Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Born January 14, 1982 in California, Ben Stapp grew up as a brass musician before turning to jazz. Studying with his mentor, the late Tommy Johnson, the voice of the Jaws’ theme, at UCLA, he was awarded a fellowship during this period to play principal tuba in the Henri Mancini Orchestra. He obtained his masters from RNCM in Manchester, England where he studied with tuba legend Roger Bobo, and for composition, Anthony Gilbert.
While living in Europe, he played in numerous Euro/international festivals including Festival do Sodeste, Gulbenkian August Music Festival, Festival of New Music in Krems and the Barcelos Music Festival. Back in New York, tubist and composer Stapp hit the forefront in city’s creative music scene. His debut CD release, Ecstasis featuring Tony Malaby and Satoshi Takeishi, has received a critical acclaim from the New York Times and All About Jazz.
He has recorded for Clean Feed in Portugal, Dakah Hip Hop Orchestra in LA, Franz Hautzinger in Austria, James Gourlay in England, and has appeared with the NYJA All Stars on CNBC. Ben Stapp now plays and subs with such tuba luminaries like Howard Johnson and Bob Stewart. He also directs and composes for his large ensemble, the Zozimos Collective and continues to perform and tour.
Dose A Day – Blues Away
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Juul Johansson, better known as Mads Mathias, was born on January 9, 1981 in Silkeborg, Denmark and grew up partly in Tanzania. Growing up in a musical home, his exposure to music began at infancy, picking up the saxophone as his main instrument by age 11. A car accident at seventeen left his right hand injured, losing his index finger and half of two other fingers. Afraid that his days of playing the saxophone were over, he started singing and writing songs instead.
Inspired and influenced by the great jazz vocalists of the past and present from Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra to Harry Connick Jr, and with a deep respect for the crooner tradition, Mathias is nevertheless an original talent with a unique and effortlessly charming vocal delivery and a skill for writing catchy and memorable, stylishly crafted tunes.
Fortunately the rehabilitation of his hand made him able to play the saxophone again and at age 20 he was entered the Rhythmic Music Conservatory, graduating in 2007.From an early age, Mads Mathias was a part of Jutland jazz scene and today is part of the Danish music scene: As a studio musician, he has contributed to several record releases and frequently used live dates.
In 2012 released debut solo album Free Falling which won him a Danish Music Award for “Best New Danish Jazz Artist of the Year”, He also won an Honorable Mention Award at one of the world’s largest songwriting competitions for his song “Fool for Love” and Kvintet with the addition of Espen Laub in addition to critical reviews and airplay on Danish radio.
Besides his own Mads Mathias Orchestra, Mads formed Mads Mathias Kvartet with Peter Rosendal, Regin Fuhlendorf and Morten Ankarfeldt and appears with The Danish Radio Big Band, Tivoli Big Band and Six City Stompers. The vocalist, songwriter and saxophonist continues to perform and record.
Put A Dose In Your Pocket
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Maurice Brown was born on January 6, 1981 in Harvey, Illinois. Showing a remarkable affinity for the trumpet, he performed with Ramsey Lewis at Chicago’s Symphony Center while matriculating through Hillcrest High School. Following graduation, he received a full scholarship to attend Northern Illinois University, and later continued his studies at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he worked with famed clarinetist Alvin Batiste.
Relocating to New Orleans shortly thereafter, Maurice began sitting in with numerous jazz veterans, including Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, Ellis Marsalis and Lonnie Plaxico. He recorded as a sideman with Curtis Fuller, Fred Anderson, Roy Hargrove, Michelle Carr and Ernest Dawkins among others.
In 2001 Brown would win first place in the National Miles Davis Trumpet Competition and in 2003 he released his first album as a bandleader, heading his own quintet for Hip to Bop. The project showed an amazing affinity for bop-inflected jazz, along with a willingness to expand the genre’s lexicon through innovative techniques like playing trumpet solos through a wah-wah pedal.
Trumpeter Maurice Brown continues to live in New Orleans, playing both with his quintet and a hip-hop/funk combo called Soul’d U Out.
Dose A Day – Blues Away
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Peter Cincotti was born July 11, 1983 in New York City. The singer, songwriter and pianist started playing a toy piano at the age of three and attended the Horace Mann School. While in high school, he regularly performed at clubs throughout Manhattan and performed at the White House.
At the 2000 Montreux Jazz Festival he won an award for a rendition of Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night In Tunisia” and in 2002 Peter reached No. 1 on the Billboard Traditional jazz Charts, the youngest solo artist to do so to date.
Cincotti appeared in a small role and contributed to the soundtrack of the 2004 Bobby Darin biopic Beyond The Sea, had a small role as the Piano Player in Spider-Man 2, and his song “December Boys” is featured in the 2007 film of the same name.
His self-titled debut album is a compilation of traditional jazz songs, while his second album, “On The Moon” featured some of the artist’s own songs, that was followed by his third “East of Angel Town”. Combining pop, jazz, rock and dance, Peter created his fourth studio album, “Metropolis” and released worldwide in the spring of 2012.
That same year, Peter and his sister Pia Cincotti wrote and produced an original full-length musical titled “How Deep Is The Ocean?” that debuted at The New York Musical Theater Festival to sold out audiences in New York. He continues to perform, compose, record and tour.
Inspire A Young Mind
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Adolphus Anthony Cheatham, better known as Doc Cheatham was born on June 13, 1905 in Nashville, Tennessee. Growing up without jazz, he was introduced by early recordings and touring bands of the late 1910s. Abandoning family plans to be a pharmacist to play music, he retained the name Doc and started with the soprano and tenor saxophone in addition to trumpet in the African American Vaudeville theatre.
He toured the TOBA circuit (Theatre Owners Booking Association) accompanying blues singers but it wasn’t until his move to Chicago and hearing King Oliver that his focus turned to jazz. A year later Louis Armstrong added his influence on Doc’s playing. Cheatham went on to play with Ma Rainey, worked in the big bands of Bobby Lee, Wilbur de Paris, Chick Webb, Sam Wooding, Cab Calloway, Fletcher Henderson, Benny Carter, Claude Hopkins and Teddy Wilson through the 30s and 40s.
By the late 40s into the 50s Doc play in New York City Latin bands of Ricardo Ray, Marcelino Guerra, Perez Prado and Machito. In the 60s he led his own band for five years then worked with Benny Goodman. In the 70s he began singing after scatting during a Paris recording session, was well received and he continued to sing for the rest of his life.
Cheatham created his best work after the age of 70, winning a Grammy with Nicholas Payton and Butch Thompson for the Verve Record release of “Doc Cheatham and Nicholas Payton”. Trumpeter, singer and bandleader Doc Cheatham continued playing until two days before his passing on June 2, 1997, eleven days shy of his 92nd birthday.
Dose A Day – Blues Away
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