Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Oleg Leonidovich Lundstrem was born April 2, 1916 into a family of musicians in Chita, Transbaikal Oblast. His family moved to Harbin, China when he was five. By 1935, inspired by Duke Ellington’s Dear Old Southland record which he purchased, he joined forces with eight other young Russian amateur musicians and formed the Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra. The following year the band moved to Shanghai, China where they immediately became popular among the public. The band was an important part of Shanghai’s jazz scene until 1947, along with Buck Clayton Orchestra.
After World War II, in 1947 Oleg returned to the Soviet Union and settled in Kazan, where he worked as a violinist in the opera and ballet theatre, while keeping his jazz orchestra as a side act. 1956 saw the Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra moving to Moscow where he was appointed by the Soviet cultural authorities as the orchestra’s art director and conductor.
His orchestra was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest continuously existing jazz band in the world, the official name being The State Oleg Lundstrem Chamber Orchestra of Jazz Music.
Composer and conductor Oleg Lundstrem, also spelled Lundstroem or Lundström, transitioned from natural causes at his home on October 14, 2005 in Korolyov, Moscow Oblast at the age of 89.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Linton Garner was born on March 25, 1915 in Greensboro, North Carolina. As a youngster he wanted to play cornet rather than piano, but due to problems with his teeth, was forced to concentrate on the keyboard. From the age of 8 until 10 he had piano lessons, as did his three sisters, unlike his brother.
He was arranger and pianist with Fletcher Henderson’s band before the Second World War, then spent 1943 to 1946 in the army, where he played both piano and trumpet in different bands. Afterwards he was pianist and arranger for a number of distinguished bands including those of Billy Eckstine and Dizzy Gillespie. He also accompanied Sarah Vaughan, Nat King Cole, Carmen McRae and Della Reese. He also wrote songs, including You’re the One For Me.
Moving to Canada in 1963, by 1974 he was invited by Arni May to Vancouver, British Columbia to accompany him at the opening of the Richmond Inn Hotel. Linton stayed in Vancouver and worked in many venues becoming the resident pianist for seven years at the Four Seasons Hotel.
The 1990s had him playing at the Three Greenhorns in Vancouver. He also sang and played the piano in Rossini’s restaurant in Kitsilano. The Linton Garner Legacy Quartet, featuring drummer Don Fraser, bassist Russ Botten, pianist Ron Johnston, and pianist Miles Black continues to play Garner’s music.
Pianist, trumpet and vocalist Linton Garner, who was Erroll’s older brother, transitioned from kidney failure in Vancouver, at the age of 87 on March 6, 2003.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alfred Wesley Hall was born on March 18, 1915 and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He played cello and tuba early in life before settling on bass at the age of 17. Moving to New York in 1936, Al played at different times through and into the Forties with Billy Hicks, Skeets Tolbert, and Teddy Wilson in both big band and small ensemble format.
Following time with Ellis Larkins and Mary Lou Williams, Hall took a job as a staff musician at CBS, working in Paul Baron’s orchestra on the Mildred Bailey Show. He also worked in Broadway theater pit orchestras for the next several decades. In 1946, he founded his own label, Wax Records, which was bought by Atlantic Records in 1949. He led five numbers on his own label in the mid Forties and four on Columbia Records Europe in 1959.
Hall had an extended partnership with Erroll Garner, playing with him intermittently from 1945 to 1963. He also played later in life with Benny Goodman in 1966, Hazel Scott, Tiny Grimes, and Alberta Hunter from 1977 to 1978, and Doc Cheatham. He recorded with Helen Merrill, Paul Quinichette, Duke Ellington, Harold Ashby, Eddie Condon, Della Reese, Teddy Wilson and numerous others.
Double bassist Al Hall, who recorded thirty albums as a sideman but none as a leader, transitioned on January 18, 1988.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Carlo Krahmer was born William Max Geserick on March 11, 1914, Shoreditch, London, England. He was partially sighted at birth. He made his first record in 1939 and in the early Forties recorded with Johnny Claes’s band. He later joined Claude Bampton’s Blind Orchestra, a body sponsored by the National Institute for the Blind (now the RNIB), of which George Shearing was also a member. He worked in various bands, sometimes as leader, taking his own group to the Paris Jazz Festival in 1949.
In 1947, Krahmer co-founded Esquire Records with Peter Newbrook, a label which recorded bebop and licensed recordings from American blues and jazz labels. By 1950, Krahmer had retired from active performance, but had begun to teach aspiring drummers such as Victor Feldman.
Drummer and record producer Carlo Krahmer, whose label has continued to release music under the guidance of his wife Greta, transitioned on April 20, 1976 in London.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Pete Clark was born on March 10, 1911 in Birmingham, Alabama. His brothers Richard and Arthur “Babe” were trumpeter and saxophonist respectively. Like his brothers he studied music at the Fess Whatley School. He would learn to play both alto and baritone saxophone as well as clarinet.
He began his career playing with Montgomery’s Collegiate Ramblers, followed by a stint with Wayman Carver. He would go on to find membership in the orchestras of Chick Webb, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Teddy Wilson, Rex Stewart, Don Redman, John Kirby, Happy Caldwell, Jimmy Jones, Teddy Wilson and others.
Alto and baritone saxophonist and clarinetist Pete Clark, also known as Pete Clarke, transitioned in New York City on March 27, 1975.
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