Daily Dose Of Jazz…
George Auld was born John Altwerger on May 19, 1919 in Toronto, Canada but lived in the U.S. from the late 1920s. He was most noteworthy for his tenor saxophone work Bunny Berigan, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Erroll Garner, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Porcino, Billy Eckstine, Tiny Kahn, Frank Rosolino and many others.
Primarily a swing saxophonist, he did many big band stints in his career, and led several big bands, including Georgie Auld and His Orchestra and Georgie Auld and His Hollywood All Stars. Auld also played some rock´n roll working for Alan Freed in 1959.
George can be heard playing sax on the 1968 Ella Fitzgerald album “30 by Ella” and in 1977 he played a bandleader in “New York, New York” starring Liza Minelli and Robert DeNiro and also acted as a technical consultant for the film. The tenor saxophonist, clarinetist and bandleader George Auld died in Palm Springs, California at the age of 71 on January 8, 1990.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jim McNeely was on born May 18, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from the University of Illinois he moved to New York City in 1975. By ’78 he joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band, spending six years as a featured soloist.
In 1981 Jim joined Stan Getz’s quartet and for the next four years served as pianist/composer. The early part of the ‘90s he held the piano chair with the Phil Woods Quintet, and from 1996 to the present day McNeely holds the position as pianist/composer-in-residence for the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.
Jim has been the chief conductor for the Danish Radio Big Band in Copenhagen, Denmark, is currently artist-in-residence with the HR Big Band in Frankfurt, Germany and continues to appear as guest with many of Europe’s leading jazz orchestras such as The Metropole Orchestra in The Netherlands and The Stockholm Jazz Orchestra in Sweden.
The Grammy award winning jazz pianist, composer and arranger has recorded more than a dozen CDs under his own name, earning nine Grammy nominations between 1997 and 2006. In 2008, he was awarded a Grammy with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra for their album Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard.
Grammy-winning pianist Jim McNeely leads his own tentet, his own trio, and appears as soloist at concerts and festivals worldwide while serving on the faculties of The Manhattan School of Music, William Patterson University and is musical director of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Betty Joplin was born on May 17th, in Jackson, Michigan. Her mother recognized her God-given talent when she was 3 and at the age of 4, she was being invited to sing and accompany herself on piano at various churches. By age 7, the church appointed her pianist for church services as well as for the church choir. She continued to do so until age 17 when she got married.
It wasn’t until 3 of her 4 children were teenagers that Betty started singing again. Joining a couple of her musician friends at a night club at Lake James, Indiana they coaxed her up onto the stage to do what she loved – sing and the audience loved her. There was such a demand for her that the owner of the nightclub offered her a weekend job and that was the beginning of her professional singing career.
Joplin has worked with Arthur Prysock, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Aretha Franklin, Larry Gray, Leon Joyce and Larry Fuller; has performed throughout the United States, Hawaii, Europe, Mexico, and Asia, was nominated for a Grammy for “Rockin’ Good Way”, recorded for Lake Street Records.
Vocalist Betty Joplin recorded “Blinded by Love” before forming her own label in 2002, formed her own quartet and recorded “Visions of the Moment”. She continues to perform, tour and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Redd Holt was Isaac Holt born on May 16, 1932 in Rosedale, Mississippi. His interest in drums and percussion began as a child and he bought his first drum set when he was a sophomore at Crane Technical High School. Graduating from high school in 1951, he attended the Cosmopolitan School of Music in Chicago and then received advanced musical instruction at the Chicago School of Music.
Between 1954 and 1966 Holt was part of the original Ramsey Lewis Trio that spawned the classic hit singles “Hang on Sloopy” and “In Crowd.” He was co-founder and leader of Young-Holt Unlimited from 1966 to 1974, creating another hit, “Soulful Strut,” and the successful single, “Wack Wack”, used in the movie Harriet the Spy and various other movies and commercials.
Redd has directed the Gumption Performing Artists Workshop, received the Jazz Master Award from the Midwest Arts, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Indianapolis Radio Sounds of Jazz, and the Grand Master of Time Award from the Jazz Institute of Chicago and the DuSable Museum of African American History.
As a jazz educator drummer Redd Holt has been active for many years in Urban Gateways, a nonprofit organization providing multicultural performing, and visual and literary arts programs. He continues to perform his percussion and vocal skills at jazz clubs, festivals, theaters and concerts around the world.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ellis Larkins was born in Baltimore, Maryland on May 15, 1923. The pianist was the first African American to attend the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore and began his professional playing career in New York City after moving there to attend the Julliard School. Following school Larkins performed with Billy Moore and Edmond Hall.
He recorded with Coleman Hawkins, Mildred Bailey and Dickey Wells in the 1940s, Ruby Braff and Ella Fitzgerald in the Fifties recording “Ella Sings Gershwin” and “Songs In A Mellow Mood” with the latter. His 1960s work included recordings and/or performances with Eartha Kitt, Joe Williams, Helen Humes, George Gibbs and Harry Belafonte.
Though he was best known as an accompanist, Larkins recorded several solo albums in the 1950s. In the 1970s he performed regularly at several New York venues, including Gregory’s, a small bar in the east 70s. Next to Jimmy Jones, traditional jazz fans regard him as one of the most lyrical and romantic pianists in jazz history. Ellis Larkins passed away on September 30, 2002.
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