Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Senri Oe was born on September 6, 1960, in Fujiidera city, Osaka, Japan. He began playing piano at the age of three, and was trained by his junior high school teacher Yumi Nara, who would go on to become an acclaimed opera singer. After each of the lessons, Nara would encourage him to improvise, and eventually he began to compose.
Upon being introduced to music by The Carpenters, Captain & Tenille and Gilbert O’Sullivan, Oe decided to become a singer-songwriter. Soon after, Oe’s music repertoire expanded to include jazz musicians such as Chris Conor, Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Winton Kelly, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker.
In 1975 at 15 Oe intended to study jazz but after participating in the final Yamaha Popular Song Contest POPCON, in 1980 he entered Kwansei Gakuin University majoring in economics while simultaneously beginning to pursue a professional music career. He formed his first band during his time at university, was scouted by Sony Music and signed to Epic Sony Japan in 1981. His pop career unexpectedly took off and he chose to put his jazz aspirations on hold.
At the New School for Jazz, in 2008 Senri moved to Manhattan, New Yorkand later He went on to start a prolific carrer as a pop singer/songwriter but in 2007 he began his serious study of jazz. After graduating from The New School for Jazz, he launched his jazz record label, Peace Never Die Records, in 2012. His jazz debut album was Boys Mature Slow the same year. As of 2021 he has released another six albums under the PND label.
Oe’s work towards composing for a drum-less trio was titled Collective Scribble, with saxophone, piano and upright bass. He has recorded as a leader with Sheila Jordan, Jon Hendricks, Theo Bleckmann and Lauren Kinhan. His Answer July was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Jazz Album category in 2017.
Pianist, composer, producer, actor, singer, and songwriter Senri Oe continues to compose, perform and stretch the realms of his jazz imagination, while writing and producing music for other artists and film soundtracks.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Zorn was born September 2, 1953 in New York City, New York and attended the United Nations International School, where he studied piano, guitar and flute from an early age. Exposed by his families musical tastes in classical, world, jazz, French chansons, country doo-wop and rock and roll records, he spent his teenage years exploring classical and film music, listening to The Doors and playing bass in a surf band. He explored experimental and avant-garde music as well as cartoon soundtracks and film scores. He went on to teach himself orchestration and counterpoint by transcribing scores and studied composition under Leonardo Balada.
After discovering Anthony Braxton’s album For Alto when he was studying composition at Webster College in St. Louis, Missouri, Zorn began playing saxophone and attended classes taught by Oliver Lake. While at Webster, he incorporated elements of free jazz, avant-garde and experimental music, film scores, performance art and the cartoon scores of Carl Stalling into his first recordings.
Leaving Webster after three semesters, John lived on the West Coast before returning to Manhattan where he gave concerts in his apartment and other small NY venues, playing saxophone and a variety of reeds, duck calls, tapes, and other instruments. He immersed himself in the underground art scene, assisting Jack Smith with his performances and attending plays by Richard Foreman
Zorn entered New York City’s downtown music scene in the mid-1970s, collaborating with improvising artists while developing new methods of composing experimental music. Over the next decade he performed throughout Europe and Japan and recorded on independent US and European labels. In 1986 he received acclaim with the release of his radical reworking of the film scores of Ennio Morricone, The Big Gundown, followed by Spillane, an album featuring his collage-like experimental compositions. Spy vs Spy and Naked City both demonstrated his ability to merge and blend musical styles in new and challenging formats.
Having spent time in Japan in the late 1980s and early ’90s John returned to Lower East Side Manhattan to establish the Tzadik record label in 1995, enabling him to establish independence, maintain creative control, and ensure the availability of his growing catalog of recordings. He prolifically recorded and released new material for the label, issuing several new albums each year, along with recordings by many other artists.
He performs on saxophone with the groups Naked City, Painkiller, and Masada but more often conducts bands like Moonchild, Simulacrum and several of his Masada-related ensembles. He composes concert music for classical ensembles and orchestras, produces music for opera, sound installations, film and documentary, and tours Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer John Zorn continues his exploration of music and adds to his diverse repertoire.
Bestow upon an inquiring mind a dose of a New York City composer to motivate the perusal of the genius of jazz musicians worldwide whose gifts contribute to the canon…
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Hilde Hefte was born on September 1, 1956 in Kristiansand, Norway and received much of her musical education from the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo, Norway with piano as primary and vocals as secondary instruments. She played saxophone and clarinet for ten years when she was young, apprenticing with her father who was saxophone teacher and musician. She also trained as an actor, landing numerous roles.
During a period of years she taught music at Agder musikkonservatorium before she started as a full-time musician. She released her debut solo album Round Chet’s Midnight in 1999 to great reviews, from song others Down Beat Magazine. Hefte went on to quickly release five more albums under her own name, and has written lyrics and composed music to both her own albums and for a host of other artists.
Never far from acting, Hilde continues her leading roles at the theatre, among others, the main role as Edith Piaf. She has written and arranged music for various local theatre productions. To date she has recorded eight solo albums as a leader highlighting the music of Chet Baker, Bill Evans and bossa nova, as well as an album with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and inclusion in the Putamayo compilation Brazil Around The World.
With already ten collaborative albums under her belt with no sign of stopping, vocalist Hilde Hefte founded and runs Norsk Jazzforlag in 2003 and the record label Ponca Jazz Records the following year.
Bestow upon an inquiring mind a dose of a Kristiansand vocalist to motivate the perusal of the genius of jazz musicians worldwide whose gifts contribute to the canon…
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Requisites
Blue Train ~ John Coltrane | By Eddie Carter
John Coltrane steps into the spotlight for this morning’s discussion with his only release for Alfred Lion’s label, Blue Train (Blue Note BLP 1577/BST 81577). It was recorded in 1957 and released a year later, has stood the test of time, and is considered one of the essential records to own in the tenor saxophonist’s discography. Blue Train is his third album as a leader and also highlights his compositions, he wrote four of the five selections and personally picked the musicians who accompany him on this date. Lee Morgan on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Kenny Drew on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and “Philly” Joe Jones on drums round out the sextet. My copy used in this report is the Classic Records Mono audiophile reissue sharing the original catalog number.
Side One leaves the station with Blue Train, a mid tempo blues that the sextet sets in motion to an easy-going beat. John soars effortlessly through the rhythm section in the first solo. Lee follows with a happy, relaxed groove, then Curtis gives a perfectly crafted, full-toned reading. Kenny shapes the next statement with some bluesy dialogue and Paul covers plenty of ground in the finale preceding the ensemble’s reprise and climax. Moment’s Notice is next and it’s ablaze from the start of the melody. Coltrane takes the lead with a pulse-quickening performance. Fuller comes in for an energetic excursion next, then Morgan swings vibrantly into the third reading. Chambers goes for a short walk and Drew gets a scintillating presentation on the closer leading to the ending theme.
Locomotion speeds down the track to begin Side Two and the sextet gives the uptempo melody a workout. John takes a swift run on the opening solo; next Curtis jumps into the second reading aggressively, then Lee follows with a stunning showpiece. Kenny raises the energy level of the following interpretation. Philly closes the proceedings on a few fiery phrases before the sextet takes it out. I’m Old Fashioned by Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer starts with a tender melody by Coltrane who continues caressing the first solo with sultry notes. Fuller brings out breathtaking beauty in the next statement. Drew compliments them with sincere elegance subtly supported by Chambers and Jones. Morgan closes with a great delicacy that’s beautifully executed.
The sextet steps back into high gear on Lazy Bird with a nimble opening chorus. Lee leads the charge with electric energy. Curtis follows with fiery passion on the second statement, then John swings with fierce intensity. Kenny tears into the next reading enthusiastically, next Paul does a brief bit of bass walking. “Philly” adds a fitting closer with an exhilarating drum solo ahead of the ensemble’s finish. Blue Train was originally produced by Alfred Lion, and Rudy Van Gelder was the recording engineer. Bernie Grundman mastered the album from the original analog tapes. This reissue was pressed on 200-gram Quiex SV-P audiophile vinyl. The sound quality is sensational with a superb soundstage that’s a sonic treat, and the record is absolutely quiet until the music starts. If you like jazz, I can’t think of a better choice for your library than Blue Train by John Coltrane. The album is a bona fide classic that you can enjoy endlessly and a must-have for any jazz fan!
~ I’m Old Fashioned – Source: JazzStandards.com
© 2022 by Edward Thomas Carter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Hamid Drake was born Henry Lawrence Drake on August 3, 1955 in Monroe, Louisiana but his family moved to Evanston, Illinois, when he was a child. There he started playing with local rock and R&B bands, which eventually brought him to the attention of Fred Anderson, an older saxophonist who had also moved to Evanston from Monroe as a child decades before. Drake worked with Anderson from 1974 to 2010 including on his 1979 The Missing Link.
At Anderson’s workshops, he met Douglas Ewart, George E. Lewis and other members of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Percussionist Ed Blackwell had a great influence on Drake, during this period. His flowing rhythmic expressions and interest in the roots of the music drew like-minded musicians together into a performance and educational collective named the Mandingo Griot Society, which combined traditional African music and narrative with distinctly American influences.
During the Seventies he met Don Cherry and with Adam Rudolph toured Europe and worked extensively with him from 1978 until Cherry’s death in 1995. It was during this period where they explored the interior landscape of percussion and shared deeply in Mr. Cherry’s grasp of music’s spiritually infinite transformational possibilities.
By the close of the 1990s, Hamid was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and African percussion instruments and influence, in addition to using the standard trap set, Drake has collaborated extensively with top free jazz improvisers, performed world music and reggae during his career.
Drummer and percussionist Hamid Drake, who also plays the tabla, continues to perform.
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