Daily Dose Of Jazz…
George E. Lewis was born July 14, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois. He began his musical journey playing the trombone but graduated from Yale University with a degree in philosophy. In 1971 he became a member of AACM, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.
The trombonist, composer and pioneer of computer music has recorded over two dozen albums as a leader and co-leader and some 40 as a sideman working with the likes of Muhal Richard Abrams, Gil Evans, Conny Bauer, Roscoe Mitchell, Count Basie and Anthony Braxton to name a few. He was also frequently a member of the ICP Orchestra (Instant Composer’s Pool).
As an educator in the 1970s, he succeeded Rhys Chatham as the music director of The Kitchen, a performance space in Greenwich Village, has served as a professor at Columbia University, the University of California – San Diego, and has received a MacArthur Fellowship.
Trombonist George Lewis has performed at festivals and venues throughout America and Europe, has authored a book-length history of the AACM, titled A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music, and continues to be active of the jazz and experimental music scene.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Henry Lowther was born Thomas Henry Lowther on July 11, 1941 Leicester, Leicestershire, England. Learning trumpet, his first experience was on cornet in a Salvation Army band. He studied violin briefly at the Royal Academy of Music but returned to trumpet by 1960 though he sometimes played violin professionally.
In the 1960s, he worked with pianist and composer Mike Westbrook, a relationship that lasted into the 80s, Manfred Mann, John Dankworth from 1967-77, Graham Collier, John Mayall, John Warren, and would appear with the Keef Hartley Band.
The Seventies brought work with Mike Gibbs, Kenny Wheeler, Tony Coe, Gordon Beck and Barbara in addition to his own ensemble, Quaternity. In the 80s Henry worked with the Buzzcocks, Talk Talk, Peter King, Gil Evans, Humphrey Lyttleton on a Buddy Bolden documentary.
He played with Charlie Watts’ band in the late 80s, and then led his own band, Still Waters. From the late 1980s he did much work in big bands, such as the Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra; in the Nineties he worked with Kenny Wheeler’s group, The Dedication Orchestra, the London Jazz Orchestra, George Russell’s Living Time Orchestra, and the Creative Jazz Orchestra. Trumpeter Henry Lowther most recently plays in the band Jazzmoss.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Conny Bauer was born Konrad Bauer on July 4, 1943 in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. While in senior high school in 1957 he became interested in modern music and dance genres such as swing, boogie-woogie, blues and rock and roll. He taught himself to play guitar and piano and after graduation while trying to play in several bands was nicknamed “Conny” by his friends.
Recognizing his lack of musical knowledge to become a professional Bauer studied modern dance music from 1964 to 1968 taking up the trombone. In 1968 he left for Berlin to improve his skills with private lessons. From 1969 until 1971 he started his career as guitarist and singer in the band of Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, while doubling as a trombone soloist.
During the second half of the 1970s Bauer became a prominent jazz player in European free jazz, helping to found numerous groups that influenced the development of jazz in East Germany. By 1986 he was touring Japan, went on to direct the National Jazz Orchestra of the former East Germany, worked with artists such as Tadashi Endo, Sheryl Banks, Tony Oxley, Barry Altschul and George Lewis to name a few.
He has recorded two-dozen albums, received the German SWR jazz prize for his solo recordings Hummelsummen, and continues to perform, tour and record.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Dr. Lonnie Smith was born July 3, 1942 in Lackawanna, New York into a family with a vocal group and radio program and a mother who introduced him to gospel, classical and jazz music. He learned to play piano as a child and was part of several vocal ensembles in the 1950s, including the Teen Kings. Local music storeowner Art Kubera gave Smith his first Hammond B3 organ.
Smith’s affinity for R&B melded with his own personal style as he became active in the local music scene. Moving to New York City he met and connected with George Benson, and the two formed the George Benson Quartet, featuring Lonnie Smith, in 1966.
Lonnie recorded his first solo album ”Finger Lickin’ Good” in 1967, with Benson, Melvin Sparks and Ronnie Cuber and Marion Booker. After recording several albums with Benson, Smith became a solo recording artist. In 1967, Smith meeting Lou Donaldson led to a Blue Note introduction, a record date for Alligator Boogaloo and subsequent signing to a four-album deal.
He has since recorded over 30 albums under his own name. He has performed and recorded with among others Lee Morgan, David “Fathead” Newman, Blue Mitchell, King Curtis, Esther Phillips, Bennie Maupin, Idris Muhammad, Joey DeFrancesco and Joe Lovano, however the list inside and out of jazz is too long to enumerate.
He has been named “Organ Keyboardist of the Year” in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2009 by the Jazz Journalist Association and continued to tour, perform and record. Hammond B3 organist Dr. Lonnie Smith died on Septer 28, 2021 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frank Lowe was born on June 24, 1943 and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. Taking up the tenor saxophonist he was extremely influenced by the first and second waves of free jazz throughout the 1960s. He moved to San Francisco, California to explore the avant-garde jazz scene. While making several visits to New York City he began playing with Sun Ra and Alice Coltrane, recording with the later in 1971.
As a leader he recorded two-dozen albums between 1973 and 2002 working with the likes of Don Cherry, Billy Bang, Jack Walrath, James Carter, Geri Allen, Charnett Moffett, Carlos Ward and numerous others.
Composer and tenor saxophonist Frank Lowe passed away on September 19, 2003 of lung cancer. His legacy was a varied body of recordings and memorable performances and his composition “Spirits in the Field” was performed on Arthur Blythe’s 1977 album The Grip.
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