Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Lars Gunnar Victor Gullin was born May 4, 1928 in Visby, Sweden. A child prodigy on the accordion, by age thirteen, he played clarinet in a military band and later learned the alto saxophone. After moving to Stockholm, Sweden in 1947 he became a professional musician as a pianist. Planning on a classical career he studied privately with classical pianist Sven Brandel.
He filled the baritone chair in Seymour Österwall’s band in 1949 by chance, it was enough for him to decide that it was an instrument with possibilities. He was influenced by baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan for the first time on the Birth of the Cool recordings. He worked as a member of Arne Domnérus’s septet for two years from 1951.
Gullin began working with visiting American musicians, recording with James Moody, Zoot Sims and Clifford Brown. Most importantly, he first performed with Lee Konitz in 1951, an association which was to be repeated several times in future years.
In 1953 formed his own group, probably the only regular group he was to lead. It was short-lived, breaking up later that year after Lars was responsible for causing the group to be involved in an automobile accident, although no one was seriously hurt. The next year, 1954, he won the best newcomer award in the American DownBeat magazine. Later his albums were leased to Atlantic Records in the United States and toured several European countries with Chet Baker in 1955.
The remainder of his career was blighted by his own narcotics problems and sometimes he survived on artists’ grants from the Swedish government. During most of 1959 he was active in Italy, he played with Chet Baker again and with the jazz alto saxophonist Flavio Ambrosetti, making radio broadcasts with him in Lausanne, Switzerland.
He recorded with Archie Shepp in 1963. One of his last major statements was his Aeros aromatic atomica suite recorded in 1973. A recording jointly led by Lee Konitz and pianist Lars Sjösten, Dedicated to Lee … Play the Music of Lars Gullin was recorded in 1983 and issued by Dragon Records. Baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin transitioned from a heart attack on May 17, 1976, brought on by his long-term addiction to methadone.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Fatty George was born Franz Georg Pressler on April 24, 1927 in Vienna, Austria. He originally modeled himself after Benny Goodman but subsequently became a bebop player under the banner of Charlie Parker. He started out playing in clubs near the end of World War II for an audience of both American and Russian soldiers. his setlist adhering to the enormously popular swing recipes of the era.
He became involved in personally running nightclubs in both Germany and Austria, opening Fatty’s Jazz Casino in Insbruck, Austria in the early ’50s and Fatty’s Saloon in Vienna in 1958. His Fatty George Jazzband performed throughout the European continent at both clubs and festivals and released a series of albums under his own name, including Two Sides of Fatty George and Fatty’s Saloon. His playing partners often included the brothers Bill Grah and Heinz Grah on piano and trombone, respectively.
His recorded legacy includes about 50 recordings made over four decades beginning in the Forties, covering aspects of European history as well as ongoing developments in jazz itself.
Clarinettist Fatty George, who may have acquired the stage name of Fatty George with the help of double servings of apple strudel and goulash, transitioned on March 29, 1982.
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Three Wishes
When Nica questioned Bud Powell what his three wishes would be if they could be granted he told her:
- “Not to have to go to the doctors and the hospitals.”
- “To go to Japan.”
- “To make a record.”
*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…
John Fraser MacPherson was born on April 10, 1928 in Saint Boniface, Manitoba, Canada. He moved with his parents to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada as a child where he learned piano, clarinet, and alto and tenor saxophones. After relocating to Vancouver, British Columbia to continue a commerce degree, he played in bands led by Ray Norris, Dave Robbins, Paul Ruhland, and Doug Parke.
He led his own groups and eventually took over the leadership of the Cave supper club band.In 1958 Fraser took a year’s leave to study in New York City, adding flute to his list of instruments.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s MacPherson was a first-call studio player in Vancouver, as well as leading the house band at the Cave supper club. He also taught briefly in the Jazz and Commercial Music department at Vancouver Community College, where his students included future Powder Blues Band baritone saxophonist Gordie Bertram and New Orleans based saxophonist and jazz educator John Doheny.
Fraser’s debut album as leader of a small jazz group, Live at the Planetarium, was recorded for broadcast on the French-language CBC radio network. He leased the master tapes and released them on his own independent label, West End Records. The album was re-released by Concord Records, and he recorded several other releases for them. He also recorded for Sackville and Justin Time record labels.
In the summer of 1993, Pacific Music Industry Association (PMIA) created the Fraser MacPherson Scholarship Fund which annually awards grants of $2000 to four to eight aspiring music students.
Fraser MacPherson, who won a Juno Award for Best Jazz Album and was awarded the Order of Canada, transitioned in Vancouver at the age of 65 on September 27, 1993.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Derek Hogg was born April 8, 1928 in Oldham, England and started playing early in his career with marching bands. He began working in professional ensembles in the Fifties, including those of Freddy Randall, Don Rendell, Joe Saye, Ken Moule, Buddy Featherstonhaugh, Kenny Baker, Sandy Brown and Al Fairweather’s All Stars group.
He played with Vic Lewis in 1959-1960, then with The Squadronaires and Dudley Moore in the first few years of the decade. In 1962 he began working with Danny Moss, with whom he would continue to perform until the end of his career. Hogg went on to perform with Rosemary Clooney, Tony Coe, Digby Fairweather, Budd Johnson, Colin Purbrook, Benny Waters and Teddy Wilson.
Drummer Derek Hogg retired from active performance in 1987.
Confer a dose of an Oldham drummer to those seeking a greater insight about the musicians around the world who are members of the pantheon of jazz…
Derek Hogg: 1928 | DrumsMore Posts: drums,history,instrumental,jazz,music