Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bobby Gordon was born on June 29, 1941 in Hartford, Connecticut. A student of Joe Marsala and influenced by Pee Wee Russell, in 1962/63 he recorded three albums for the Dot label. At that time he was playing folk music and the music of Acker Bilk .
By the end of the Sixties Max Kaminsky took him to the New York City to the jazz club Jimmy Ryan’s and by the beginning of the 1970s, he was appearing regularly at Eddie Condon’s club. After working with Wild Bill Davison in Chicago, Illinois he moved to San Diego, California and became famous mainly for his recordings for the Jump and Arbors labels and his collaboration with Marty Grosz in the Orphan Newsboys .
Recording as a leader he worked with Keith Ingham, Dan Barrett, Adele Girard, Scott Robinson, Dave McKenna, Tony DeNicola and Bob Wilber. While lived in the San Diego area he accompanied Rebecca Kilgore and occasionally he performed at jazz parties and festivals. Clarinetist Bobby Gordon, who was a proponent of Hot Jazz, passed away on December 31, 2013.
Sponsored By
#preserving genius
More Posts: clarinet
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bobby White was born on June 28, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois. He made a name for himself as a drummer in Los Angeles, California beginning in the late 1940s, playing with trombonist Earle Spencer, trumpeter Harry James, saxophonist Charlie Barnett, and bassist Howard Rumsey, among others.
White played with tenor saxophonist Vido Musso from 1951 to 1952, then with alto saxophonist Art Pepper and trumpeter Chet Baker in 1953, and clarinetist Buddy DeFranco in 1954. While a fixture on the West Coast jazz scene in the 1950s , he was still active in the late 1990s, often performing at the Lighthouse, the Hermosa Beach club made famous by Rumsey’s various All-Star aggregations.
In 1999 he participated in a concert tribute to the Lighthouse celebrating the 50th anniversary of Rumsey’s first gig at the club. Retired from music, drummer Bobby White turns 91 this year.
Sponsored By
#preserving genius
More Posts: drums
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Antonio Sparbaro, better known as Tony Sbarbaro or Tony Spargo was born on June 27, 1897 in New Orleans, Louisiana to an immigrant Sicilian family. Early in his career he played with the Frayle Brothers Band, possibly as early as 1911 and the Reliance Band of Papa Jack Laine.
After doing side work with Merritt Brunies and Carl Randall he joined the Original Dixieland Jazz Band for their initial recordings in 1917. Tony became its leader in the 1940s and remained a member of the ensemble until its dissolution in the 1960s. At the time the band broke up he was the only founding member still in the group.
Sbarbaro composed for the group, writing the tune Mourning Blues among others. He remained a fixture of Dixieland jazz performance for most of his life, performed at the New York World’s Fair in 1941 and with Connee Boswell in the 1950s. Later in life in New Orleans he played with Miff Mole, Big Chief Moore, Pee Wee Erwin, and Eddie Condon. Quitting music in the Sixties due to the popularity of rock & roll, drummer Tony Sbarbaro passed away on October 30, 1969.
#preserving genius
More Posts: drums
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Dave Grusin was born Robert David Grusin on June 26, 1934 in Littleton, Colorado to pianist mother and violinist father who emigrated from Riga, Latvia. He went on to study music at the University of Colorado at Boulder and received his degree in 1956.
He produced his first single Subways Are for Sleeping in 1962 and his first film score for Divorce American Style five years later. He would go on to score Winning, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Midnight Man and Three Days of the Condor, The Graduate, The Champ, The Fabulous Baker Boys, On Golden Pond, Tootsie, Mulholland Falls and The Goonies. He has been nominated six times for Academy Awards for his scoring and in 1988, he won an Oscar for Best Original Score for The Milagro Beanfield War.
In 1978 he had started GRP Records with his business partner, Larry Rosen, and began to create some of the first commercial digital recordings. He also composed the original opening fanfare for TriStar Pictures film studio. Through the end of the century he continued to score films, television theme songs and episode music.
From 2000 through 2011, Dave concentrated on composing classical and jazz compositions, touring and recording with collaborators, including guitarist Lee Ritenour, with whom he was nominated three times and won a Grammy for the album Harlequin. won a Grammy Award in 1985.
Throughout his career he has conducted the Andy Williams Show orchestra, was musical director and arranger for the Catarina Valente TV show, lived in Amsterdam, received honorary doctorates from Berklee College of Music and the University of Colorado, College of Music. Pianist, composer, arranger and producer Dave Grusin has and continues to collaborate with James Taylor, Renée Fleming, Paul Simon, Sérgio Mendes, Quincy Jones, Al Jarreau, Patti Austin, Billy Joel, Dave Valentin and Sadao Watanabe, among others.
Sponsored By
Voices From The Community
#preserving genius
More Posts: piano
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Dave Cliff was born David John Cliff on June 25, 1944 in Hexham, Northumberland, United Kingdom. He began his music career playing rhythm and blues in the Newcastle area. In 1967 he matriculated through Leeds College of Music with a degree in jazz studies, while studying with bassist Peter Ind and Bernie Cash.
Moving to London, England in 1971 Cliff established himself on the local scene and during 1976-1977 he toured Holland, Denmark, Italy and the UK with the Lee Konitz/Warne Marsh Quintet. The following year he toured the UK with the Soprano Summit alongside Kenny Davern and Bob Wilber. From the 1980s on he worked increasingly as a freelance.
His debut album as a leader was The Right Time, recorded in 1987, featured alto saxophonist Geoff Simkins and was the first of a number of albums with Simkins, with whom he has collaborated extensively.Dave has also recorded with Warne Marsh, Allan Ganley, Phil DeGreg and Bruce Adams.
Cliff has appeared frequently at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in varied settings including Georgie Fame’s Blue Flames, Mike Carr Trio, Irene Reid and the Dick Pearce Sextet. He has worked extensively with visiting American musicians, including Slide Hampton, Nina Simone, George Masso, Spike Robinson, Herb Geller, Lanny Morgan, Harry Allen, Buddy Childers, Lew Tabackin, Mundell Lowe, Bucky Pizzarelli, Jack McDuff, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Richie Cole, and Ken Peplowski.
As an educator he has been teaching jazz guitar at London Trinity College of Music, The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, the Birmingham Conservatoire, as well as at the Original UK Jazz Summer School, and has taught at the Jamie Aebersold Summer School in London and at the Christiansand jazz course in Norway.
Guitarist and educator Dave Cliff, whose influences from Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery can be heard in his playing, continues to perform, record and teach.
Sponsored By
www.whatissuitetabu.com
#preserving genius
More Posts: guitar