Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Cannonball Adderley was born Julian Edwin Adderley on September 15, 1928 in Tampa, Florida but moved with his parents to Tallahassee when his parents accepted teaching positions at Florida A&M University. While there both he and his brother Nat played with Ray Charles during the early forties, with Cannonball becoming a local legend prior to moving to New York in 1955.
It was in New York during this time that Adderley’s prolific career began when he visited Cafe Bohemia and witnessed the Oscar Pettiford group playing that night. Bringing his saxophone into the club with him, for fear of it being stolen, he was asked to sit in, as the saxophone player was late. In true Cannonball style, he soared through the changes, and became a sensation in the following weeks.
Cannonball formed his own group with his brother Nat after signing onto the Savoy jazz label in 1957. He was noticed by Miles Davis and it was because of his blues-rooted alto saxophone that Davis asked him to play with his group in October, three months before Coltrane’s return to the group. This group released the seminal “Milestones” and “Kind of Blue” and the association with Bill Evans produced “Portrait of Cannonball” and Know What I Mean”.
By the end of ‘60s, Adderley’s playing began to reflect the influence of the electric jazz avant-garde producing such albums as “Accent on Africa” and “The Price You Got To Pay to Be Free”. In 1970 his quintet played the Monterey Jazz Festival and a brief scene of that performance was featured in the Clint Eastwood film “Play Misty For Me”, and shortly before his death in 1975 he was casted in an episodic role alongside Jose Feliciano and David Carradine in Kung Fu.
His interest as an educator led him to teach applied instrumental music classes at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale; and carried over to him narrating and recording “The Child’s Introduction to Jazz” released in 1961 on Riverside Records.
Joe Zawinul’s “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” and “Walk Tall”, “This Here” written by Bobby Timmons, “The Jive Samba” and “Work Song” are a few of the songs made famous by Cannonball. Joe Zawinul composed “Cannon Ball” that was recorded on the Weather Report album Black Market as a tribute to his former leader.
Alto saxophonist and educator Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, who added so much to the hard bop era of the ‘50s and ‘60s, died of a stroke on August 8, 1975. Later that year he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Melvin Howard Tormé was born on September 13, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois to Russian-Jewish parents whose surname was Torma but was changed to Torme as they came through Ellis Island. A child prodigy, his first professional engagement was singing “You’re Driving Me Crazy” with the Coon-Sanders Orchestra at the Blackhawk at age 4. Between 1933 and 1941, he acted in the network radio serials “The Romance of Helen Trent” and “Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy”.
Mel wrote his first song at 13, and three years later, his first published song, “Lament to Love,” became a hit recording for Harry James. He played drums in Chicago’s Shakespeare Elementary School drum and bugle corps in his early teens. While a teenager, he sang, arranged, and played drums in a band led by Chico Marx of the Marx Brothers. His formal education ended in 1944 with his graduation from Chicago’s Hyde Park High School.
In 1943, Tormé made his movie debut in Sinatra’s first film, the musical “Higher and Higher” and an appearance in the 1947 film musical “Good News” made him a teen idol for a few years. He went on to sing and act in many films and television episodes throughout his career, even hosting his own television show in 1951–52.
In 1944 he formed one of the first jazz-influenced vocal groups, a quintet called “Mel Tormé and His Mel-Tones.” They had several hits on his own and fronting Artie Shaw’s band and blazed a path that was later followed by the Hi-Lo’s, The Four Freshman and The Manhattan Transfer. A solo act by 1947, Mel hit New York’s Copacabana and a local disc jockey in the audience, Fred Robbins, gave him the nickname “The Velvet Fog” for his smooth vocals and high tenor, a name detested by Tormé.
Mel went on to have a long and prosperous career recording for Decca, Musicraft, Capitol and Bethlehem; worked with Marty Paich in the fifties; “Blue Moon” became his signature tune; helped pioneer cool jazz; in the 60s wrote songs and musical arrangements for Judy Garland; co-wrote “The Christmas Song” with Bob Wells; and weathered the drought of vocal jazz until fertile ground reappeared in the 70s, a period that for him, lasted nearly to the end of his life.
Mel Tormé, vocalist, drummer, actor, author, composer and arranger passed away after suffering a stroke on June 5, 1999.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Roosevelt “Baby Face” Willette was born on September 11, 1933 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother was a missionary who played the piano in the church where his father was a minister. His musical roots are therefore in gospel and Baby Face taught himself the piano and started out playing the piano for various gospel groups, and spent his early career touring across the United States, Canada and Cuba.
It was in Chicago that Willette decided to switch from gospel and rhythm & blues to playing jazz. He played piano with the bands of King Kolax, Joe Houston, Johnny Otis and Big Jay McNeely before switching to organ. He was inspired by Jimmy Smith’s work, however, his playing style remained heavily influenced by gospel and soul jazz. Based in Milwaukee he performed with his vocalist wife Jo Gibson at such clubs as The Flame Club, The Pelican, The Moonglow and Max’s among others.
In 1960 he moved to New York City where he met Lou Donaldson and Grant Green, and played on a few Blue Note sessions with them. This led to Willette being signed to the label, which recorded his debut album Face To Face. After stints in New York City, and then California, failing health forced a return to Chicago, where his family resided. This would eventually become his final resting place as he passed away on April 1,1971.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Elvin Ray Jones was born on September 9, 1927 in Pontiac, Michigan. By age two he said he knew he held a fascination for drums watching the drummers in circus marching band parades go by his home. Elvin joined his high school’s black marching band, where he developed his rudimentary foundation. Upon discharge from the Army in 1949 he borrowed thirty-five dollars from his sister to buy his first drum set.
In Detroit, Jones played with Billy Mitchell’s house band at Detroit’s Grand River Street Club before moving to New York in 1955 where he worked as a sideman for Charles Mingus, Teddy Charles, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Wardell Gray and Miles Davis. By 1960 he was working with John Coltrane on his seminal work “A Love Supreme” and the relationship lasted until 1966.
Remaining active after leaving Coltrane, Elvin led several bands in the late sixties and seventies that are considered highly influential groups, notably a trio with saxophonist Joe Farrell and bassist Jimmy Garrison. He recorded extensively for Blue Note under his own name during this period with groups featuring prominent as well as up and coming greats like George Coleman, Lee Morgan, Frank Foster, Steve Grossman, Dave Liebman and Pepper Adams to name a few.
Elvin Jones’ sense of timing, polyrhythms, dynamics, timbre, and legato phrasing brought the drums to the foreground and his free-flowing style was a major influence on many leading rock drummers, including Mitch Mitchell and Ginger Baker. He performed and recorded with his own group, the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine, whose line up changed through the years, and recorded with both his brothers Hank and Thad over the course of his career.
He taught regularly, often taking part in clinics, playing in schools and giving free concerts in prisons. His lessons emphasized music history as well as drumming technique. Elvin Jones died of heart failure in Englewood, New Jersey on May 18, 2004.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Wilbur Ware was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 8, 1923. He taught himself to play banjo and bass. In the 1940s, he worked with Stuff Smith, Sonny Stitt and Roy Eldridge. In the ‘50s, Ware played with Eddie Vinson, Art Blakey, Johnny Griffin and Buddy DeFranco.
Ware played simply, strongly, and melodically, with a big, hard-bop percussive sound. His best known for his hard bop percussive style and his most important Wilbur Ware records are three dates with the Thelonious Monk Quartet in 1957-58. The best Monk sides are the three perfect quartet tracks with John Coltrane and Shadow Wilson, followed by the uneven all-star “Monk’s Music” date, where one can hear Ware’s great harmonic insight on “Well You Needn’t”. These dates along with the Sonny Rollins Village Vanguard sets with Elvin Jones are examples of his finest recorded work.
Ware and fellow bassist Israel Crosby were leading examples of the more laid-back “Chicago Sound” approach to the bass during the 1950’s. By 1969, Ware had played with Clifford Jordan, Elvin Jones and Sonny Rollins. He later moved to Philadelphia, where the double-bassist died from emphysema on September 9,1979. He was 56 years old.
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