Daily Dose Of jazz…
David Darling was born March 4, 1941 in Elkhart, Indiana. Interested in music from an early age, he began piano when he was four, cello at ten, and string bass in high school. He studied classical cello at Indiana State University and after graduating remained there another four years as a teacher.
Working as a studio musician in Nashville, Tennessee he was a member of the Paul Winter Consort until 1978. During the following year Gus was part of the chamber jazz group Gallery with Ralph Towner and released his first solo album, Journal October. His performance and composition draw on a wide range of styles, including classical, jazz, Brazilian, African, and Indian music.
He has written and performed music for more than a dozen major motion pictures from 1988 to 2004 and recorded a collaboration with the Wulu Bunun, a group of Taiwanese aborigines. In 2007 he recorded The Darling Conversations, with Julie Weber discussing his music philosophy. He followed this in 2009 with the release of the Grammy-winning Prayer for Compassion.
In the Eighties he began his life as an educator of young children by joining Young Audiences, founded Music for People, which seeks to encourage self-expression through musical improvisation. He became part of a collaboration of music teachers and performers offering a training program in holistic and intercultural approaches to healing with sound and music at the New York Open Center Sound and Music School.
Cellist and composer David Darling died in his sleep on January 8, 2021.
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Jazz Poems
MOOD INDIGO
it hasn’t always been this way
ellington was not a street
robeson no mere memory
du bois walked up my father’s stairs
hummed some time over me
sleeping in the company of men
who changed the world
it wasn’t always like this
why ray barretto used to be a side-man
& dizzy’s hair was not always grey
i remember i was there
i listened in the company of men politics as necessary as collards
music even in our dreams
our house was filled with all kinds of folks
our windows were not cement or steel
our doors opened like our daddy’s arms
held us safe & loved
children growing in the company of men
old southern men & young slick ones
sonny til was not a boy
the clovers no rag-tag orphans
our crooners/ we belonged to a whole world
nkrumah was no foreigner
virgil aikens was not the only fighter
it hasn’t always been this way
ellington was not a street
NTOZAKE SHANGE
from Jazz Poems ~ Selected and Edited by Kevin Young
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Claude Ranger was born in Montréal, Canada on February 3, 1941 and studied drums briefly with several teachers and arranging with Frank Mella. Beginning his career with Montréal show bands, he was a leading figure among the city’s jazz musicians by the mid-1960s.
A sideman to Lee Gagnon, Pierre Leduc, and Ron Proby among others, Claude led the bands heard on the CBC’s Jazz en Liberté. He was a member of Aquarius Rising with Brian Barley, Michel Donato and Daniel Lessard from 1969 to 1971. Moving to Toronto, Canada he lived there for fifteen years beginning in 1972. It was here that Claude was a member of the Moe Koffman Quintet and accompanied Canadian and U.S. musicians when they came through the city, such as, Lenny Breau, George Coleman, Larry Coryell, Sonny Greenwich, James Moody, Doug Riley, Don Thompson, and Phil Woods.
His own bands appeared at the Music Gallery, Jazz City, the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (FIJM) and the Ottawa International Jazz Festival. A Ranger quintet was a finalist in the 1986 FIJM, receiving a special jury citation for his drumming. Relocating to Vancouver, Canada he served as a mainstay of the du Maurier International Jazz Festival, again as an accompanist to Canadian and U.S. musicians and as a leader of his own groups.
West Coast musicians Ron Samworth, Clyde Reed, Bruce Freedman and drummer Dylan vander Schyff also influenced Claude’s career. He was considered a jazz musician and drummer with natural swing, in the bebop-based tradition of Max Roach. Displaying great stamina, he sometimes worked against the grain of jazz in Canada. His ensembles ranged from a trio to the 15 and 19-piece Jade Orchestra that debuted at the 1990 Vancouver festival.
Ranger played a role in Canada similar to the one created by Art Blakey in the US – that of a veteran musician whose bands served as an important platform for the development of younger players. His discography included recordings by Allen, Barley, Breau, Gagnon, Greenwich, Koffman, Riley, Thompson, Jane Bunnett, P.J. Perry, Herb Spanier, Michael Stuart, and U.S. musicians Dave Liebman, and Michael Munoz.
Drummer, composer, arranger, and teacher Claude Ranger continues to pursue his career in music.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Earl Okin was born in Carshalton, Surrey, England on January 31, 1947 and has lived in the West London neighborhood of Notting Hill since he was six years old. In 1959, at the age of 12, he appeared on a BBC TV talent show “All Your Own” playing guitar and singing his own songs. He wrote for The Beatles publisher Dick James.
Recording his first single at Abbey Road in 1967, some of his songs were covered during the 1960s by Cilla Black, Georgie Fame and Helen Shapiro. During the 1970s, Okin started to perform as a support act in large venues, beginning with folk acts and progressing to open for a variety of acts such as Jean-Luc Ponty and Van Morrison. However, it was the 1979 invitation to tour with Paul McCartney and Wings which prompted him to pursue his musical career full-time, and perform at jazz festivals.
In 1981, he appeared on the tv show Parkinson and was invited by Nigel Planer to perform at the Comic Strip. This led to his second career on the alternative comedy circuit where he remains a headline act. However, his act continues to be primarily musical. He has never performed stand-up. Fans’ favourite comedy songs of his are Mango, Bessie and My Room.
Working as a songwriter and jazz singer/musician, with a particular interest in bossa nova, he gives concerts in Brazil from time to time, as well as touring his one-man show, a mixture of music and comedy, worldwide. He has performed in New York City, toured India, Singapore, other nearby countries, and at home in London’s major venues.
He has released two singles, thirteen albums, written an autobiography, composed a six-movement symphony, and produced a biographical documentary Who is Earl Okin? Singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist and comedian Earl Okin continues to perform and tour.
Acquaint an inquisitive mind with a dose of a Carshalton vocalist who is in the company of musical genius around the world as a member of the jazz canon…
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bobby Battle was born on January 8, 1944 and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He moved to New York City in 1968, playing with Roland Kirk and Pharoah Sanders shortly after his arrival.
He studied at New York University from 1972 to 1975. He played with Don Pullen and Sam Rivers through the late 1970s, and worked often with Arthur Blythe in the 1980s and 1990s. He also worked with Kenny Dorham, Sonny Stitt, and Sonny Fortune. He worked as a duo with Jimmy Ponder in 1987.
Battle’s only release as a leader is The Offering, issued in 1990 on Mapleshade, on which Battle leads a quartet with David Murray, Larry Willis, and Santi Debriano. As a sideman he recorded four albums with Arthur Blythe and four with Don Pullen.
Drummer Bobby Battle, who occasionally played saxophone, died on December 6, 2019 in his hometown.
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