Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jim Hession was born on December 10, 1947 in Pasadena, California, where he studied piano with composer Oscar Rasbach. By the time he turned twenty he was a fixture in the traditional jazz scene, with his incredibly accurate two-handed piano style. He was a founding member of the Maple Leaf Club, receiving his degree in composition from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied under Paul Chihara and Lalo Schifrin.
Jim met and began recording with Eubie Blake and while recording with Eubie Blake in New York City he began exploring more contemporary jazz venues, while retaining his handle on traditional jazz styles like ragtime, stride and boogie-woogie.
He met his future wife Martha while they were attending UCLA, where she was studying piano and voice. She began singing professionally with Jim and started a professional association with the Walt Disney Company in 1967 until relocating to the Gulf Coast in 2003.
Over the years they have performed with such luminaries as Teddy Wilson, Al Hirt, Bob Crosby, Johnny Guarnieri, Max Morath, Shelton Brooks, Gregory Hines, Savion Glover, and Disney songwriters the Sherman Brothers. They have acquired an incredible knowledge of the history of American music and hold 85,000+ pieces, one of the largest privately-held collections of original sheet music in the United States.
They have lectured at many colleges and educational venues across the country. The couple have performed as a jazz duo, headlined the American Jazz Quintet, appeared on television, produced stage shows, and historical lectures. Pianist Jim Hession and Martha Hession continue to bring a level of talent and versatility not often found on the music scene.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bob Smith was born on December 9, 1945 in Columbus, Ohio and was the first child of a young pair of Swing Kids. Growing up he listened to the radio and records playing big band instrumentals and vocals. He became familiar with Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and the Andrews Sisters in the family’s Ohio State University campus area apartment.
By the time he turned ten he had rented a metal clarinet from a local shop and started his entrance into the music industry. Two years later Bob began lessons on the clarinet with David Hite and at Columbus Linden-McKinley high school joined the dance band by learning to play baritone saxophone. This was followed by the purchase of a Selmer Mark VI alto and fell in love.
Attracting national attentionhe as a member of the dance band in 1961-62 the band was invited those two years to the Stan Kenton National Stage Band Camps as a featured guest band. They enjoyed the thrills of being rehearsed by Stan Kenton, Buddy DeFranco, Buddy Morrow, John LaPorta, Don Jacoby, Buddy Baker and others. Then Kenton and DeFranco took them to Chicago’s McCormick Place to perform for the Midwest Band and Orchestra Directors Convention.
At the Ohio State University School of Music he majored in Music Education and alto saxophone was his major instrument. Smith added bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, tenor and bass saxes to his arsenal of instruments.
He taught instrumental music in southern and northwest Ohio and privately in Columbus and Toledo, Ohio. Along with being an educator Bob spent the majority of his working career in business sales, retiring in 2008. Over the decades alto saxophonist Bob Smith has played in numerous big bands in Ohio and currently performs in Toledo’s Swingmania All-Stars, a band that never recorded an album or a song.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Andy LaVerne was born on December 4, 1947 in New York City, and studied at Juilliard School of Music, Berklee College, and the New England Conservatory. He also took private lessons from jazz pianist Bill Evans.
LaVerne has worked with Frank Sinatra, Stan Getz, Woody Herman, Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea, Lionel Hampton, Michael Brecker and Elvin Jones. As a leader he has recorded more than 50 albums including a duo with saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi.
An educator, Andy has released a series of instructional videos, Guide to Modern Jazz Piano, Vols. 1 &, 2, and Jazz Piano Standards, and In Concert with guitarist John Abercrombie.
He has authored several books that has included his own compositions as well as the Handbook of Chord Substitutions, Tons of Runs, Bill Evans Compositions 19 Solo Piano Arrangements, and is the pianist on The Chick Corea Play-Along Collection. He is a frequent contributor to several jazz, music and piano publications.
Besides receiving being a recipient of several fellowships and awards, holding numerous clinics, masterclasses and performances worldwide, pianist Andy LaVerne currently is Professor of Jazz Piano at The Hartt School on the campus of the University of Hartford in Connecticut and on the faculty of the Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Terry Plumeri was born John Terryl Plumeri on November 28, 1944 in Greensboro, North Carolina, and grew up in Tampa, Florida. He began studying music when he was 10 and while attending Chamberlain High School, he was introduced to the double bass by band director Robert Price. He went on to attend the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, studying with Robert Brennand, then the principal bassist in the New York Philharmonic. Later, he studied composition and conducting with Antal Doráti.
During his military service, Terry was a member of the Air Force Band. After his discharge he played with among others John Abercrombie, Cannonball Adderley, Herbie Hancock, Woody Herman, Quincy Jones, Yusef Lateef, Les McCann, Wayne Shorter, Frank Sinatra, Ralph Towner, and Joe Williams.
He performed, toured, and recorded with Roberta Flack from 1969 to 1974, playing electric and acoustic bass. He appears on the albums Chapter Two, Quiet Fire, Killing Me Softly, and wrote the song Conversation Love on the latter album.
Moving to Los Angeles, California to work in the film industry, Terry wrote the music for over 50 feature films, and his score for the film One False Move was nominated for Best Score by the IFC Independent Spirit Awards. In later years, he was guest conductor for the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and was a frequent guest lecturer, teacher, music producer, and photographer.
Double bassist, classical and film score composer, orchestra conductor, lecturer, teacher, and producer, and composer Terry Plumeri was murdered by burglars during a home invasion on March 31, 2016 in Dunnellon, Florida. He was 71.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jiří Stivín was born November 23, 1942 in Prague, Republic. After graduating from the Film Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, he continued his studies of composition at the Royal Academy of Music as well as at the Prague Academy of Music and the flute under Milan Munclinger.
Stivín performs music from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Baroque periods. As a sololist, he performed with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, with the Slovak Chamber Orchestra, with Suk Chamber Orchestra, Barocco sempre giovane as well as with several other ensembles.
Involved in jazz, both as a composer and a performer, he has been a member of the European Jazz Ensemble, European Jazz Sextet, European Jazz Trio, Interjazz IV, Jazz Q, Jiří Stivín & Co., Prague Big Band and Jazz System.
Flutist, saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, bandleader Jiří Stivín, who was originally cinematographer, reemains active playing both the flute and saxophone in the Jazz Quartet in the Czech Republic, and gives regular lectures at the Prague Conservatory.