Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Russ Gershon was born on August 11, 1959 and grew up in Westport, Connecticut. He attended Harvard University where he received a degree in philosophy and was a disc jockey, jazz director and station manager at Harvard’s WHRB radio station. He attended Berklee College of Music for a year in 1984 and the following year the Either/Orchestra played its first live show at the Cambridge Public Library.
Founding Accurate Records he has released albums by Morphine, Medeski Martin & Wood, the Alloy Orchestra, Ghost Train Orchestra, the Either/Orchestra, Dominique Eade, and Garrison Fewell. He has been a member of rock bands and has worked as a studio musician as well as performing in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 1997 Russ played arrangements of Ethiopian popular music with the Either/Orchestra. This drew the attention of Francis Falceto, who produced the “Éthiopiques” series of albums to document 20th century Ethiopian music. Through Falceto’s connections his band were invited to Addis Ababa in 2004 and became the first American big band to perform in Ethiopia since Duke Ellington’s in 1973.Their principal concert was released as the album Ethiopiques 20: Live in Addis and led to working with Ethiopian musicians such as Mahmoud Ahmed, and appeared with Ahmed’s band at Carnegie Hall in 2016.
Saxophonist, flutist, composer, and arranger Russ Gershon continues to perform with the Either/Orchestra.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
D C DowDell was born on August 9, 1951 in Southern California and studied Music Education at UCLA and earned a Masters of Music Composition at University of North Texas. He has been influenced by Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Kenny Baron and Herbie Hancock. His style and piano technique blends the fine inner voicings of modal with the highly energetic impressions of the avante garde.
He has appeared with Bobby Vinton, Marilyn McCoo and Rosemary Clooney just to name a few. His passion for jazz led him to composing and arranging charts for top vocalists, solo instrumental artists and orchestra. His influences are Gil Evans, Bob Florence and George Russell.
Pianist D C DowDell moved to Ocean Beach, California where he continually plays locally with jazz ensembles and teaches jazz theory and composition at A Passion for Jazz! Music Studios. He first published his Basic Musicianship in 1993, a primary music reference and theory text.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alan Gaumer was born on July 25, 1951 in Bethelehem, Pennsylvania. He began playing the trumpet when he was eight and was a member of Kal’s Kid’s that appeared on the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour as well as numerous other television shows. Throughout elementary, junior and high school he participated in band, orchestra, and stage bands and graduated from Freedom High School in 1969.
He studied with John Nero and Willard Schissler and performed with the Allentown Band before attending the U.S. Navy School of Music. Upon graduation he spent the next three years living in Gaeta, Italy touring Europe, Africa and Asia with the Navy Show Band. Offered the jazz trumpet position at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis before his discharge, from 1973-75 he toured first as trumpeter and later as drummer with the well known group KATO.
Settling back in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania he was an integral part of a popular group P.F. & the Flyers and his own A.G.Q. After attending Rutgers University, Alan spent two years touring South America and West Africa with the U.S. Navy Show Band. When he got out in 1982, he worked for several years at well known hotels and resorts.
He has performed with a long list of jazz musicians which include Randy Brecker, Phil Woods, Al Cohn, George Young, Bob Dorough, Tom Harrell, Bill Watrous, Urbie Green, Kim Parker, Vic Jurris, Charles Fambrough, Bill Washer, John Swanna, David Leonhardt, Steve Gilmore, Bill Goodwin, Bobby Routch, Tom Schuman of Spyro Gyra and others.
As an educator Gaumer has been the jazz trumpet Artist/Lecturer at Moravian College since 1994 and served as Fusion ensemble director in 1998-99, 2003-04 and 2005-06. He is Artistic Director of the Pennsylvania Jazz Collective, a Lehigh Valley based non-profit jazz organization.
Trumpeter and educator Alan Gaumer continues to perform, teach and produce jazz events.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Larry Washington was born on July 24, 1956 in Detroit, Michigan. His passion for music began in the Motor City and he started playing drums at a very young age. He knew even then that music and performing would become his career. Graduating from Southwestern High School in 1974, the following year he went on to matriculate through Wayne County Community College District.
Larry has recorded, performed and toured throughout the United States and internationally. He has performed on MTV, BET, ABC, NBC, Billboard Music Awards, Trumpet Awards, Diversity Awards, The Princess Diaries, Showgirls, The Whitehouse, and The Apollo (London), just to name a few.
Building on his success as a drummer, as a producer he has been featured in commercials, television and film. As a music composer, sound designer, and foley artist. The History Detectives, America’s Most Wanted, Drive, Social Studies, Fox Sports, Section 8, Sister Act 2 (Back in the Habit), Good Burger, Rainbird Sprinklers, Hotel Planner.com, Urban Combat,
In the studio he has worked with Louis Gossett Jr., Deniece Williams, Jeffrey Osborne and several Los Angeles, California based charities. Larry is actively developing and participating in drum clinics and music workshops for educational institutions throughout the country. He is focused on reaching out to younger musicians, and sharing his knowledge and experiences in a positive and motivational workshop environment.
Drummer, sound designer, music producer, composer, recording artist and educator Larry Washington currently lives in Los Angeles, California and continues to compose, perform, record and produce.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Peter Perfido‘was born on July 21, 1956 in Hartford, Connecticut. He started his drumming musical journey in the early Sixties being influenced by the British Wave of the Beatles, the Kinks, the Animals, and the Who. By the mid 70’s Peter had begun to discover jazz and improvised music. While predominantly self-taught, he studied privately with Kit McDermott, Bob Moses and Jerry Granelli. His career has involved playing jazz, improvised music, rock and blues with scores of lauded musicians from diverse styles and backgrounds.
Peter has performed and/or recorded with Chet Baker, Gary Peacock, Lee Konitz, Jimmy Woode, Bill Barron, Art Lande, Julian Priester, David Friedman, Tomasz Stanko, Sal Nistico, Kent Carter, Rasul Siddik, Bob Degen, Heinz Sauer, Bob Mover, Ed Schuller, Anthony Braxton, Joe Lee Wilson, Lou Bennett, Bobby Few, Barney Wilen, Bobby Few, Liz McComb, Michelle Hendricks, Ferenc Snetberger, Rinde Eckert, Lonnie Plaxico , Stephen Haynes, Michel Pilz, Lonnie Plaxico, and the list goes on.
He has toured across the USA, Western Canada, Europe, Asia, the USSR and the Pacific islands. Currently living in Hohrod, Alsace, France, drummer Peter Perfido performs mostly in Europe these days with groups spanning a wide spectrum of influences from mainstream modern jazz to open ended explorations with free improvisation, as well as shuffling and rocking the blues.
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