Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Thomas Robert Talbert was born on August 4, 1924 in Crystal Bay, Minnesota and grew up listening to big band music on the radio. He learned to play piano before he became a composer. He got started as a band leader when he was drafted in the Army in 1943, becoming composer for a military band at Fort Ord, California, performing for War Bond drives throughout California.
In the late 1940s he led his own big band on the West Coast, much of his work foreshadowing what became known as West Coast jazz. During the decade in Los Angeles he worked with Johnny Richards, Lucky Thompson, Dodo Marmarosa, Hal McKusick, Al Killian, Art Pepper, Steve White and Claude Williamson…….
Moving to New York in the early 1950s after being denied a recording contract in Los Angeles, California he worked with Marian McPartland, Kai Winding, Don Elliott, Johnny Smith, Oscar Pettiford, Herb Geller, Joe Wilder, Eddie Bert, Barry Galbraith, Aaron Sachs and Claude Thornhill. In 1956, Talbert recorded two records that would become his best known works, Wednesday’s Child and Bix Duke Fats, which gained him fleeting fame.
When rock and roll eclipsed jazz in popularity, in 1960 he moved to his parents’ home in Minnesota. He tried his hand at cattle ranching in Wisconsin but eventually moved back to Los Angeles and a musical career in 1975. As a sideman he recorded with the Boyd Raeburn Orchestra, Johnny Richards, and Patty McGovern.
In addition to composing for TV and movie studios, he became involved in music education, and set up a foundation to help talented young musicians, with one of the first recipients in 1996 was Maria Schneider.
Pianist, composer and band leader Thomas Talbert, who recorded eighteen albums as a leader, transitioned on July 2, 2005 in Los Angeles.
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Three Wishes
Dwike MItchell was hanging out at the house of the Baroness when she questioned his three wishes and told her:
- “To be able to play for people every night, that is my very special wish. To be able to play consistently well for everyone, to be able to give the best of myself every day. Love me like I love you, darling! For every day is different. Today is dark and black. And if one could give one’s best to everyone, that would be the greatest wish of every musician.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Vernel Anthony Fournier, was born July 30, 1928 in New Orleans, Louisiana, into a Creole family. He left college to join a big band led by King Kolax, however, after Kolax downsized to a quintet, he moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1948. There he played with Buster Bennett, Paul Bascomb and Teddy Wilson. As house drummer at the Bee Hive club on Chicago’s South Side from 1953 to 1955, he accompanied many visiting soloists, including Lester Young, Ben Webster, Sonny Stitt, J.J. Johnson, Earl Washington and Stan Getz.
From 1953 to 1956, Vernel worked many recording sessions with Al Smith, Red Holloway, Lefty Bates, and others. He joined Ahmad Jamal’s trio in 1957, along with bass player Israel Crosby, and remained with the group until 1962, appearing on a series of recordings on the Chess label. The best known of these, At the Pershing: But Not for Me (1958), became one of the best selling jazz records of all time, remaining on the Billboard jazz charts for over two years.
After leaving the Jamal trio, Fournier joined George Shearing for two years before rejoining Jamal briefly in 1965–66. He then took a long-running gig with a trio at a restaurant owned by Elijah Muhammad. Converting to Islam in 1975, he took the Muslim name of Amir Rushdan.
He worked with Nancy Wilson, Clifford Jordan, Billy Eckstine and Joe Williams, John Lewis and Barry Harris. He was a drumming teacher and worked at Barry Harris’s Jazz Cultural Theater, the New School, and the Mannes College of Music.
Suffering a stroke in 1994 left him unable to use his legs and confined him to a wheelchair. Although he was unable to play drums professionally, after his stroke, he continued his teaching activities. Never leading a recording date, Vernel recorded twenty-eight albums as a sideman with Lorez Alexandria, Gary Burton, Billy Eckstine, Benny Carter, Ahmad Jamal, Etta Jones, Sam Jones, Clifford Jordan, Houston Person, Jimmy Reed, George Shearing, and Frank Strozier.
Drummer Vernel Fournier, transitioned from a cerebral hemorrhage in Jackson, Mississippi on November 4, 2000.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Corky Corcoran was born Gene Patrick Corcoran on July 28, 1924 in Tacoma, Washington and was considered a child prodigy. He began performing in bands at the age of 16.
Corcoran first played professionally in 1940 with Sonny Dunham, then joined Harry James’s ensemble from 1941 to 1947. Leaving James for a short time, Corky led his own ensemble and worked briefly in Tommy Dorsey’s band before rejoining James in 1949. He continued to work with James until 1957, playing concurrently with his own ensembles. Returning to James in 1962, he stayed almost up to his death.
Tenor saxophonist Corky Corcoran transitioned on October 3, 1979 in his hometown.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Clifford Arthur Edgehill, originally spelled Edghill, was born July 21, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York. His first professional work was touring with Mercer Ellington in 1948 and by 1953 was touring with Ben Webster. He played with Kenny Dorham’s Jazz Prophets and Gigi Gryce in 1956 and the following year toured with Dinah Washington.
He was a member of the Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis Quartet with George Duvivier and/or Wendell Marshall and Shirley Scott. He appears on several of Scott’s recordings, including her 1958 debut album, Great Scott!. as well as on Very Saxy with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Buddy Tate, Coleman Hawkins, and Arnett Cobb.
As well as recording he also played in quartets led by Horace Silver, Cecil Payne, Hank Mobley, Doug Watkins, Charlie Parker and Annie Laurie. Edgehill remained active through the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, appearing on several of the Prestige recordings on Mal Waldron’s 1956 debut album, Mal-1, and with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Shirley Scott.
Drummer Arthur Edgehill retired from music in the Seventies.
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