Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Anthony K. Wright was born October 9, 1959 in London, England and began playing brass at school, before moving to clarinet at the age of 12, and later picked up the tenor saxophone. Turning professional in the early 1980s he played as a session musician and ran various rock bands in night clubs and on the gig circuit in London and South Wales. He maintained his interest in the clarinet, and in the early Nineties began playing jazz on the West Country ciecuit, whilst teaching Performing Arts at North Devon College.
Moving to Surrey late in the decade he is now widely known as a reeds teacher, with students ranging from adult beginners to advanced Grade 8 and Diploma-level specialists. His forte is improvisational jazz. leads a cool jazz band, Anthony’s AllStars, which features both clarinet and saxophone. He also plays with Riverside Shuffle Band and Vic Cracknell’s Swing Band, and other local bands.’
Tenor saxophonist Anthony Wright continues to perform and spends much of his time composing, arranging and creating his own recordings of what he has labeled intelligent pop..
Get a dose of the musicians and vocalists who were members of a global society integral in the making and preservation of jazz for over a hundred and twenty-five years…
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Aladar Pege was born on October 8, 1939 in Budapest, Hungary into a family of Gypsy musicians. He did not start playing the bass until age 15 but he quickly grabbed the attention of his teachers at the Bartók Bela Musical Training College. He studied classical music at Bartók, and worked in dance orchestras. He attended Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music and after graduating in 1969 he remained as a double bass teacher.
Forming a jazz quartet in 1963 Pege quickly gained international recognition and in 1964 saw him being named festival Virtuoso at a concert in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Reforming his jazz group in 1970 he appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival where he was named Europe’s Best Soloist.
Between 1975 and 1978 he lived in Berlin, Germany playing bop and free jazz, but later returned home to teach. Aladar recorded with Walter Norris, and played concerts with Herbie Hancock, Art Farmer, Dexter Gordon and Mingus Dynasty. Sue Mingus, the widow of Charles Mingus, gave him one of her late husband’s instruments.
Double bassist Aladar Pege, who was called the Paganini of the bass, died at age 67 on September 23, 2006 in Budapest.
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On The Bookshelf
Fashion and Jazz: Dress, Identity and Subcultural Improvisation
Born in the late 19th century, jazz gained mainstream popularity during a volatile period of racial segregation and gender inequality. It was in these adverse conditions that jazz performers discovered the power of dress as a visual tool used to defy mainstream societal constructs, shaping a new fashion and style aesthetic. Fashion and Jazz is the first study to identify the behaviours, signs and meanings that defined this newly evolving subculture.
Drawing on fashion studies and cultural theory, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the social and political entanglements of jazz and dress, with individual chapters exploring key themes such as race, class and gender. Including a wide variety of case studies, ranging from Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald to Louis Armstrong and Chet Baker, it presents a critical and cultural analysis of jazz performers as modern icons of fashion and popular style.
Addressing a number of previously underexplored areas of jazz culture, such as modern dandyism and the link between drug use and glamorous dress, Fashion and Jazz, published by Bloomsbury, provides a fascinating history of fashion’s dialogue with African-American art and style. It is essential reading for students of fashion, cultural studies, African-American studies and history.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Sonny Costanzo was born Dominic on October 7, 1932 in Greenwich Village, New York City, New York. Academically trained, he received additional education from on-the-road experience playing trombone with big bands.
Costanzo was a member of the Clark Terry Big Band, Woody Herman And His Orchestra, Woody Herman And The Swingin’ Herd. He led the Sonny Costanzo Big Band, and the Sonny Costanza Orchestra,
He recorded five albums as a leader or co-leader with Na Sonnyho Straně Ulice, Glenn Zottola, Golden Strings of Prague and the Czech Radio Big Band. Two of them are quartet led.
Trombonist and bandleader Sonny Costanzo died on December 30, 1993 in New Haven, Connecticut.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Fernando Álvarez Ariza was born in Santander, Columbia on October 6, 1977. He began his musical studies at the artistic culture department of Santander DICAS and continued his studies in harmony with Rito Mantilla and classical guitar with Silvio Martinez at the Universidad Industrial de Santander. He graduated with a Bachelor in music degree and took a workshop at Los Angeles International Christian University, strengthening his studies in electric guitar, jazz fundamentals, and production. He later received tutoring from guitarists Bruce Saunders and Pino Marrone.
He has done rock projects with the group Osmosis from Bucaramanga, Santander, with whom he recorded a single called Atrás de los Sueños with the collaboration of guitarist Mauricio Espinoza. His jazz projects include the staging of the work Santandereano by bassist José “Chepe” Ariza at the national festival Jazz al Parque in Bogotá.
He has shared the stage with Bruce Saunders, Eric Halvorson, Javier Colina, Héctor Martignon, Antonio Arnedo, Oscar Acevedo, Chepe Ariza, Gabriel Rondón, Sebastián Monsalve, Pacho Dávila, Ricardo Uribe, Oscar Serrano Prada, Lalo Ariza, Germán Sandoval, Sincopa Jazz Band, among others.
His recent album, Arquitectura Sonora, features Cuban saxophonist Leonardo Molina and trumpeter Jorge Méndez. He fuses electronic textures, improvisation, and elements of Colombian folk and urban culture. He has taught at the Gentil Montaña Foundation, Corporación Cristiana Universitaria, Los Angeles International Christian University, and is currently a professor at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Pamplona, Colombia.
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