Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Chris Laurence: A Master Bassist Bridging Classical and Jazz Worlds
Born in the heart of London on January 6, 1949, Chris Laurence grew up in a city where musical boundaries have always been meant to be crossed. As a double bassist, he drew inspiration from an eclectic mix of visionaries—Keith Jarrett’s lyrical piano explorations, Miroslav Vitous’s revolutionary bass work, Tony Coe’s clarinet mastery, and Chick Corea’s fusion innovations. These diverse influences would shape Laurence into one of Britain’s most versatile and sought-after bassists.
A Career of Creative Collaborations
Laurence first gained significant recognition during the 1980s through his work in various innovative trios with the adventurous drummer Tony Oxley. In 1984, he expanded his musical palette further by joining the prestigious London Bach Orchestra—a move that showcased his ability to move fluidly between the worlds of jazz improvisation and classical precision.
His collaborative spirit has led him to work with a remarkable roster of British jazz luminaries: the atmospheric saxophonist John Surman, the powerful tenor voice of Alan Skidmore, the poetic pianist John Taylor, the lyrical trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, and the versatile percussionist Frank Ricotti. Each partnership revealed a different facet of Laurence’s musical personality.
An Extraordinary Session Legacy
As a sideman, Laurence’s discography reads like a who’s who of contemporary music. He has appeared on some twenty-one albums alongside artists as varied as Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, minimalist composer Michael Nyman, pianist Gordon Beck, saxophonist Elton Dean, and classical guitarist John Williams. His bass lines have graced recordings on virtually every major label—EMI, CBS, Turtle, ECM, Vinyl, MN, Virgin Venture, Ogun, Sony Classical, and Columbia—testament to his universal appeal and adaptability.
Stepping into the Spotlight
After decades of enriching others’ music, Laurence recently stepped forward as a leader, forming the Chris Laurence Quartet and releasing his debut album “New View.” The title itself seems to acknowledge a career spent supporting others’ visions—now, finally, it’s time for his own perspective to take center stage.
For those who know jazz and classical music in Britain, Chris Laurence’s name represents reliability, creativity, and that rare ability to make every note count—whether behind a bandleader or leading his own ensemble.
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Muruga Booker was born Steven Bookvich on December 27, 1942 in Highland Park, Michigan at Highland Park General Hospital. His father played accordion ndfirst played the accordion before taking up drums as a preteen. He studied under Misha Bichkoff, a Russian music teacher and played drums professionally in 1961 with “The Low Rocks” in Detroit, Michigan as Steve Booker, achieving local recognition playing in 1962.
1964 saw him playing with folk-rock singers, psychedelic folk rock band and was a member of The Casuals to back up Brenda Lee. In 1968 he joined Paul Winter and The Winter Consort, and performed on their album Something in the Wind. In 1969,he played Woodstock, met Swami Satchidananda who gave him the name Muruga. He went on to play with Ted Nugent, record with Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan before joining Darius Brubeck, and forming the electronic experimental trio MBR. Then he toured as part of the Darius Brubeck Ensemble, and played with Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, Paul Desmond and Alan Dawson.
He recorded with Weather Report in the Seventies, moved to New York City and worked on several projects. Back in Detroit he left jazz and became a member of George Clinton’s P-Funk All-Stars. He move to Oakland, California in mid-1985 and formed Murunga UFM, with his next move being to Ann Arbor, Michigan where he established a recording studio called Sage Ct. Studio..
In 2003 Booker returned to playing and recording jazz as the Global Jazz Trio and as a five-piece group called The Global Jazz Project before creating a duo.
Drummer Muruga Booker, who won Outstanding World Music Instrumentalist and six Detroit Music Awards, continues to perform and record in a variety of music genres.
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Alex Acuña was born Alejandro Neciosup Acuña on December 12, 1944 in Pativilca, Peru. He played in local bands such as La Orquesta de los Hermanos Neciosup from the age of ten, then followed his brothers and moved to Lima, Peru as a teenager. At the age of eighteen he joined the band of Perez Prado, and in 1965 moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
In 1974 he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and worked with Elvis Presley, The Temptations, and Diana Ross. The following year he joined the jazz-fusion group Weather Report, and while in New York City, Acuña recorded several songs for RCA records. Leaving Weather Report in 1978 he became a session musician in California, recording and playing live with r&b and jazz musicians Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Jackson, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Roberta Flack,Al Jarreau and the list goes on and on.
The Eighties saw Alex recording and touring with the Christian jazz band Koinonia. In 1987 he was summoned back to Perú by producer Ricardo Ghibellini to be the musical producer of Los Hijos del Sol, a group of Peruvians designed to promote Peruvian music worldwide.
Drummer and percussionist Alex Acuña, who has worked as an educator at University of California Los Angeles, and Berklee College of Music, LAMA, Musicians Institute, USC, and CSUN, continues his career of performing and educating.
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Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš was born on December 6, 1947 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He began the violin at age six, switching to piano after about three years, and then to bass at age fourteen. As a young man in Europe, he was a competitive swimmer but one of his early music groups was the Junior Trio with his brother Alan on drums and Jan Hammer on keyboards.
He studied music at the Prague Conservatory and won a music contest in Vienna, Austria in 1966 that gave him a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts which he attended one year before going to Chicago, Illinois to play with trombonist Bob Brookmeyer and flugelhorn pioneer Clark Terry.
When Miles Davis saw him playing in Chicago with Brookmeyerin 1967 and invited him to join his group playing at the Village Gate in New York City. It was with Davis that Vitouš first encountered saxophonist Wayne Shorter, keyboardist Herbie Hancock and the Davis-centric scene that was transforming mainstream jazz from late hard bop into what would be known as jazz fusion.
1968 saw the first of Vitouš’s partnerships with Roy Ayers, and Herbie Mann, Bennie Maupin, and Stanley Cowell. The following year, Vitouš recorded his debut album as a bandleader, Infinite Search for Mann’s Embryo label. He recorded with Larry Coryell’s Spaces with John McLaughlin, Corea, and drummer Billy Cobham.
In 1969 he recorded with Shorter, McLaughlin, Jack DeJohnette, Corea, and Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira. The following year he continued as bandleader as he recorded Purple for Columbia, supported by McLaughlin, Cobham and the keyboardist Joe Zawinul. Then Shorter, Zawinul, and Vitouš formed the founding core of the jazz group Weather Report. Creative differences between him and Zawinul facilitated his departure from the group. Leaving the group he moved on to an illustrious career leading his own band and winning respect as a composer.
Double bassist, bass guitarist and composer Miroslav Vitouš continues his performing, recording and composing to this day.
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Richard Enos “Butch” Thompson was born on November 28, 1943 in St. Croix, Minnesota, began playing piano at the early age of three, and began taking lessons at age six. At Stillwater Area High School, he played clarinet in the band and in 1962 he joined the Hall Brothers New Orleans Jazz Band in Minneapolis, Minnesota and remained with them for twenty years.
>From 1974 to 1986, he was a regular and the original pianist on the radio show A Prairie Home Companion. From its inception in the 1960s he led the Butch Thompson Trio.
The 1970s saw Thompson’s recordings gaining popularity in Europe and he toured the continent extensively during the decade and into the 1980s, both as a solo artist and as a band leader or member.
He wrote for jazz publications and produced a radio show, Jazz Originals, for KBEM-FM in Minneapolis. Pianist and clarinetist Butch Thompson, best known for his ragtime and stride performances, died on August 14, 2022.
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