Three Wishes

Nica asked Howard McGhee if he was given three wishes what would he want grated and he told her:

1. 1. “I wish, I wish, I wish.”

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

More Posts: baroness,history,instrumental,jazz,music,pannonica,three,trumpet,wishes

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Barrett Deems was born March 1, 1914 in Springfield, Illinois. He worked in bands led by Jimmy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong, Red Norvo, and Muggsy Spanier.

He performed the drum solo during a scene on the back of the bus in the 1956 film High Society. The movie’s star, Bing Crosby, introduces the band members, including Deems, who then performs a short drum solo. Louis Armstrong and His All Stars play the song Now You Has Jazz.

He recorded three albums, Barrett Deems Big Band, Deemus and Barrett Deems and his WFL. Drummer Barrett Deems, who married twice, transitioned from pneumonia in Chicago, Illinois at the age of 84 on September 15, 1998.

More Posts: bandleader,drums,history,instrumental,jazz,music

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Tex Beneke was born Gordon Lee Beneke on February 12, 1914 in Fort Worth, Texas. He started playing saxophone when he was nine, going from soprano to alto and settling on the tenor saxophone. His first professional work was with bandleader Ben Young in 1935, but it was after a Gene Krupa recommendation when he joined the Glenn Miller Orchestra three years later that his career hit its stride.

Miller immediately made Beneke his primary tenor saxophone soloist and he played all but a few of the tenor solos on all of the records and personal appearances made by the Miller band until it disbanded in 1942. He appeared with Miller and his band in the films Sun Valley Serenade in 1941 and Orchestra Wives in 1942, and both film solos helped propel the singer/saxophonist to the top of the Metronome polls. He went on to perform with the 1941 Metronome All-Star Band led by Benny Goodman. In 1942, Glenn Miller’s orchestra won the first Gold Record ever awarded for Chattanooga Choo Choo.

With the orchestra disbanded due to Miller’s enlistment, Tex briefly joined  Horace Heidt before joining the Navy himself, leading a Navy band in Oklahoma. He led two bands in the navy and kept in touch with Miller while they were both serving in the military. By 1945, he felt ready to lead his own orchestra. When Glenn went missing in 1944 he took over the band, shaping it as a ghost band per the desires of the Miller estate, however by 1950, he and the estate parted ways.

Post Miller, Beneke led his own groups but as swing faded from the mainstream so did opportunities. There was a small revival in the late Seventies but he was limited to small labels and competition from Miller alumni and other imitators. He would make the television circuit making appearances on The Tonight Show and Merv Griffin. 1990 saw him have a stroke which sidelined his saxophone playing but he continued to conduct and sing.

On May 30, 2000 saxophonist, vocalist and bandleader Tex Beneke, who  received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, transitioned from respiratory failure at a nursing home in Costa Mesa, California, aged 86.  His saxophone is currently used by the Arizona Opry.

More Posts: bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone,vocal

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Bob Harrington was born Robert Maxon Harrington in Marshfield, Wisconsin on  January 30, 1912. He played piano with Charlie Barnet in the early 1950s and worked with both Red Nichols and Bud Freeman during that decade as a drummer.

On vibraphone, he played with Georgie Auld, Buddy DeFranco, Vido Musso, Ben Webster, Ann Richards, and Harry Babasin’s Jazzpickers. He released one solo album, Vibraphone Fantasy in Jazz, on Imperial Records in 1957, which is now a collector’s item.

Vibraphonist Bob Harrington, who was adept on drums and piano, transitioned on August 20, 1983 in Kona, Hawaii.

More Posts: bandleader,drums,history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano,vibraphone

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Ulysses Livingston was born on January 29, 1912 in Bristol, Tennessee and played in the band of the West Virginia State College. He began his  professional career in music in the Horace Henderson band as a roadie, or, as Henderson called them, valet.

After his period with Henderson he played guitar in carnival bands on traveling road shows. By the middle of the 1930s he began to get jazz gigs with Lil Armstrong, Frankie Newton, Sammy Price, Coleman Hawkins, and Benny Carter.

Moving to New York City, Ulysses accompanied Ella Fitzgerald on tour and on record. He served briefly in the military during World War II, but returned to jazz playing on the West Coast in 1943. He played with Cee Pee Johnson in Hawaii four years later.

Alongside his guitar playing, Livingston also sang with the Spirits of Rhythm, and led a group called the Four Blazes. From the 1950s he did freelance work with West Coast jazz musicians and also became active as a record producer.

He would go on to record with the Varsity Seven, Jazz At The Philharmonic, Illinois Jacquet, Rex Stewart’s Big Eight, Pete Johnson and numerous others. Guitarist Ulysses Livingston, who also played and recorded on electric bass guitar, transitioned on October 7, 1988 in Los Angeles, California.

More Posts: guitar,history,instrumental,jazz,music