Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Harvey William Mason was born on February 22, 1947 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He began taking formal drum lessons at the age of seven, playing in various school bands and ultimately buying his first drum kit at 16. He went on to attend Berklee College of Music then on to and graduate from the New England Conservatory of Music.
While in Boston, Harvey worked at Triple A Studios recording everything from jingles to religious albums, molding him into a versatile first-call session musician. Early gigs included four months with Erroll Garner in 1970 and a year with George Shearing from 1970-1971. Soon after leaving Shearing he moved to Los Angeles, California and quickly became established in the studios and working in films and television.
In addition to his work through the years with Minnie Riperton, The Sylvers, Earth, Wind & Fire and Carlos Santana, Mason has often been part of the jazz world. He played with Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, co-composing the hit Chameleon in 1973, Gerry Mulligan, Freddie Hubbard, Donald Byrd, Grover Washington, Jr., George Benson, Gary Bartz, Bobbi Humphrey, Ralph MacDonald, Chick Corea, Lee Ritenour, Victor Feldman and Bob James, Gene Harris, Eddie Henderson, Bobby Hitcherson and Joe Henderson, among numerous others.
By 1998, Harvey was paying tribute to Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in some local Los Angeles club gigs. By the turn of the millennium he was continuing with his steady session work, releasing two albums with Trios and With All My Heart and has since revisited his ’70s Headhunters roots. He is a mainstay in the fusion genre as a member of the group Fourplay along with Chuck Loeb, Nathan East and Bob James, whose success led their debut album to hit and stay at the top of the charts for 34 weeks.
He has worked with Michael Colombier, Michel Legrand, Miles Davis, Dave Grusin, Thom Newman, John Williams, Lalo Schifrin, Isaac Hayes, Johnny Pate and Alan Silvestri on such films as Purple Rain, Dingo, Three Days of the Condor, The Fabulous Baker Boys, On Golden Pond, The Player, The Lion King, Mission Impossible 1,2 & 3, Ratatouille and Dream Girls. In addition he composed the music for the films The Color Purple, Only The Strong and Deadly Takeover.
Multi-Grammy nominated and winning drummer and composer Harvey Mason continues to stretch his musical diversity across four decades and many jazz genres.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Warren Vaché, born February 21, 1951 in Rahway, New Jersey came from a musical family. His father was a bassist, author of several jazz books and a critic, while his mother was a secretary at Decca Records. He began playing piano in the third grade but soon switched to trumpet so he could play in the fourth grade band and his father immediately bought him a cornet.
Over the years Warren has looked to Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Bobby Hacket, Fats Navarro, Tom Harrell and Ruby Braff as his sources of inspiration. Throughout high school and while attending Montclair State College he played gigs from dance to weddings and all kinds of receptions.
Part of his formal training by studying under Pee Wee Erwin and continued with him playing in polka, Dixieland, big dance and Broadway pit bands, as well as small jazz groups and large free-wheeling combos.
His first professional job was with the Billy Maxted band in Detroit in 1972. From there he ventured on to play th Broadway production of Mr. Jazz, work with George Wein and finally landing in Benny Goodman’s band. There he played with Hank Jones, Urbie Green, Zoot Sims and Slam Stewart.
He became part of the Condon’s house band, had his debut release, First Time Out on the Monmouth label, but Concord Records gave him his biggest exposure working with Scott Hamilton, John Bunch, Jake Hanna and Cal Collins. He has also worked with Bucky Pizzarelli and Howard Alden.
Swing master cornet, flugelhorn and trumpeter Warren Vaché currently maintains a full schedule of recording, worldwide festivals appearances, Broadway and club dates.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Anthony Davis was born in Paterson, New Jersey on February 20, 1951. He has received acclaim as a free-jazz pianist, having co-leader or been a sideman with various ensembles, playing with Wadada Leo Smith from 1974 to 1977. He has worked with Anthony Braxton, Barry Altshul, Marion Brown, Chico Freeman, Jay Hoggard, Leroy Jenkins, George Lewis, David Murray, to name a few.
In 1981, Davis formed an octet called Episteme, wrote incidental music for the Broadway version of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, and has incorporated into his music jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel, non-Western, African, European classical, Indonesian and experimental styles.
Davis is best known for his operas including X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X, Amistasd, Wakonda’s Dream, and Lilith, all composed between 1986 and 2009 and appeared at the New York City Opera, the Lyric Opera in Chicago, Opera Omaha, and Conrad Prebys Music Center at University of California, San Diego, respectively.
As an educator, he has taught at Yale and Harvard Universities, and is currently professor of music at the University of California, San Diego. In between teaching and performing, pianist and composer Anthony Davis has two orchestral works, seven for stage, and nineteen albums as a leader or co-leader.
Put A Dose In Your Pocket
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ron Mathewson was born 19 February 1944 Lerwick, Shetland Isles, Scotland into an unusually musical household. At eight years old he was studying classical piano, continuing his studies and performing classical piano until he reached sixteen. A year earlier he started playing bass guitar and his talent was noted and encouraged by Shetland musician, Peerie Willie Johnson.
In 1962, Mathewson was in Germany playing professionally with a Scottish Dixieland band, then in London he also performed with various jazz and R&B bands through to the middle of the decade. Around this time he was also a member of the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band.
By1966 Ron became a member of the Tubby Hayes band, with which he performed until 1973. From 1975 on in to the 1990s, he was frequently a participant in various Ronnie Scott recordings and concerts.
In 1983, he appeared on Dick Morrissey’s solo album After Dark with Jim Mullen, John Critchenson, Martin Drew and Barry Whitworth. In 2007 a benefit concert was held for him after he had an accident that left him recovering from two broken hips, a broken wrist and a burst artery.
Best known for his years spent with Scott, the double bassist and bass guitarist has recorded with Stan Getz, Joe Henderson, Ben Webster, John Taylor, Gordon Beck, Philly Joe Jones, Roy Eldridge, Tony Oxley, Kenny Wheeler, Oscar Peterson, John Stevens, Terry Smith, Bill Evans, Phil Woods and His European Rhythm Machine, Acoustic Alchemy, Ian Carr, Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Ray Nance and Charles Tolliver, among numerous others.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Calvin Keys was born on February 6, 1943 in Omaha, Nebraska. Getting caught teaching himself how to play on his uncle’s Gibson got him the gift of the instrument. By 16 he was playing pop and blues gigs professionally
In 1961 he teamed with organist Frank Edwards and after hearing Calvin play with Ahmad Jamal, Charles Earland invited him to play a special New York City performance.
By 1969 he was in Los Angeles, California gigging in the Persia Room with Red Holloway, co-led a band with Blue Mitchell and played the Doug/Jean Carn project Adam’s Apple. He went on to play with Oscar Brown Jr. at the Memory Lane club and began his association with Ray Charles.
In 1974 he began his musical relationship with Ahmad Jamal the lasted twenty years. He would go on to perform and record with Donald Byrd, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Eddie Marshall, Sonny Stitt, Pharoah Sanders, Leon Williams, Jimmy Witherspoon, Stanley Turrentine, George Coleman, Hadley Caliman, M.C. Hammer, Carmen McRae, Gloria Lynne, Woody Shaw, Jackie Ivory, Luther Vandross, Jackie Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Denise Perrier, James Van Buren, and many others.
As a leader and composer he has released a dozen albums for Black Jazz, Silverado, Wide Hive, Olive Branch, Life Force Jazz and Ovation Records, been a sideman on another nineteen and appears on three compilations. Guitarist Calvin Keys continues to compose, record and tour.
Put A Dose In Your Pocket
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