Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Monty Sunshine was born on April 9, 1928 in Stepney, London, England. Along with Lonnie Donegan, Jim Bray and Ron Bowden, he formed the back line of what was the embryo Chris Barber Band. First trumpet Ken Colyer and the original 1953 band took the Colyer name until he left. Pat Halcox took over the spot and the band formally adopted the Chris Barber Jazz Band as its title.
The band quickly made an international reputation following their inaugural tour of Denmark, before their professional debut in the United Kingdom. Sunshine stayed with the band for several years, until he left in 1960, to be replaced by Ian Wheeler. He formed his own band, staying true to the original six-man line up, whilst Barber expanded his band membership to seven, then eight and finally to eleven.
Sunshine returned to play a reunion concert with the original Chris Barber Band at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon in 1975. Well received, the band reformed for an international reunion tour in 1994 and he retired from music around 2001. His discography is extensive, and compact discs have been issued of recordings with Colyer and Barber, as well as with his own band.
Clarinetist Monty Sunshine, known for his clarinet solo on the track Petite Fleur, passed away on November 30, 2010 at the age of 82.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Oliver Edward Mitchell was born April 8, 1927 in Los Angeles, California. He was the son of Harold Mitchell, lead trumpeter for MGM Studios, who taught him to play the trumpet.
Mitchell would go on to play in big bands for Harry James, Buddy Rich and Pérez Prado, among others, as well as the NBC Symphony Orchestra. In the 1960s, he joined The Wrecking Crew, a group of studio and session musicians who played anonymously on many records for popular singers of the time, as well as theme songs for television, film scores, and advertising jingles.
Mitchell was an original member of Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass. He would go on to have his own bands, Ollie Mitchell’s Sunday Band, and the Olliephonic Horns
Moving to Puako, Hawaii in 1995 he founded the Horns. In 2010, he published his memoir, Lost, But Making Good Time: A View from the Back Row of the Band. He stopped playing the trumpet toward the end of his life, due to macular degeneration and hand problems from an automobile accident.
Trumpeter Ollie Mitchell, who recorded with Chet Baker, Harry James, Stan Kenton, Irene Kral, Shorty Rogers, Pete Rugolo, Dan terry and Gerry Wilson among others, suffered from cancer and passed away on May 11, 2013.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Eugene Thomas Puerling was born on March 31, 1929 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He created and led the vocal groups The Hi-Lo’s and The Singers Unlimited. He won a Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices in 1982 for his arrangement of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square as performed by The Manhattan Transfer. A Latin song he arranged for Singers Unlimited, “One More Time, Chuck Corea,” inspired by Chuck Mangione and Chick Corea, has been adapted and used by marching bands, drum and bugle corps and jazz ensembles.
His vocal arrangements and chord structures were classic and instantly recognizable. In addition to the afore-mentioned he contributed to Rosemary Clooney’s TV show. His vocal arranging ability and his ability to arrange musical backing by Frank Comstock’s band and several others were widely regarded. Puerling’s innovative use of vocal harmony influenced many groups and musicians, including Take 6, The King’s Singers, The Free Design, Brian Wilson, The Manhattan Transfer, Chanticleer, and the band Glad, the latter three also commissioned him to create original arrangements for them.
Vocalist and vocal arranger Gene Puerling, whose vocal arrangements collection is being housed at The University of North Texas College of Music and Music Library, passed away on March 25, 2008.
Three Wishes
Jon Hendricks told Nica what his three wishes would be when she inquired:
- “Knowledge of God.”
- “Art.”
- “Love.”
*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…
Maurice James Simon was born March 26, 1929 in Houston, Texas. Studying the saxophone in high school he was a classmate of Eric Dolphy during the 1945-46 school year. He appeared on an early 1945 Los Angeles, California recording led by Russell Jacquet along with Teddy Edwards, Charles Mingus, Bill Davis and Chico Hamilton.
1948 saw him again with Jacquet as leader, in an all-star band recording in Detroit, Michigan along with Sonny Stitt, Leo Parker, Sir Charles Thompson, Al Lucas and Shadow Wilson.
He went on to join the Gerald Wilson Orchestra that also had Snooky Young, Red Kelly and Melba Liston as members. In 1950 he recorded for Savoy Records backing Helen Humes in a big band with Dexter Gordon, Ernie Freeman, Red Callender and J.C. Heard.
He also played with Fats Domino, Papa John Creach, Big Maybelle, Faye Adams, Bumble Bee Slim, Percy Mayfield and B. B. King. In the 1970s he worked with the Duke Ellington orchestra. Baritone and tenor saxophonist Maurice Simon passed away on August 6, 2019.
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