Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Scott Samenfeld was born on October 26, 1951 in New York City and grew up between the city and New Jersey. Moving to Boston, Massachusetts in 1970 he attended Berklee College of Music and has been performing in the Boston area ever since.
The first band Scott founded, Muse Stew, began its life performing jazz and poetry. He currently leads his group performing his original compositions as well as other jazz and Latin artists. They blend African, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and other folk rhythms of jazz.
Samenfeld performs with a 16 piece big band, the Sounds of Swing Orchestra. They have been performing throughout New England for almost 20 years. As an educator Samenfeld has been a music teacher for many years and taught music theory and jazz guitar at the Guitar Workshop. During the 1970’s he taught jazz ensemble and instrumental music at the Cambridge School in Weston and The Open Road School in Waltham during that period as well.
Scott has focused on composing and performing his music and has been a member of the groups Razzamatazz, Trillium, Favela, and Ibrahima’s World Beat.
Bassist Scott Samenfeld who plays in the mediums of avant garde, bossa nova, and modern jazz, continues to perform, compose and teach.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Harry Austin was born on October 22, 1958 in Capetown, South Africa. His passion for guitar was evident at a very tender age and spent his youth mingling with gifted street musicians around the city who greatly influenced him over the years.
A versatile guitarist and a wholehearted Jazz composer. In the late 70’s, he co-founded and performed with the “Touch” band and enjoyed great national success until the mid 80’s. Following this first accomplishment, he toured and made appearances with various musicians and live bands across South Africa until he made his international debut with the Andrew Young band in 2002. For the next 3 years, he played with the band in numerous countries such as China, Turkey and Tunisia.
Between 2005 and 2008, he performed at Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa in Dubai. During 2009 & 2010, he toured throughout the United Arab Emirates. After touring Harry released 2 albums over the net titled Mojaezz, and Easylike.
Guitarist Harry Austin, who performs in the smooth jazz idiom, continues to play, tour and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ron Vincent was born on October 18, 1951 in Warwick, Rhode Island. When he came of age he moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1969 and attended Berklee College of Music, graduating in 1973. After touring the U.S. with different jazz groups, and spending three years in Kansas City, he settled in New York City in 1982.
Becoming a veteran of the New York City jazz scene he worked often as a sideman. Ron has recorded for GRP, Concord and Palmetto record labels, the latter where he has been producer and co-producer for a number of projects.
A member of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet and Mr. Mulligan’s Re-Birth of the Cool Tentet from 1989 to1996, recorded four CD’s with Mulligan and has also recorded with Phil Woods, Lee Konitz, Randy Brecker, Bob Brookmeyer, Bill Charlap, John Lewis, and Slide Hampton. Ron has appeared with Art Farmer, Karrin Allyson, Jimmy Heath, Rob McConnell, Rufus Reid and Dr. Billy Taylor.
As a leader, his own trio and quartet are active in the New York City area and his quartet has toured the U.S. and Europe. His educator hat has him representing Sabian Cymbals, and presenting workshops at over 80 colleges and universities. Vincent has been on the faculty of the Jamie Aebersold Jazz Camps and the Stanford Jazz Camp. In 1996 Ron received a National Endowment for the Arts grant for jazz performance.
Drummer Ron Vincent teaches percussion at Manhattanville College, leads two educational performing groups that appear at schools in the tri-state area and is involved in a Literacy Through The Arts program in NYC’s public schools.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Angel ‘Cachete’ Maldonado was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico on Oct. 16, 1951 to a father who was a respected orchestra bassist. He began his musical studies with formal piano lessons, but had an early inclination to percussion and went under the tutelage of drummer Julio ‘Maco’ Rivera. His curiosity of Afro-Cuban music led him to the batá drums, and their religious and spiritual connotations, then to conga and bongo.
While on the island, he joined the popular band of Johnny El Bravo, then relocated to New York in the early 1970s. Once there he played with Carlos “Patato’ Valdés and Julito Collazo. This led him to become the featured bongo player with La Conspiración, then teamed up with pianist Larry Harlow. He remained for extensive tours of North and South America, and established his standing as a top tier percussionist. He performed with Eddie Palmieri, Louie Ramirez, Conjunto Libre, and Tipica 73, and recorded with Machito and Dizzy Gillespie.
Maldonado went on to play with Gato Barbieri, Weather Report, Freddie Hubbard, Jorge Dalto, Airto Moreira among others. In 1980 he started his seminal group Batacumbele, blending the Cuban songo beat with bomba and plena. Batacumbele had a compact but highly regarded recording output of five albums including a compilation disc. The release of the self-titled record was an instant hit and solidified his standing as a percussionist and bandleader.
Suffering a debilitating stroke in 2005, Cachete curtailed his performances which led to further complications. However, he regained much of his vibrancy and in 2010 Cachete Maldonado y Los Majaderos released Rumba Boricua Campesina to much acclaim on the island and in New York.
Percussionist Cachete Maldonado continues to lead his band at the local gigs and advance Afro-Caribbean music.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Martin Jones was born in Hull, England on October 14, 1955. He gained his experience playing trumpet first in school bands, and then Hull school bands with many concerts with orchestra’s, concert bands and a jazz swing band.
Leaving those to form his own bands he started working with his own band commercially in the jazz field in the late Seventies. By 1982 Martin was working professionally on the club and theatre circuits in cabaret. He started a residency at two clubs in the Latin Quarter in Paris. Returning to the UK he was trumpeter, front-man and vocalist at the City of London Tavern. He worked between London and Paris over the next two years, eventually joining the international cabaret group, The English Eccentric Ragtime Four.
He became a session trumpet player and vocalist in the London area. then spent some time working for New York Network Television while he was with this band. In 1987 Jones left the band to tour Europe, worked doing broadcasts on several TV shows and eventually left London and returned to his roots back in Hull.
He soon got work with a regional band called The Casablanca Boys, led six of his own bands and taught trumpet and vocal at The Keech School of Music. He developed a new Jazz Course at Access to Music in partnership with East Riding College as well as Jazz Summer Schools.
Trumpeter Martin Jones has currently published eleven books and continues performing, recording and teaching.
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