Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bill Perkins was born on July 22, 1924 in San Francisco, California, grew up in Chile, moved to Santa Barbara and served in the military during World War II. While living in Santa Barbara after his discharge, he studied music and engineering at Cal-Tech at the University of California and a Westlake College.
Bill started out performing in the big bands of Woody Herman and Jerry Wald. He also worked for the Stan Kenton orchestra, a move that subsequently led to his entry into the cool jazz idiom. He became one of the coolest and a major influence in the cool school on the West Coast jazz scene.
Perk, as he was known, started recording as a leader in 1956 with John Lewis on Grand Encounter and sessions with Art Pepper, Bud Shank and Richie Kamuca, to name just a few. During the 60s he held had a dual career as a studio musician and recording engineer. From 1970-1992 he held a chair in The Tonight Show band and a member of the Bud Shank Sextet.
Though he played baritone, alto, soprano and flute he was best known for his tenor and most remembered for his baritone and tenor work with The Lighthouse All-Stars. Over the course of his career Bill Perkins recorded twenty-three albums as a leader and sideman up until the time of his death on August 9, 2003.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Sonny Clark was born Conrad Yeatis Clark on July 21, 1931 in Herminie, Pennsylvania, learned to play the piano and by age 12 was living in Pittsburgh. When visiting an aunt in California at age 20, he decided to stay and began working with saxophonist Wardell Gray. Clark went to San Francisco with Oscar Pettiford and after a couple months, began working with clarinetist Buddy De Franco in 1953, subsequently touring the U.S. and Europe until 1956. It was then he became a member of The Lighthouse All-Stars, led by bassist Howard Rumsey.
Wishing to return to the east coast, Clark served as accompanist for singer Dinah Washington in 1957, allowing him to relocate to New York City. He became an often-requested sideman partly because of his rhythmic comping. Frequently recording for Blue Note Records, Sonny held a sideman chair for such luminaries as Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Art Farmer, Curtis Fuller, Grant Green, Philly Joe Jones, Hank Mobley, Charles Mingus, Lee Morgan and Billie Holiday among a host of others.
As a leader Clark recorded albums Dial “S” For Sonny, Sonny’s Crib, Sonny Clark Trio with Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones, Cool Struttin’ and Sonny Clark Trio with George Duvivier and Max Roach.
Pianist Sonny Clark, who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom, died of a heart attack in New York City on January 13, 1963. It is thought by some commentators that his drug and alcohol abuse contributed to his premature death.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Nat Pierce was born on July 16, 1925 in Somerville, Massachusetts. Learning to play piano as a child he went on to attend the New England Conservatory. After graduation he worked as an amateur musician around Boston, then led his own band featuring Charlie Mariano from 1949-51. He would go on to play with Woody Herman through 1966 as chief arranger and asst. road manager.
Taking up residence in New York City, Nat freelanced with musicians such as Pee Wee Russell, Lester Young, Emmett Berry and ruby Braff, to name a few. From 1957-1959 Pierce led his second band off and on which featured Buck Clayton, Gus Johnson and Paul Quinichette. He recorded with a number of other well-known musicians as well, including Quincy Jones, Coleman Hawkins and Pee Wee Russell.
Pierce arranged the music for The Sound of Jazz, a 1954 CBS television special hosted by John Crosby. Most of the pieces he composed and arranged were predominantly created for the use in big bands. Pianist Nat Pierce passed away on June 10, 1992.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Paulo Moura was born on July 15, 1932 in Sao Jose do Rio Preto, Brazil. His father, a maestro of a marching band, encouraged his son to train as a tailor but Paulo instead studied in the National Music School and performed with the Brazilian Symphonic Orchestra.
He was the first black artist to become first clarinetist in the Municipal Theatre Orchestra. He appeared at Bossa Nova night at Carnegie Hall in 1962 with Sergio Mendes and both were featured on Cannonball Adderley’s 1962 album, Cannonball’s Bossa Nova.
From 1997 to 1999, Paulo was on the State Council of Culture in Rio de Janiero, a Councillor of the Federal Council of Music, and President of the Museum Foundation of Image and Sound. In 2000, Moura became the first Brazilian instrumentalist to win the Latin Grammy.
He won the Sharp Award for the most popular instrumentalist of the year in 1992. His CD “Paulo Moura e Os Oito Batutas” was listed by Barnes & Noble as one of the top 10 recommendations of the year for 1998. Clarinetist and saxophonist Paulo Moura passed away of lymphoma on July 12, 2010 just three days before his 78th birthday.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joe Zawinul was born Josef Erich Zawinul on July 7, 1932 grew up in Vienna, Austria. Classically trained at the Konservatorium Wien, he played in various broadcasting and studio bands before emigrating to the U.S. in 1959 on a music scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston.
He went on to play with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, where he first met Wayne Shorter after having had an influence in hiring him. Shorter left soon thereafter for Art Blakey’s group and Joe departed ways to tour and record with Dinah Washington for two years.
First coming to prominence in 1961 with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, and during his nine-year stint composed the hit songs “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”, “Walk Tall” and “Country Preacher”, the latter a tribute to Jesse Jackson
In the late 60s Zawinul played with Miles Davis, becoming one of the creators of jazz-fusion and one of the first to use electric pianos and synthesizers. He composed the title track on the album In A Silent Way and “Pharaoh’s Dance” on the landmark album Bitches Brew that occupied the whole of side one.[1]
In 1970, Zawinul co-founded Weather Report with Wayne Shorter bringing relatively open group improvisation with their fourth album Mysterious Traveller being their breakthrough. For the next fifteen years they would experience unparallel success with his composition “Birdland” being covered by the likes of Quincy Jones and the Manhattan Transfer and Jefferson Starship among others and winning him three Grammy awards.
Joe recorded 74 albums as a leader, sideman and collaborator; has been named Keyboardist” 28 times by the readers of Down Beat magazine, had several musicians honor him in song, written symphonies and performed and toured up until his hospitalization for a rare skin cancer where he died on September 11, 2007.
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