Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Toru “Tiger” Okoshi was born in Ashiya, Japan on March 21, 1950. An autodidact on trumpet, he studied at Kwansei Gakuin University prior to moving to the United States in 1972. He then matriculated through the Berklee School of Music.
Okoshi first gained attention with his collaboration in the Seventies with Gary Burton, then played with the Mike Gibbs Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in 1974. Following this came a tour with Buddy Rich and in the early 90s he played in George Russell’s Living Time Orchestra and recorded with Rakalam Bob Moses.
Tiger has recorded regularly as a leader and sideman with Jay Anderson, Peter Erskine, Bela Fleck, Gil Goldstein, Mike Stern, Jack DeJohnette, Kenny Barron, Mino Cinelu and Bernard Purdie among others. He is currently a professor at Berklee.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Michele Rosewoman was born on March 19, 1953 in Oakland, California. She began playing the piano at age six and as a teenager studied with organist/pianist Ed Kelly. After extensive work locally leading several jazz groups she also played with Baikida Carroll, Julius Hemphill and Julian Priester. In 1977 Michele moved to New York where she involved herself in the avant-garde scene playing and recording as a sidewoman with Oliver Lake, Billy Bang, Greg Osby, Ralph Peterson and the members of M Base among others.
Rosewoman is most notable for her work and recordings with her Quintessence ensemble as well as several trio and quartet sessions. Steeped in Cuban percussion and African music and since the early 80s for her Afro Cuban jazz big band “New Yor-Uba Ensemble” featuring Orlando “Puntilla” Rios.
Michele has played with such jazz masters as Freddie Waits, Rufus Reid, Billy Hart, Reggie Workman and Latin music greats such as Celia Cruz, Chocalate, Nicky Marrero, Paquito D’Rivera, and Daniel Ponce among others. She continues to perform and record around the world.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joseph Paul Locke was born on March 18, 1959 in Palo Alto, California but grew up in Rochester, New York. A self-taught improviser, he benefited from his early studies in classical percussion and composition at the Eastman School of Music and played with Mongo Santamaria, Pepper Adams, and Dizzy Gillespie before graduating from high school.
Since moving to New York City in 1981, Locke has performed with Grover Washington, Jr., Kenny Barron, Dianne Reeves, Eddie Daniels, Jerry Gonzales’ Fort Apache Band, Rod Stewart, Beastie Boys, Eddie Henderson, Hiram Bullock, Bob Berg, Ron Carter, Jimmie Scott, Geoffrey Keezer, The Mingus Big Band and Randy Brecker among many others.
Joe has toured extensively throughout the world, both as leader and guest soloist. In 2006, 2008 and 2009 Joe Locke received the “Mallet Instrumentalist of the Year” Award, presented by the Jazz Journalist Association. His ability to play cool and funky, heady and relaxed has had him voted the #1 vibist in Down Beat Magazine’s Critic’s Poll and Brazil’s International Jazz Poll.
Locke has recorded nearly 36 projects as a bandleader, including a tribute to the music of Henry Mancini and since 2012 has released a symphonic album, an orchestra project Wishing On A Star, and Lay Down My Heart: Blues & Ballads, Vol. 1. As a producer and sideman, Joe appears on more than 65 recordings and continues to compose, perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jeanie Bryson was born March 10, 1958 in New York City, the daughter of songwriter Connie Bryson and Dizzy Gillespie. While matriculating through Rutgers University and studying with jazz pianist Kenny Barron, she began to be increasingly influenced by jazz.
Bryson has performed throughout North and South America, Europe, Israel and Japan and has received international critical acclaim. In addition to her own recordings on Telarc, Bryson has recorded with Etta Jones, Larry Coryell, Grover Washington Jr., Terence Blanchard and Kenny Burrell among others.
Her vocals are a combination of jazz, pop and Latin music and her repertoire is firmly rooted in The Great American Songbook and she has paid tribute to the legacies of Peggy Lee and Dinah Washington. Her “Déjà Blue” project showcased the velvet, sweet, laid-back and melodic voice.
While she continues to perform Jeanie is working on her newest project, “The Dizzy Gillespie Songbook”, a loving and fitting tribute that celebrates her father’s life, his music, and his legacy. She continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
James Williams was born on March 8, 1951 in Memphis, Tennessee and grew up listening to the sounds of Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and King Curtis. He started playing piano at age 13 and hometown hero Phineas Newborn was his primary influences of jazz piano. He served as organist at the Eastern Star Baptist Church for six years early in his career. He went on to matriculate through Memphis State University with fellow piano students Mulgrew Miller and Donald Brown. It was here that he began playing jazz.
After graduating he immersed himself in the city’s jazz community, performing with Frank Strozier, Jamil Nasser, George Coleman, Harold Mabern, Jr., and other local greats. In 1973 he became a faculty member at the Berklee College of Music, played with Alan Dawson’s group alongside visiting musicians such as Milt Jackson, Art Farmer and Sonny Stitt. His first album as a leader came in 1977 and the next year he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, remaining there for four years.
In the early 1980s in Boston he played with Thad Jones, Joe Henderson, Clark Terry, Chet Baker and Benny Carter but by 1984 James was in New York City gigging with Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard and Kenny Burrell, Ray Brown, Tony Williams, Elvin Jones and Art Farmer, to name a few.
He would form his own group, the “Intensive Care Unit”, with Christian McBride, Billy Pierce and Tony Reedus. It was during this period in 1984 that he penned and recorded one of his most famous jazz compositions on the Sunnyside label is “Alter Ego”.
By 1999 he was Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University, where he remained until his death of liver cancer on July 20, 2004, age 53.
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