Three Wishes

One night when Kenny “Klook” Clarke was with Baroness Pannonica the topic of three wishes came up and when she asked he responded with:

1. “Brigitte Bardot.”
2. “Brigitte Bardot.”
3. “Brigitte Bardot.”

1a) “No, of course I’m not serious about that. It would be to have Dizzy, J.J., Ray Brown, and Hank Jones. That’s my dream quintet.”

2a) “God, Nica, I don’t know. My second wish is to have my son over here and start him in music.”

3a) “My third wish is to set up a school over here in Paris, and put all those young boys on the right track. Then, if I do that, I’ll be happy. I’m gonna wish for no money! I’d rather do something.”

*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter

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Murray McEachern was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on August 16, 1915 and studied the violin at the Toronto Conservatory of Music as a boy, and played his first concert recital at Massey Hall at age 12. As a teenager he studied both the saxophone and clarinet, playing with Lucio Agostini and also appearing on CRBC with Percy Faith. Over time he became proficient on several instruments, including the trombone, bass and trumpet.

In 1936, he went to Chicago, Illinois in search of work and got a break as soloist on trombone for Benny Goodman’s big band. He also worked with the Jack Hylton orchestra and then with the Casa Loma Orchestra led by Glen Gray from 1937-41. In 1941, McEachern joined the Paul Whiteman orchestra and shortly after began entertaining U.S. troops during World War II. Two   years after the end of the war he went to work with the Phil Moore orchestra.

Murray did studio work in his later career for Hollywood films, including solo performances in The Glenn Miller Story, Paris Blues and The Benny Goodman Story. In the 1960s he was in the Morey Amsterdam Orchestra for the Morey Amsterdam Show on Television Station KTLA in Los Angeles.

A successful recording artist as leader, McEachern toured Europe in 1972 and briefly worked with the Duke Ellington orchestra the following year. He was owner/director of the Tommy Dorsey orchestra from 1974-77.

Trombonist and alto saxophonist Murray McEachern transitioned on April 28, 1982.

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Frank Deniz was born Francisco Antonio Deniz on July 31, 1912 in Cardiff, Wales. His father, an African born in Cape Verde, was a seaman, and his mother was of English and African-American descent. They were amateur musicians, father playing violin and mother playing piano. From the age of 15 he joined his father on sea voyages. In 1931 his father was taken ill and the lad was forced to leave him in hospital in Odessa, Ukraine where he died. Between voyages he played music, inspired by jazz guitarists Teddy Bunn and Eddie Lang.

He married pianist Clara Wason in 1936 and they moved to London, England and found work as musicians in Soho. In 1937 they played for a time in the orchestra of Ken “Snakehips” Johnson. Deniz later played at Adelaide Hall’s Florida Club in Mayfair, where he played with pianist Fela Sowande.

Joining the Merchant Navy in 1940, he played music in between voyages with contemporaries Eric Winstone and Edmundo Ros, and formed his own band, the Spirits of Rhythm. In 1944 he was wounded when his ship was torpedoed on approaching Anzio.

Stanley Black, leader of the BBC Dance Orchestra employed him regularly and introduced him to others in the music business. Deniz joined Harry Parry’s Radio Rhythm Club Sextet, which had a regular radio series. In 1953 with his brothers, he formed the Hermanos Deniz Cuban Rhythm Band, which gave regular broadcasts in the 1950s regularly through to the 1970s.

Deniz composed music with his brother Laurence for the 1959 film Our Man in Havana. He accompanied Hoagy Carmichael on a tour of Britain. In his later years he played with the Hermanos Deniz band at the Talk of the Town. This continued for many years until his retirement in 1980, when they lived in Málaga Spain during the summer, until Clara contracted Parkinson’s disease in the 1990s. At this point Deniz became her caregiver until her death.

Guitarist Frank Deniz transitioned on July 17, 2005 at his home in Stanstead Abbotts, Hertfordshire, England.

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Alfred “Fred” Böhler was born July 26, 1912 in Zurich, Switzerland.  He started on violin as a child but later switched to piano. He led his own ensemble starting in 1936, which featured Eddie Brunner and Hazy Osterwald, among others, as sidemen. This group made several tours of Switzerland during World War II and recorded copiously for Columbia Records.

In 1943, Böhler conducted an orchestral ensemble that played symphonic jazz. While he recorded most often on piano, he also used Hammond organ early in a jazz context. He would eventually play with Marcel Bianchi, Edith Piaf, Josephine Baker, and Pierre Cavall among others.

Pianist, Hammond organist and bandleader Fred Böhler transitioned on January 10, 1995 in  Zumikon, Switzerland.

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Robert Eberly was born Robert Eberle on July 24, 1916 in Mechanicville, New York. He changed the spelling of his surname slightly to the homonymous Eberly. His father was a policeman, sign-painter, and tavern-keeper.

He was hired by the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in 1935 shortly after winning an amateur hour contest on Fred Allen’s radio show.  He stayed with Jimmy Dorsey after Tommy left to form his own band and would be a fixture with the orchestra until drafted into the service late in 1943. In the early 1940s the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra scored a string of hits featuring Bob and Helen O’Connell, with Eberly singing a slow, romantic baritone version of songs such as Amapola and Tangerine, followed by a lighter, up-tempo reprise by O’Connell. He recorded the original version of I’m Glad There Is You in 1942 for Dorsey’s orchestra on Decca Records. The song has become a jazz and pop standard.

In 1953, Eberly and Helen O’Connell headlined a summer replacement program for Perry Como’s CBS television show. The program also featured Ray Anthony and his orchestra.

In 1980, he had one lung removed but still continued to sing. Vocalist Bob Eberly transitioned from cancer on November 17, 1981 in Glen Burnie, Maryland, at the age of 65.

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