Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Luiz Floriano Bonfá was born on October 17, 1922 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He studied with Uruguayan classical guitarist Isaías Sávio from the age of 11 and these weekly lessons entailed a long, harsh commute by train, 2 1/2 hours one way and on foot from his family home in Santa Cruz. Given his extraordinary dedication and talent for the guitar, Sávio excused the youngster’s inability to pay for his lessons.
He first gained widespread exposure in Brazil in 1947 when he was featured on Rio’s Rádio Nacional, then an important showcase for up-and-coming talent. In the late 1940s Bonfá was a member of the vocal group Quitandinha Serenaders. Some of his earliest compositions such as Ranchinho de Palha, O Vento Não Sabe, were recorded and performed by Brazilian crooner Dick Farney in the 1950s and his first hit song was De Cigarro em Cigarro recorded by Nora Ney in 1957.
Farney introduced Luiz to Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, the leading songwriting team behind the worldwide explosion of Bossa Nova. He collaborated with them on de Moraes’ anthological play Orfeu da Conceição, which several years later gave origin to Marcel Camus’ film Black Orpheus. For the film he wrote Samba de Orfeu and Manhã de Carnaval, the latter of which Carl Sigman wrote English lyrics and titled the song A Day in the Life of a Fool, which has been among the top ten standards played worldwide, according to The Guinness Book of World Records.
As a composer and performer, Bonfá was at heart an exponent of the bold, lyrical, lushly orchestrated, and emotionally charged samba-canção style that became a highly visible ambassador of Brazilian music in the United States beginning with the famous November 1962 Bossa Nova concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
Bonfá worked with American musicians such as Quincy Jones, George Benson, Stan Getz, and Frank Sinatra, recording several albums while in U.S. Also of note is his “The Gentle Rain”, with lyrics by Matt Dubey, and “Sambolero”.
Composer and guitarist Luiz Bonfá, who recorded some five dozen albums, passed away from prostate cancer at 78 in Rio de Janeiro on January 12, 2001.
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Three Wishes
Cedar Walton gave his three wishes to Pannonica and they were:
- “I don’t know how to word this… I’d like to have immediate access to the world, you know? Anywhere I want to go.”
- “To have my own band and to be able to swing no matter what. Playing with Art* demands that.”
- “I wish jazz was accepted like everything else.”
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Owen Joseph “Sonny” Igoe was born on October 8, 1923 in Jersey City, New Jersey and grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey. He attended Ridgewood High School when he got his start after winning a Gene Krupa drumming contest. His playing was initially influenced by Krupa, but he soon drew upon elements of Max Roach and others, which eventually developed into an exuberant and individual style.
From the mid-1940s to 1988, Sonny performed on over 79 recordings with bands and artists, including The Buddy Stewart Quintet, Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, Woody Herman and His Orchestra, Frances Wayne with Neal Hefti and His Orchestra, Rita Moss with the George Williams Orchestra, Charlie Ventura, Tony Bennett, Billy Maxted and His Manhattan Jazz Band, The Chuck Wayne Quintet, The Don Elliott Quintet, Joe Wilder, Phil Napoleon and His Original Memphis Five, Sammy Spear, Pee Wee Erwin, Joe Williams, Marlene Ver Planck, Savina Hartwell, Dick Meldonian, and Doctor Billy Dodd.
In the 1960s, Igoe was a member of the NBC Television Orchestra and then the CBS Television Orchestra, where his credits included The Ed Sullivan Show and The Jackie Gleason Show.
Drummer Sonny Igoe, who toured with the orchestras of Tommy Reed, Les Elgart, Ina Ray Hutton, Benny Goodman, and Woody Herman, passed away on March 28, 2012 in Emerson, New Jersey where he was a longtime resident.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
George Girard was born on October 7, 1930 in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. In high school, he studied music under Johnny Wiggs and became a professional musician immediately after graduating in 1946. He played and toured with the bands of Johnny Archer and Phil Zito before co-founding the band The Basin Street Six, made up mostly of friends he had grown up with, including clarinetist Pete Fountain. The band got a regular gig at L’Enfant’s Restaurant in New Orleans, as well as regular television broadcasts over WWL. The band started receiving favorable national attention, but Girard was dissatisfied with it and broke up the band in 1954.
He found his own band, George Girard & the New Orleans Five which included trombonist Bob Havens, drummer Paul Edwards, and bassist Bob Coquille. He landed a residency at the Famous Door in the French Quarter, recorded for several labels, and got a weekly broadcast on CBS. His ambitions to make a national name for himself and the musical ability to do so fell short of time as he became ill and in 1956 had to give up playing.
Trumpeter George Girard, a member of the Basin Street Six whose technical ability combined Dixieland and big band style trumpet, passed away from colon cancer in New Orleans, Louisiana on January 18, 1957.
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Three Wishes
The Baroness inquired of the three wishes that Edgar Bateman would desire and he responded with:
- “To create all the time, master drums, and to make a contribution to drums and music.”
- “To have a loving and truthful wife whom I love.”
- “For everyone to be at peace and be happy.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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