Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Carol Morgan was born on July 11, 1968. Originally from Texas, she decided to matriculate through and graduated from The Julliard School, subsequently making her home in New York City. A definitive voice unto herself, the influences of Woody Shaw, Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong can be heard in her playing. She has released five CDs as a leader working in trio, quartet and quintet setings with her latest in 2013 titled Retroactive.
She has worked with Chris Gekker, Mark Gould, Ingrid Jensen, Dennis Dotson Mike Stern, Chris Cortez, Danielle Reich, Harvie S, Rich DeRosa, Joel Frahm, Martin Wind and Matt Wilson among others. She has been a side-woman on recording dates with the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Hawk-Richard Jazz Orchestra, the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, and NPR’s The Engine Of Our Ingenuity.
As a composer Carol has been commissioned to create works for the Diverse Works, the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble, the Archdiocese of Houston/Galveston and the St. Thomas Presbyterian Church in Houston. She has authored The Practicing Improviser, a highly regarded method for jazz improvisation.
She is a member of the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, a variety of ensembles under the name of Stiggall & Associates and the group Gingerbread led by Brad Linde. Trumpeter, composer, educator and author Carol Morgan continues to record and perform across the United States and in Europe.
Jazz Is Global – Share
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Elias Haslanger was born on July 9, 1969 in Austin, Texas. Growing up during the 1980s he listened to the Marsalis Brothers, Mark Whitfield and Roy Hargrove among others. In sixth grade he picked up the saxophone, and by the time he was in high school, he was playing gigs around his hometown and San Antonio.
After graduating from high school he attended the University of Texas at Austin studying with Harvey Pittel, then moved to New York to matriculate the Manhattan School of Music. From there his education took him back to study at Southwest Texas State University (TSU), during which time he received the Downbeat Student Music Award for College Outstanding Tenor Saxophone Performance.
His 1994 debut album Standards is a collection of straight-ahead bop and swing tunes featuring the top Austin area musicians. His second project titled For The Moment followed by his 1998 release of Kicks Are For Kids that brought the Marsalis patriarch in to collaborate. That same year Elias put on his educators cap and began teaching theory and composition at TSU.
A move to Brooklyn, New York in 2000 got the attention of Maynard Ferguson and in short order Haslanger was sitting in the same chair that Wayne Shorter once occupied. This experience help shaped him as a bandleader and performer.
In 2004 he returned to Austin, started his own label Cherrywood Records, released it debut release Dream Story. He has performed with Harry Connick Jr., Frank Foster, Clark Terry, Steve Turre, Al Grey, Lew Soloff, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Ron Westray, Jesse Davis, J. J. Johnson, Peter Martin, Russell Gunn, among other jazz luminaries. He has also played with Chirstopher Cross, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Alejandro Escovedo, Asleep At The Wheel, Sheryl Crow and countless others in pop and soul genres.
Tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone player Elias Haslanger continues to perform, record and tour around the world with annual invites to play the North Sea and Montreux Jazz Festivals.
Inspire A Young Mind
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Daily Dose OF Jazz
Ken Watters was born July 6, 1964 in Huntsville, Alabama. He attended the University of North Texas and became a part of the Lab Band program. He studied trumpet with internationally renowned teacher Leonard Candelaria prior to studying in New York City with Lew Soloff and Wynton Marsalis.
Ken is a member of several noted performing groups, including Tabou Combo, Natalie Cole Band, the Magic City Jazz Orchestra, Ray Reach and Friends and the W.C. Handy Jazz All-Stars. He recorded his debut release with his Haitian-Caribbean jazz septet RIYEL and has recorded a total of six projects as a leader.
He has recorded and released three CDs titled “Brothers” with his trombonist brother Harry. His latest musical project is an ongoing venture co-led alongside vocalist Ingrid Felts, called the Watters-Felts Project. The jazz-oriented sextet included pianist Keith Taylor, bassist Abe Becker, percussionist Darrell Tibbs and drummer Marcus Pope.
Trumpeter Ken Watters is also an educator currently sitting as an adjunct professor at University of Alabama in Huntsville, where he directs the UAH Jazz Ensemble I. He continues to perform, record and tour.
Give The Gift Of Knowledge
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Melissa Walker was born the youngest of three sisters on July 3, 1964 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She attended Brown University considering a career in law but instead after graduation local performance and out-of-town dates led her to launch a career as a vocalist in Washington, D.C., in 1990. She produced her own debut album in 1993 titled Little Wishes, which she sold at her performances.
Moving to New York she studied with pianist and master vocal accompanist Norman Simmons. In 1997, Walker signed to Enja Records and recorded May I Feel and released in Germany. She expanded her performing range with her rich, multi-octave textures and impeccable phrasing, formed her own group and appeared with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, directed by Wynton Marsalis. Her 1999 release of Moment of Truth marked her commercial U.S. album debut and two years later came I Saw The Sky.
She has been nominated for a Juno Award, won the U.S. Indie Award for Vocal Jazz, has created new material unrivaled in the American jazz tradition, and has appeared on a number of television networks and magazines. Melissa has performed across continents, working and/or recording with such talents as Hank Jones, Gary Bartz, Kenny Barron, Ray Brown, Christian McBride, Stefon Harris, Mokoto Ozone Phil Woods, Buster Williams, Russell Malone, Beny Green, Geoff Keezer, Steve Wilson, Ron Blake, Lenny White, Paul Bollenback, Steve Turre and Geri Allen. Vocalist Melissa Walker continues to perform, compose, record and tour.
Give A Gift Of Jazz – Share
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Pablo “Chino” Nunez was born on June 25, 1961, adopted as an infant, the only son of Puerto Rican immigrants and raised in New York City’s Sunset Park section of Brooklyn. Inspired and encouraged at a young age, he attributes his success to the “masters” he studied as well as idolizing many instrumentalists and vocalists most notably Tito Puente, Orestes Villato, Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Nicky Marrero, The Beatles, The Jackson 5, James Brown, and Ella Fitzgerald among others.
Self-taught, Chino’s career spans four decades he established himself as a percussionist, multi-Instrumentalist, producer, arranger, composer, recording artist, band leader, and educator. He is a multiple Grammy, Latin Grammy and Billboard nominee and winner. He has amassed hundreds of music credits as a producer including the documentary film, “Pedro “Cuban Pete” Aguilar: Dancing En Clave”. He has toured with a who’s who list of performers and has garnered critical acclaim with his Chino Nunez Orchestra.
Nunez has recorded and performed with Tito Puente, Hector Lavoe, Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, Marc Anthony, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Ray Barretto, Willie Colon, Ruben Blades, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Larry Harlow, Tito Nieves, Spanish Harlem Orchestra and a host of others. He has performed all over the world including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, North Sea Jazz Festival, Madison Square Garden, Montreal Jazz Festival, the Tito Puente Amphitheatre and Bellas Arte Performing Arts Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to name a few.
He creates a unique and rhythmic swing fusing Salsa, Big Band, Latin Jazz, Christian, Gospel, Bachata, Reggaeton, Hip Hop and R & B. On Broadway he has performed in “The Life of Celia Cruz”, “Evita”, “Cape Man”, “Lion King”, and “A Tale of Two Cities” featuring his arrangement “Another 100 People”. In 2005, he released his debut album Chino Nunez & Friends, A Tribute to the Dancers, It’s ShoTime. Producer of voice-overs, jingles, radio and television and commercials, Chino Nunez continues to perform and tour worldwide.
Dose A Day – Blues Away
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