Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Skip Hall was born Archie Hall on September 27, 1909 in Portsmouth, Virginia and studied piano under his father. He lived in New York from age eight and in the late twenties, he relocated to Cleveland, Ohio where he led his own band for most of the 1930s.
He worked as an arranger on contract, arranging for Jay McShann from 1940 to 1944. During World War II he played with Don Redman and in 1943 he entered military service and played in a band while stationed in England.
He would eventually work with Hot Lips Page around the year 1945 and then joined the Sy Oliver band, who was his brother-in-law. Following this he worked with Wynonie Harris, Thelma Houston, and Jimmy Rushing before joining Buddy Tate’s group in 1948. He worked with Tate for twenty years both as a performer and arranger.
In the 1950s and 1960s, he performed with Dicky Wells, Emmett Berry, and George James, as well as working solo and with his own small groups. Arranger, pianist, and organist Skip Hall passed away in November 1980, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Charlie Allen was born on September 25, 1908 in Jackson, Mississippi and grew up in Chicago, Illinois and in the early 1920s just out of high school began playing. In 1925 he was a member of the band led by Hugh Swift, then went on to play with Dave Peyton and Doc Cook in 1927, and Clifford King in 1928 and Johnny Long by the end of the decade.
Allen joined Earl Hines from 1931 to 1934, then did a short stint in Duke Ellington’s orchestra in 1935, though he never recorded any solos with the orchestra. He would play with Fletcher Butler in 1936 and then returned to play with Hines again in 1937.
Charlie played in various groups in Chicago in the 1940s and 1950s and later in his life became a music educator, working in the Chicago Musicians’ Union. He also designed custom trumpet mouthpieces, used by Cat Anderson, among others. Trumpeter Charlie Allen passed away on November 19, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jimmy Butts was born on September 24, 1917 in New York City, New York. Early in his career, he played with local groups Dr. Sausage and His Pork Chops and Daisy Mae’s Hepcats. Early in the 1940s, he played in the orchestras of Les Hite and Chris Columbus. He accompanied Frances Brock on USO tours during World War II.
In the 1940s Jimmy played with Don Redman, Art Hodes, Lem Johnson, Tiny Grimes, and Noble Sissle. Late in the decade he played in a duo with Doles Dickens and formed his own ensemble, which continued into the early 1950s.
The 1960s had Butts emigrating to Canada and playing with Juanita Smith. In the 1970s returning to New York City, he played with his own small group, working almost up until his death.
Double-bassist Jimmy Butts passed away on January 8, 1998 in New York City. His band remained together under the name Friends of Jimmy Butts after his death.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John L.Thomas was born September 18, 1902 in Louisville, Kentucky, but relocated to Chicago, Illinois as a child, receiving his formal education in the Windy City. Sliding into on-stage trombone performances with the Clarence Miller Orchestra around 1923. Between 1927 and 1928 he worked with Erskine Tate, which led to his entry into Louis Armstrong’s legendary Hot Seven, replacing Kid Ory in Armstrong’s band and also played with Erskine Tate, among others, becoming associated with the Chicago jazz scene.
He was briefly with McKinney’s Cotton Pickers for jobs in the Northeast in the ’30s; in 1937 he was part of a touring revue fronted by pianist and singer Nat King Cole. He was once again with Tate as well as drummer Floyd Campbell’s outfit prior to switching his trombone case for the tool kit of a defense plant worker during the Second World War. That hiatus from playing took place prior to dropping out completely during the ’50s, as he did gig once again in a group led by guitarist Walter Dysett in 1944.
He had a wonderful repertory band led by Franz Jackson with which Thomas performed and recorded through the first half of the ’60s. The ’50s, on the other hand, may have simply depressed the trombonist with its onslaught of rock & roll, because he simply stopped playing completely representing the first major halt in musical action for this performer since his professional activities began in the Roaring Twenties.
The trombonist continued working with a wide range of classic jazz bandleaders, including trumpeter Freddie Keppard. Preferring to move in and out of groups such as that of the aforementioned Tate and Reuben Reeves, in one lineup and then out of the next. Trombonist John L. Thomas passed away on November 7, 1971 in Chicago, Illinois.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Israel López Valdés was born into a family of musicians on September 14, 1918 in Havana, Cuba. Better known as Cachao, a nickname and stage name given to him by his grandfather, as an 8-year-old bongo player, he joined a children’s son Cubano septet directed by a 14-year old Roberto Faz. A year later, already on double bass, he provided music for silent movies in his neighborhood theater, in the company of a pianist who would become a true superstar, the great cabaret performer Ignacio Villa, known as Bola de Nieve.
His parents made sure he was classically trained, first at home and then at a conservatory. In his early teens, Lopez was already playing contrabass with the Orquesta Filarmónica de La Habana, of which Orestes was a founding member. Under the baton of guest conductors such as Herbert von Karajan, Igor Stravinsky, and Heitor Villa-Lobos, he played with the orchestra from 1930 to 1960.
He and his older brother Orestes were the driving force behind one of Cuba’s most prolific charangas, Arcaño y sus Maravillas. As members of the Maravillas, Cachao and Orestes pioneered a new form of ballroom music derived from the danzón, the danzón-mambo, which subsequently developed into an international genre, mambo.
In the 1950s, Cachao became famous for popularizing improvised jam sessions known as descargas. In 1961, Cachao went into exile. He crossed the Atlantic by boat, reaching Madrid thanks to Ernesto Duarte, who demanded him to play with his orchestra–Orquesta Sabor Cubano–and where he spent a few years touring the country until the orchestra finally broke up in 1963. Moving to the United States that same year, Cachao became a session musician and was one of the most in-demand bassists in New York City, along with Alfonso “El Panameño” Joseph and Bobby “Big Daddy” Rodríguez.
Joseph and López substituted for each other over a span of five years, performing at New York City clubs and venues such as the Palladium Ballroom, The Roseland, The Birdland, Havana San Juan and Havana Madrid. While Cachao was performing with Machito’s orchestra in New York, Joseph was recording and performing with Cuban conga player Cándido Camero. When Joseph left Cándido’s band to work with Charlie Rodríguez and Johnny Pacheco, it was Cachao who took his place in Cándido’s band. In the 1970s, Cachao fell into obscurity after moving to Las Vegas, Nevada and then later Miami, Florida releasing albums sporadically as a leader.
The 1990s saw his re-discovery by actor Andy García, who brought him back to the forefront of the Latin music scene with the release of a documentary and several albums. Throughout his career, he performed and recorded in a variety of music styles ranging from classical music to salsa.
Double bassist and composer Cachao Lopez, who rose to prominence during the boogaloo years, who recorded sixteen albums as a leader and another twenty as singles, collaborator, and sideman, passed away in Coral Gables, Florida at age 89 on March 22, 2008.
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