Three Wishes

Freddie Hubbard told Pannonica that if given his three wishes would be: 

1. 1. “Happiness.”

   2. “Musical success. ”

   3. “I can’t get that third one. I’m trying to find that third one. I know I want a baby.”

*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…

Michel De Villers was born July 13, 1926 in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, France and learned to play alto saxophone as a teenager. He would later expand to clarinet and baritone saxophone. Playing in the latter half of the 1940s with Jean-Claude Fohrenbach, Django Reinhardt and Rex Stewart, he then joined the Edward VII Theatre band in Paris. 

In the 1950s he worked in the bands of Geo Daly, Jack Diéval, André Persiany, and Gérard Pochonet. He also played with touring American musicians such as Buck Clayton, Bill Coleman, Jonah Jones, and Lucky Thompson. The Seventies saw De Villers as less active as a musician, working as a jazz writer and radio screenwriter. In the 1980s he became active again as an educator and performer, working later in his career with Christian Garros, Pierre Michelot, Roger Guérin, and Marc Fosset.

Saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader Michel De Villers October 25, 1992, Mont St. Aignan, France.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Alex Welsh was born on July 9, 1929 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Welsh and started playing in the teenage Leith Silver Band and with Archie Semple’s Capital Jazz Band.  After a move to London in the early 1950s, he formed a band with clarinetist Archie Semple, pianist Fred Hunt, trombonist Roy Crimmins, and drummer Lenny Hastings. The band played a version of Chicago-style Dixieland jazz and was part of the traditional jazz revival in England in the 1950s.

In the 1960s, Welsh’s band played with Earl Hines, Red Allen, Peanuts Hucko, Pee Wee Russell, and Ruby Braff. During that period and into the early 1970s, Welsh frequently toured, including many visits to the United States. Influenced by his fellow trad jazz bandleader Chris Barber, he built up an extensive musical repertoire, working from popular music, jazz, and a large mainstream following for ensembles.

Welsh recorded under the Decca Record label from 1955 and had four records released that year, I’ll Build A Stairway To Paradise, Blues My Naughtie Sweetie Gives To Me, and What Can I Say After I Say I’m Sorry, and Dixielanders. Although none of these recordings charted, he found some success with the single Tansy from the film No My Darling Daughter.

In 1963 he was part of the biggest trad jazz event in Britain and would go on to tour internationally, playing festivals on both the American and European continents. He was a regular in the early 1970s, playing clubs around London and having continued success as a vocalist and playing Dixieland, and trad jazz. Singer, bandleader, cornetist, and trumpeter Alex Welsh passed away on June 25, 1982 in Hillingdon Hospital in London, England, at the age of 52.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Frank Rehak was born on July 6, 1926, in New York City and started on piano and cello before switching to trombone. He was a member of the Gil Evans band and worked with Miles Davis, appearing with Davis on the broadcast The Sounds of Miles Davis.

As a leader he recorded Jazzville Vol. 2 on the Dawn label but as a sideman he had a prolific career. He recorded with Tony Bennett, Al Cohn, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Quincy Jones, Gene Krupa, Hugo Montenegro, Cat Anderson, Ernestine Anderson, Charlie Barnet, Big Maybelle, Art Blakey, Bob Brookmeyer, Ruth Brown, Cándido Camero, Chris Connor, Urbie Green, Johnny Hartman, Michel Legrand, Melba Liston, Mundell Lowe, Teo Macero, Carmen McRae, Red Mitchell, Whitey Mitchell, Blue Mitchell, André Previn, Gerry Mulligan, Kai Winding and the list goes on.

Along with a failed marriage to nightclub dancer Jerri Gray, he also had a heroin addiction, which combined with other financial problems led to his withdrawal from music. With that, he lapsed into relative obscurity.

In an effort to deal with these issues he spent time at Synanon, which led to his mention in Art Pepper’s autobiography. Trombonist Frank Rehak passed away on June 22, 1987 in Badger, California.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Rhoda Scott was born in Dorothy, New Jersey on July 3, 1938 the daughter of an A.M.E. pastor. She spent most of her childhood in New Jersey, where she learned to play the organ in her father’s churches from the age of seven. Soon she was organist for youth and gospel choirs in her father’s church or in other churches. Later she studied classical piano and focused more on the organ while earning a Masters in Music Theory from the Manhattan School of Music.

During this time, a choir member asked her to be in a small band as a jazz pianist. Accepting under the condition that she play the organ instead of the piano, and overtime on the Hammond organ, she became an outstanding jazz musician. She played the church organ barefoot, and continued this practice earning her the nickname “The Barefoot Lady”. It is considered a role model for many who also play the organ barefoot today. Because of her church training, Scott uses the pedals to play walking bass lines. This leaves her left hand free for more sophisticated chords.

Scott was discovered by Count Basie, who hired her for his club in Harlem, New York. In 1967 she moved to France, where her success was far greater than in the United States. She performed at the Paris Olympia and appeared on stage with many greats such as Ray Charles, George Benson , Ella Fitzgerald, Kenny Clarke and Gilbert Bécaud. In the 1970s she was frequently requested by Joe Thomas, Cees Kranenburg Jr., Bill Elliott, Kenny Clarke, Julie Saury, Sophie Alour, Lisa Cat-Berro, Anne Paceo, Géraldine Laurent, Julien Alour, and Thomas Derouineau.

Her music is a fusion of jazz, gospel, and classical and reflects both her early practice and formal training. Hard bop and soul-jazz organist Rhoda Scott, who has recorded eight albums from 1963 to today, continues to perform and record.

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