Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Harold Andrew Dejan was born on February 4, 1909 into a Creole family in New Orleans, Louisiana and took clarinet lessons as a child before switching to the saxophone. He became a professional musician in his teens, joining the Olympia Serenaders and then the Holy Ghost Brass Band.
He played regularly in Storyville, at Mahogany Hall, and on Mississippi riverboats. He also worked in the mail office of the Lykes Brothers Steamship Company for 23 years. In World War II, he played in Navy bands, then returning to his day job and his parallel musical career after the war, he led his own band, Dejan’s Olympia Brass Band, from 1951, was considered one of the top bands in New Orleans.
The band often appeared at Preservation Hall, recorded nine albums, and also toured internationally, making 30 concert tours of Europe and one of Africa. It was featured in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die, and as well as in many TV commercials.
Suffering a stroke in 1991 left him unable to play the saxophone, but he continued as a band leader and singer until shortly before his death. Alto saxophonist and bandleader Harold Dejan, known affectionately as Duke, passed away on July 5, 2002 in New Orleans.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bob Stewart was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on February 3, 1945. He received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts and his master’s degree in education from Lehman College Graduate School.
Stewart taught music in Pennsylvania public schools and at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City. He is now a professor at the Juilliard School and is a distinguished lecturer at Lehman College.
Stewart has toured and recorded with such artists as Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Carla Bley, Muhal Richard Abrams, David Murray, Taj Mahal, Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, Don Cherry, Nicholas Payton, Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Haden, Lester Bowie, Bill Frisell and many others in the United States, Europe, and Eastern Asia.
He was a frequent collaborator with saxophonist Arthur Blythe from the 1970s into the early 2000s, often taking the place of the string bass that traditionally supports a jazz ensemble. In their review of Blythe’s album Lenox Avenue Breakdown, the editors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz called Stewart’s title track solo “one of the few genuinely important tuba statements in jazz. Tubist Bob Stewart continues to be a part of the jazz scene.
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Three Wishes
Nica asked Buddy Montgomery what his three wishes were and he simply said:
- “I can use a whole lot of things! One thing I would like is to get my mind and my hands attached to what I am trying to do, musically. I need to think some more about the others.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Emanuel Paul was born on February 2, 1904 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He did not begin playing music until late in his youth, picking up the violin at age 18 and then switched to banjo. In the middle of the 1920s he settled on the tenor saxophone, where his instrument often substituted for the baritone horn in a brass band.
Becoming a member of the Eureka Brass Band in 1940 and remained with them into the 1960s; he also played often with Kid Thomas Valentine from 1942 and recorded with Oscar Celestin, Emanuel Sayles, and the Olympia Brass Band. He led three recording sessions for the European Jazz Macon label in 1967. His sidemen on these records include Valentine, George Lewis, and Butch Thompson.
Tenor saxophonist Emanuel Paul, who was one of the first tenor saxophonists to hold regular work in the New Orleans jazz scene, passed away on May 23, 1988 in New Orleans.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ray Santisi was born on February 1, 1933 in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Jamaica Plain. He won an honors scholarship to attend Schillinger House and by the time he graduated it had been renamed Berklee School of Music, and later became Berklee College of Music..
He played as featured soloist with Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Mel Torme, Irene Kral, Herb Pomeroy and Natalie Cole to name a few. He performed with Buddy DeFranco, Joe Williams, Gabor Szabo, Milt Jackson, Zoot Sims & Al Cohn, Carole Sloane, Clark Terry and Bob Brookmeyer. As a leader he performed with his own ensemble, The Real Thing and in the 1960s performed with the Benny Golson Quartet.
As an educator, in 1957 Ray became a professor of piano and harmony at Berklee College of Music. His students include many notable jazz musicians, including Diana Krall, Makoto Ozone, Joe Zawinul, Keith Jarrett, Jane Ira Bloom, Jan Hammer, Alan Broadbent, Arif Mardin, Gary Burton, John Hicks, Danilo Perez and Hiromi. Fourteen of his students received Grammy awards.
He was awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in composition and performance. He taught at Stan Kenton’s summer jazz clinics throughout the United States, performed in Europe, Scandinavia, and Asia. He performed at the first Jazz Workshop, and in 2008 was nominated to IAJE Jazz Education Hall of Fame.
He authored two books, Berklee Jazz Piano, and his instructional book, Jazz Originals for Piano. His trio played the first Sunday of each month for eleven years at Ryles Jazz Club until the month of his death. Pianist, composer, arranger, and educator Ray Santisi passed away on October 28, 2014 in his hometown.
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