Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Lou Gare was born Leslie Arthur Gare on June 16, 1939 in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. He is best known for his works with the improvised music ensemble AMM and recorded six albums with the group and another two as a soloist.
Eventually settling in the West Country, he still played in relative obscurity. Then Lou joined a big band that became The Uncommon Orchestra. He remained with them until health problems limited his participation.
Throughout his career he played with musicians such as Eddie Prévost, Mike Westbrook, Cornelius Cardew, Keith Rowe and Sam Richards
Free-jazz tenor saxophonist Lou Gare transitioned on October 6, 2017.
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Three Wishes
Joe Henderson and the Baroness was having a conversation when she inquired what his three wishes would be if granting them was possible and he replied:
- “I wish there would be one that would cover all three. I mean, something very crazy and earthy. I’ve got it! That love would be paramount to everything – possibly except food. That’s it! That’s the only way I can get it together, Nica: love, love, love!”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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Three Wishes
One night when they were just hanging out Nica asked George Bright what he would wish for if he was given three and he said to her:
- “That fragmentation might be resolved into a kind of unified action in the world.”
- “That men might get into a one-to-one relationship with what they are.”
- “That we realize that the challenge to make sense out of what appears to be nonsense is the only therapy that anyone can have.
*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…
Robert Wallis was born on June 3, 1934 in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, where his father became harbour master. At an early age he joined the local Salvation Army band with his friend, Keith Avison, who was to play trombone with Wallis for a number of years. By the age of twenty, he discovered jazz and set up his own band in his seaside town,which also played in Hull, England.
He went to Denmark for a short spell, and recorded a couple of records there as the vocalist with the Washboard Beaters. Relocating to the UK, Bob went to London and played for a short time with Ken Colyer’s Omega Brass, as well as joining Acker Bilk. These bands were recording mainly for the specialist 77 Records label.
He joined up with Hugh Rainey’s All Stars whereGinger Baker was their drummer at the time. Shortly afterwards the band changed its name to The Storyville Jazz Band, fronted by Wallis. In 1959 the band recorded an album for Top Rank Records, Everybody Loves Saturday Night. The band recorded several singles before moving to Pye Records where they recorded three more albums and released a few singles.
1963 saw Wallis and his band disbanded and he played with one or two other bands before moving to the Continent where he spent most of his remaining years, still playing with reconstituted versions of the Storyville Jazzmen. That same year he participated in the biggest trad jazz event staged in Britain at Alexandra Palace which included George Melly, Diz Disley, Acker Bilk, Chris Barber, Kenny Ball, Ken Colyer, Monty Sunshine, Alex Welsh, Bruce Turner and Mick Mulligan.
Ultimately he settled in Zurich, Switzerland with a residency at the Casa Bar. He continued to make records for European record labels Storyville Records, WAM and Pebe. Trumpeter Bob Wallis, whose influence was Henry Red Allen, returned to England with his wife, Joyce, where he transitioned in hospital on January 10, 1991 at the age of 56.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ronnie Bedford was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut on June 2, 1931. He started early on the drums, taking lessons from Fred Albright of the NBC Orchestra when he was ten. Later he started listening to radio airchecks of the great big bands on the radio which, among other things, resulted in Gene Krupa becoming his idol. Although he was already in jazz, the defining moment when he fully committed to the jazz life came in 1970 while he was with the Morris Nanton Trio.
He went on to perform with Broadway shows, big bands, small groups, TV, and the recording studio. A very short list of those he has sat in at drums are Hank Jones, Sylvia Sims, Arnett Cobb, Benny Carter, Walter Norris, and Bill Watrous. The drummer has also performed at key jazz festivals and major concert halls including the Newport Jazz Festival, Royal Albert Hall in London and New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, both with Benny Goodman, and the Smithsonian Museum with Benny Carter.
In 1993 he released a self-published album titled Tour de West. He later produced three more albums before the turn of the century on the Progressive Records label. As a sideman he recorded with Carter, Cobb, Jones, Chris Connor, Buddy DeFranco, Don Friedman, Rod Levitt, Pee Wee Russell, Derek Smith and Chuck Wayne.
He was one of the founders of the Yellowstone Jazz Festival held annually in Cody, Wyoming, and was the recipient of the 1993 Wyoming Governor’s Award for the Arts. Living in Powell, Wyoming he taught percussion at Northwest College. Drummer and professor Ronnie Bedford transitioned on December 20, 2014.
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