Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Philipp John Paul Wachsmann was born August 5, 1944 in Kampala, Uganda. Influenced greatly by the music of his country he studied violin with Isolde Menges, and music at Durham University, then received scholarships to study violin and composition at Indiana University in Bloomington. He went on to study composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in 1968 where he also attended courses in modern music given by Henri Pousseur, and, by Pierre Boulez in Basel. He subsequently lectured at Durham University 1969/70 and then moved to London to start a performing career.
He pioneered new sounds using the violin and electronics and can be heard on over 100 LPs/CDs on different labels including ECM, and plays worldwide. He performs with most of the musicians working in modern improvisation related music. He has performed and recorded with the Stellari String Quartet, The Imaginary String Trio but also works as a soloist.
He regularly conducts his own pieces with the London Improvisation Orchestra, including Three Draft Pistons’ for violin and electro-acoustic tape. He also works with film, dance and architecture. For many years he was Director of the Electronic Music Studio at Morley College and currently teaches courses in composition at the City Literary Institute.
Avant-garde jazz/jazz fusion violinist Philipp Wachsmann gives regular workshops in improvised music at various places and which have been a starting place for many of today’s performers, founded his own group Chamberpot, and has worked extensively in the free jazz and electronica idioms.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bobo Stenson was born Bo Gustav Stenson on August 4, 1944 in Västerås, Sweden. Starting at the age of 8 he studied with Werner Wolf for 15 years. In 1963, he stepped up from the local scene in his hometown to begin playing frequently in Stockholm. There he accompanied a long line of visiting American players including Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Gary Burton. He worked closely with Don Cherry from the beginning of the trumpeter’s residency in Scandinavia.
The 1970s was an intensive period for Stenson, playing in many groups, amongst them the long-standing band Rena Rama with Palle Danielsson, and a trio with Arild Andersen and Jon Christensen. He would later work with Jan Garbarek.
In 1988, he joined the Charles Lloyd quartet and since 1996 has appeared at major jazz festivals with Tomasz Stańko’s septet/sextet. Pianist Bobo Stenson continues to perform to this day.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Örjan Kjellin was born on July 21, 1944 in Ljungby, Sweden and didn’t pick up the clarinet until the age of 15 and two years later formed his first band in partnership with pianist Lars Edegran. The band played music in the New Orleans style. He made his first records in his native Sweden at the age of 17.
Moving to New Orleans, Louisiana in 1966 he became a regular performer at several leading jazz venues including Preservation Hall. In 1968 he was a founder member of the New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra. He also led his own bands in the city including, in 1970, a band which held a residency at the Maison Bourbon Club. Two years later he formed the New Orleans Joymakers.
He recorded with several veteran New Orleans musicians including Josiah ‘Cié’ Frazier, Preston Jackson, Jim Robinson, Jabbo Smith, Zutty Singleton and Kid Thomas Valentine. In 1978, Örjan played with NORO for the soundtrack of the movie Pretty Baby. The following year he appeared in New York City as musical director, co-arranger and on-stage clarinetist with the stage musical One Mo’ Time.
In the early 80s he appeared with the same show during its long and successful run in London’s West End. Kellin has toured extensively with his own bands and with bands formed largely from New Orleans veterans. In 1992 he made his first solo tour of the UK.
Clarinetist Örjan Kjellin, a gifted and highly musical player who is known to the jazz world as Orange Kellin, continues to fan the flames of the music of New Orleans.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
James “Plunky” Branch was born on July 20, 1947 in Richmond, Virginia and educated in the city’s segregated schools. He then attended Columbia University in New York City, but by 1971 he had moved to San Francisco, California. It was here that he formed Juju, a musical group that combined rhythm and blues, jazz, soul, and African musical influences.
He founded the band Plunky & Oneness, which began as Juju in 1971 which he renamed twice, Oneness of Juju and Plunky & the Oneness of Juju, before it was given its current name in 1988. One of Plunky & Oneness’ songs, Every Way But Loose, is featured on the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, playing on fictional radio station Paradise FM.
Branch is the president and founder of the independent record label N.A.M.E. Brand Records, through which he has released 25 albums. As a studio musician Plunky has worked for The Cosby Show and has appeared on several avant-garde jazz albums.
As an educator he has been Director of the Jazz Ensemble at Virginia Union University as well as an instructor of Afro-American Music History at Virginia Commonwealth University.
He has been the recipient of two NEA Jazz Fellowships and was appointed to the Governor’s Task Force for the Promotion of the Arts in Virginia. In 1999 he was recognized by Richmond Magazine as Musician of the Year for 1999. J. Plunky Branch continues to perform, record, compose and produce.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Abraham Laboriel López was born on July 17, 1947 in Mexico City, Mexco into a talented family with a rock singer brother and a sister who is a singer, film and television actress. A classically trained guitarist, he switched to bass guitar while studying at the Berklee College of Music, graduating in 1972.
It was during this time that he learned the importance of versatility as a musician. Henry Mancini encouraged Laboriel to move to Los Angeles, California, to pursue a recording career, which he did in 1976. Though he struggled to find work for two years, he found his first gig on a road tour with Olivia Newton-John. After a consequent European tour with Al Jarreau, he settled into a full-time studio career in Los Angeles.
He would go on to work and record with Al Jarreau, Billy Cobham, Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, Herbie Hancock, Lalo Schifrin, Gary Birton, Stan Getz, Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Quincy Jones, Randy Crawford, Dave Grusin, and Umberto Tozzi as well as Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Barbra Striesand, Madonna, Andre Crouch, Herb Alpert Minnie Riperton, Barry Manilow, and many others.
Abraham was a founding member of the bands Friendship and Koinonia. With the latter he recorded four albums. In addition he recorded several solo albums on which he recruited a cast of musicians that included Alex Acuña, Al Jarreau, Jim Keltner, Phillip Bailey, Ron Kenoly, his son Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums, and others.
In 2005, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by the Berklee College of Music. Electric bassist Abraham Laboriel has played on over 4000 recording sessions, is ranked No. 42 on Bass Player magazine’s list of The 100 Greatest Bass Players of All Time, and continues to record and perform as a member of the band Open Hands with Justo Almario, Greg Mathieson, and Bill Maxwell.
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