Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Odean Pope was born October 24, 1938 in Ninety Six, South Carolina to musical parents but was reared in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania when the family moved when he was ten. His lifelong study of music began at the Graniff School of Music and the Benjamin Franklin High School music program.
Pope grew up in a rich musical environment with other Philadelphia jazz luminaries as John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Kenny Barron, Jimmy and Percy Heath, Clifford Brown, Philly Joe Jones, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Golson to name a few. Early in his career, the young tenor saxophonist, while at Philadelphia’s Uptown Theater, played behind a number of noted rhythm and blues artists including James brown, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, however, it was Coltrane who chose him as his replacement in Jimmy Smith’s group when he left to join Miles Davis in New York.
He went on to play briefly with Jimmy McGriff in the 1960s and late in the decade began working with Max Roach and touring Europe. Odean was a member of Philadelphia group Catalyst in the early and mid-1970s, and in 1977 assembled the “Saxophone Choir” consisting of nine saxophones and a rhythm section. He became a regular member of Roach’s quartet in 1979 and has recorded extensively with him, in addition to numerous releases as a leader.
His never-ending quest to study his craft led him to study orchestration, modern harmony, African rhythms, be-bop art forms and arrangement with Kenny Clarke at the Paris Conservatory. He would go on to study with Ray Bryant, Jimmie Merritt, and Hasaan Ibn Ali and with Max Roach for some twenty-two years. Pope is known for saying, “Studying with Max was like going to the highest institution in the world.”
Odean perfected the techniques of circular breathing and multiphonics, both allowing him to stretch his solo improvisations from dazzling elevations to the throbbing, husky sounds for which he is so well known, to all kinds of delicacy in getting from one to the other.
Pope has won “Best Tenor Saxophone Player” at the North Sea Jazz Festival, received numerous citations from the City of Philadelphia, and has received awards from the Pew Fellowship, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Chamber music America. He started the jazz studies program at the Settlement Music School and he continues to give master classes in the Philadelphia School District as well as nationally and internationally.
More Posts: saxophone
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Freddy Cole was born Lionel Frederick Cole on October 15, 1931, to Edward and Paulina Nancy Cole and is the youngest sibling of musicians Eddie, Ike and Nat. Growing up in Chicago he began playing piano at age six, Cole hoped for a career with the NFL. But a hand injury ended his dream and the teenager began playing and singing in Chicago clubs. Although he was ready to hit the road at 18, his mother intervened and he continued his musical education at Chicago’s Roosevelt Institute before moving to New York City in 1951. While in New York, Cole studied at the Juilliard School of Music and went on to get a master’s degree at the New England Conservatory of Music.
The small Chicago-based label, Topper Records, released Freddy’s first single, “The Joke’s On Me” in 1952. A sophomore single, “Whispering Grass” on the OKeh label, was a moderate hit in 1953. He later spent several months on the road with Johnny Coles and Benny Golson in the Earl Bostic band before returning to hone his skills in the bistros of New York. He went on to work with Grover Washington, Jr. and to record jingles for various companies, including Turner Classic Movies.
During the 1970s, Cole recorded several albums for European and English based labels. He was the subject of the 2006 documentary “The Cole Nobody Knows” by filmmaker Clay Walker and is a member of the Steinway Artist roster. He has been inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2007.
Freddy cites his influences as John Lewis, Oscar Peterson, Teddy Wilson and Billy Eckstine, the latter being the subject of his release, “Freddy Cole Sings Mr. B”, that was nominated for a Grammy Award. When speaking of Eckstine, Cole recalled, “He was a fantastic entertainer. I learned so much from just watching and being around him.”
With over two-dozen albums as a leader and numerous collaborations, jazz pianist and vocalist Freddy Cole leads his quartet that holds down a rigorous schedule that continually tours the United States, Europe, South America and the Far East.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Curtis Amy was born on October 11, 1929 in Houston, Texas and learned how to play clarinet before joining the Army. During his time in service he picked up the tenor saxophone and after his discharge he enrolled and graduated from Kentucky State College.
Working as an educator in Tennessee while playing in mid-western jazz clubs for a time and in the mid-1950s, Amy relocated to Los Angeles and signed with Pacific Jazz Records. By the mid-60s he spent three years as musical director for Ray Charles’ orchestra, together with his wife and singer Merry Clayton, and Steve Huffsteter.
Curtis lead his own bands and recording albums under his own name, Amy also did session work and played the solos on several recordings, including The Doors song “Touch Me”, Carole King’s “Tapestry”, and Lou Rawls’ first albums, “Black and Blue and Tobacco Road”; with Dexter Gordon in the Onzy Matthews’ big band as well as working with Marvin Gaye, Tammy Terrell and Smoky Robinson.
Soul jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist Curtis Amy, a part of the West coast jazz scene who explored other musical mediums, passed away on June 5, 2002.
More Posts: saxophone
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Abdullah Ibrahim was born October 9, 1934 in Cape Town, South Africa, formerly known as Adolph Johannes Brand, and as Dollar Brand. He first received piano lessons at age seven, was an avid consumer of jazz records brought by American sailors, and was playing jazz professionally by 1949. In 1959 and 1960, he played alongside Kippie Moeketsi and Hugh Masekela with The Jazz Epistles in Sophiatown, later recording the first jazz LP by Black South African musicians in 1960. Ibrahim then joined the European tour of the musical King Kong.
Moving to Europe in 1962, it was in the following year that Duke Ellington heard the Dollar Brand Trio at Zurich’s Africana Club at the request of Brand’s wife-to-be Sathima Bea Benjamin. As a result, Duke Ellington presents The Dollar Brand Trio was recorded at Reprise followed by a second session of the trio with Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn also on piano performing with Sathima as the vocalist. The recording, A Morning In Paris, remained unreleased until 1996 and then under Benjamin’s name. This led to wider appearances of the Dollar Brand Trio at many European festivals, as well as on radio and television.
Ibrahim has toured mainly in Europe, the United States, and South Africa, the band performing mainly in concert and club settings, and sometimes playing solo piano. Mainly playing the piano, he also plays the flute, saxophone, and cello, performing mostly his own compositions, although he sometimes performs pieces composed by others.
Abdullah Ibrahim to date has recorded more than forty albums as a leader, has written the soundtracks for a number of films, Chocolat and No Fear, No Die; and was a part of the 2002 documentary Amandla! – A Revolution in Four Part Harmony where he and others recalled the days of apartheid. He has ventured into orchestral performances with the inauguration of Nelson Mandela and the later initiation of the 18-piece Cape Town Jazz Orchestra in 2006.
A pianist and composer, Abdullah Ibrahim’s music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cape Town, ranging from traditional African songs to the gospel of the AME church and ragas, to more modern jazz and other Western styles reflecting the influences of Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington. He continues to perform, record and tour.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Park “Pepper” Adams III was born on October 8, 1930 in Highland Park, Michigan. His family moved to Rochester, New York when he was young and it was here that he began his musical endeavors. At 16 he moved back to Detroit and met several musicians who would later be important to his career, including trumpeter Donald Byrd. Adams became interested in Wardell Gray’s approach to the saxophone and later named Gray and Harry Carney as his influences.
After his Army band stint and a brief tour in Korea, Pepper moved to New York and recorded the “Dakar” album with Coltrane, with Lee Morgan on “The Cooker”, and briefly worked with Benny Goodman ‘s band in 1958. During this time, Adams also began working with Charles Mingus, performing on one of Mingus’s finest albums from this period, “Blues & Roots” and sporadically recording with Mingus until his death in 1979.
Adams would become a significant member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band from 1965 to 1978, and continued to record Jones’s compositions on many of his own albums. Adams also co-led a quintet with Donald Byrd that produced the live date, “10 to 4 at the 5 Spot” featuring Elvin Jones.
Pepper Adams, the baritone saxophonist nicknamed “The Knife” for his hearty tone, driving rhythmic sense, and big and intense sound that fit well in the up-tempo of hard bop, is considered, along with Gerry Mulligan, as setting the foundation for contemporary playing on the baritone. He died of lung cancer in Brooklyn, New York on September 10, 1986.
More Posts: saxophone