashby, and Oscar Moore.
Benny Goodman hired him in 1976 at the age of 43 and he spent three years with the orchestra and then three years making albums for Concord Records. As a sideman, Cal worked with Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache, Rosemary Clooney, Ross Tompkins, Woody Herman, John Bunch, and Marshal Royal.
By the early 1980s, Collins returned to Cincinnati and slowed down his career. He joined the Masters of the Steel String Guitar Tour in 1993 with Jerry Douglas and Doc Watson and recorded his last album in 1998.
Guitarist Cal Collins, who recorded from eleven albums as a leader, passed away of liver failure on August 27, 2001
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Guy Warren, also known as Kofi Ghanaba was born Warren Gamaliel Kpakpo Akwei in Accra, Ghana on May 4, 1923. Educated at the Government Boys’ School, his interest in music had him playing in the school band. After passing with distinction he enrolled as a student/founder at Ordorgonno Secondary School in 1940 and also joined the Accra Rhythmic Orchestra under Yeboah Mensah as a drummer.
He won a government teacher training scholarship to Achimota College, Accra, in 1941 with the intention of becoming a teacher at his father’s school. By 1943 Warren had enlisted in the Office of Strategic Services, a branch of the United States Army that dealt with overt and covert operations in World War II. Returning to Accra he went on to become a reporter and then held various journalistic positions before beginning to broadcast jazz programmes while working at the Gold Coast Broadcasting Service under the name Guy Warren, which he continued using for the next three decades.
Teaming up with E. T. Mensah and others they formed The Tempos, considered the greatest jazz band in Africa. In 1955 Guy left for Chicago, Illinois to join the Gene Esposito Band as co-leader, percussionist and arranger. With them he recorded his first album, Africa Speaks, America Answers on the Decca label in 1956. And confirmed his reputation as the musician who established the African presence in jazz. During his American stay, he met and worked with Duke Ellington, Max Roach, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong and many other leading jazz musicians.
By 1974 he had returned to Ghana, and changed his name to Ghanaba. In the 1990s, he played a role in the film Sankofa, Ghanaba continued to make music until his death. Drummer Guy Warren, pioneer of the African renaissance and author of I Have A Story To Tell that chronicled his sojourn in America, passed away on December 22, 2008.
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Larry Ochs was born May 3, 1949 in New York City and studied trumpet briefly but concentrated on tenor and soprano saxophones. He has worked as a record producer and founded his own label, Metalanguage Records in 1978, in addition to operating the Twelve Stars studio in California.
A co-founder the Rova Saxophone Quartet, Larry worked in Glenn Spearman’s Double Trio. A frequent recipient of commissions, he composed the music for the play Goya’s L.A. in 1994 and for the film Letters Not About Love, which was named best documentary at SXSW in 1998.
He has played in a trio called Room, and the What We Live ensemble. He formed the group Kihnoua in 2007 with vocalist Dohee Lee and Scott Amendola on drums and electronics, releasing Unauthorized Caprices in 2010.
Avant-garde saxophonist Larry Ochs has released twelve albums as a leader, another twenty-three with Rova and a half dozen with Glenn Spearman, Fred Firth and Maybe Monday, dave Rempis and Darren Johnston. He has performed with Nels Cline, Gerald Cleaver, Donald Robinson, continues to perform and record.
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