Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jimmy Jewell was born on February 18, 1945 in the United Kingdom and began his career in 1962, participating in several jazz and rhythm and blues bands including Eddie Marten and the Sabres. Going professional the following year he joined the band Kris Ryan and the Questions after the band’s drummer Geoff Wills recommended his inclusion. With Jewell’s participation, Questions shifted genres, from rock to something more soul-oriented. Owing to artistic differences with Ryan, he left the band after final gigs in Germany during 1965.
In 1966 he moved to London, England played for a while in the Freddie Mack Sound and subsequently toured Germany with Chris Andrews and the Paramounts. Jimmy joined the Magics, a Berlin band, and toured Germany. In 1967, back in London, he played gigs with Lord “Caesar” Sutch & the Roman Empire, and the joined soul band Stewart James Inspiration, with whom he toured until their dissolution 1968.
After joining the Keef Hartley Band, Jewell played Woodstock and a couple of albums were released with his saxophone sound: The Battle of North West Six and The Time Is Near. A was a prolific session musician and band member during the 1970s, he recorded during 1973 and 1974 appearing on Ronnie Lane’s Anymore for Anymore. He recorded with the Hollies on their self-titled album. In the Seventies he recorded for Maggie Bell and Andy Fairweather Low, toured with Gallagher and Lyle and appeared on two of their albums.
He recorded with Fairport Convention, Chris de Burgh, performed with Roger Daltrey, John Lodge and with the Hollies. Jimmy went on to release two albums: I’m Amazed and From the First Time I Met You. By the Eighties work became occasional, including small jazz bands and collaboration with bluesman Lonnie Brooks on the 1981 album Turn On The Night.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Pekka Eerik Juhani Sarmanto was born February 15, 1945 in Helsinki, finland. He first studied classical violin at the Sibelius Academy from 1958 to 1964 before switching to upright bass. He initially played dance music but was soon invited to perform in jazz clubs by bandleaders like Eero Koivistoinen and Esa Pethman.
1967 saw him joining the house band of Down Beat Club where he played with musicians like Ben Webster and Dexter Gordon. In 1975 Sarmanto founded UMO, abbreviation of Uuden Musiikin Orkesteri, (New Music Orchestra) and the group accompanied many international jazz musicians visiting Finland. As a result Pekka was able to meet and play with Charles Mingus in Belgrade, Serbia; Gil Evans, Edward Vesala and Sonny Rollins.
Sarmanto received the Georgie Award of the Finnish Jazz Federation in 1978. In 1982 he worked on the album To a Finland Station with Dizzy Gillespie and Arturo Sandoval, released on the Pablo label in 1983. He considers this to be his most successful recording.
In 1996 the bassist founded the Pekka Sarmanto Trio and in 2007 he retired from UMO but he still keeps performing actively with different groups, including with his own trio..
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Louiz Banks was born Dambar Bahadur Budaprithi to Nepali parents on February 11, 1941 in Calcutta, West Bengal, British India and grew up in his hometown of Darjeeling. His early music education was at the hands of his father, a trumpeter, and his neighbour Mrs. Myers. He did his schooling at St. Roberts School, Darjeeling and around age thirteen he became interested in western music and he started playing the guitar and the trumpet. His father gave him piano lessons and played in his band. He went to college at St. Joseph’s College in Darjeeling, where he continued to study piano.
After college Banks moved to Kathmandu, Nepal with his father’s band and decided to become a full-time musician, it was there he discovered jazz music. In the late 1960s he had a three year residency at the Soaltee Hotel in Kathmandu. Moving back to Calcutta in 1971 he met singer Pam Craine and saxophonist Braz Gonsalves and formed The Louis Banks Brotherhood. They played hotel rooms and night clubs and he got work composing advertisement jingles and stage musicals.
In 1977 Louiz was in Mumbai with the R.D. Burman troupe and got introduced to world music. Popularizing live jazz he cemented his place and reputation in the city. Two years later along with Goan saxophonist Braz Gonsalves he formed the Indo-Jazz Ensemble, composing music on Indian classical scales and Jazz rhythms, incorporating Indian instruments like ghatam and thavil. In 1980, he was a member of the jazz quartet which was part of the orchestra to perform with Ravi Shankar in his noted suite Jazzmine at the ‘Jazz Yatra’ Festival.
He would go on to form several groups with vocalists, tabla and sitar. In addition he has composed music for several short films. He has performed at various concerts and with well-known jazz artists such as Radha Thomas and Joe Alvares. He worked on a progressive fusion jazz album titled Labyrinth with his son’s band Nexus.
He collaborated as co-producer, arranger and pianist and keyboards on the album Miles From India, a tribute to the founder of modern jazz Miles Davis was nominated for the 2008 Grammy Awards in the Best Contemporary Jazz Album category. In the same category, John McLaughlin’s fusion album Floating Point was also nominated, Banks was the featured keyboardist on the album.
Keyboardist, singer, film composer, record producer Louiz Banks, who has often been acknowledged as the Godfather of Indian Jazz, continues to perform, compose and produce.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Don M’Orton was born on February 10, 1942. Having landed the gig as the resident reedman at the famous Boston, Massachusetts Lincs Jazz Club , in Europe during the 70s and 80’s he played with many British jazz musicians like Digby Fairweather and Roy Williams among others. He also played with many visiting Americans as well, including Thomas Jefferson, Wingy Manone, Alton Purnell, Al CAsey and Benny Waters, the latter with whom he played several tours.
By the mid 1990’s he was off again first to London and then Europe, the Middle East, the USA and the Caribbean. He had a trio in London with bassist Paul Godfrey and Ray Dempseywho was replaced by Cedric West on guitar. New York City saw him meet up with Al Casey again and played alongside him and tenor saxophonist George Kelly.
He went on to play with Michael Boothman and Kysufusion in Trinidad, before returning to the East Midlands. Since returning to the UK, Don has spent much of his time composing new tunes which vary from ballads to jazz tunes, including Caribbean and Latin American rhythms, and arranging material for his bands.
Tenor saxophonist Don M’Orton is still active as a player, performing regularly with the Red Hot Chillies, Dave Gladdish’s Irregulars, and the Big Wheel Quartet, in addition to his own swing trio.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jeffry Castleman was born January 27, 1946 in Los Angeles, California. Active from the late 1960s to 1980s and was known for his work with Duke Ellington between 1967 to 1969. He also worked with Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Johnny Hodges and toured with Don Ho.
In the late 1980s he relocated to Brooklyn Park Minnesota to run the family liquor store business. For a short time he was an art framer before taking aposition as a piano salesman at Schmitt Music in Minnetonka, Minnesota.
Leaving all forms of employment, bassist Jeff Castleman is now retired at 79.
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