Daily Dose Of Jazz…
William Orval Crow was born December 27, 1927 in Othello, Washington but spent his childhood growing up in Kirkland, Washington, taking up the trumpet in fourth grade. When he joined the Army in 1946, he started to play brass instruments, remaining in the army until 1949. After leaving the Army, he played drums and trombone while a student at the University of Washington.
In 1950, Bill moved to New York City and within two years as a double bassist, he played with Teddy Charles and was with Stan Getz from October 1952 to the following April. He was part of Gerry Mulligan’s groups during the mid to late 1950s.
Crow joined the house band at Eddie Condon’s club in 1965 and then played with Walter Norris’s small group, which was one of the house bands at the Playboy Club in New York City in the mid~Sixties to early Seventies. From 1975 into the late 1990s he worked in theater orchestras on Broadway, where he sometimes played the tuba.
He authored a book called Jazz Anecdotes that was published by Oxford University Press in 1991. His autobiography, From Birdland to Broadway, was released by the same publisher two years later. Both were also the titles of his two albums as a leader.
As a sideman, he recorded 70 albums with Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn, Clark Terry, Marian McPartland, J. J. Johnson, Al Haig, Jimmy Cleveland, Milt Jackson, Benny Goodman, Mose Allison, Jimmy Raney, Sal Salvador, Don Elliott, Teddy Charles, Manny Albam, Joe Morello, Bob Wilber, Eddie Bert, Jay McShann, Bob Dorough, Barbara Lea, Dick Sudhalter, Phil Woods, Dick Sudhalter, Ronnell Bright, Art Simmons, Rich Pearle, Spike Robinson, Claude Williamson, and Michelle Leblanc. Bassist Bill Crow continues to perform at the age of 92.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frank de la Rosa was born on December 26, 1933 in El Paso, Texas. At age twenty he served in the US Army during the Korean War from 1953-1955, earning three medals and the GI Bill. After his discharge he attended the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and Fine Arts, and began playing the bass at the age of 23.
Despite his late start in music education, Frank built an extraordinary career across the globe and performances with Sarah Vaughan, Nat King Cole, Chubby Checker, Harry “Sweets” Edison, and Don Ellis, to name a few.
He was also a part of the Don Menza & His ’80s Big Band, the Don Menza Sextet, Raoul Romero And His Jazz Stars Orchestra, René Bloch And His Big Latin Band, and the Don Ellis Orchestra.
Touring with Ella Fitzgerald, de la Rosa was a member of the Tommy Flanagan Trio from 1968 to 1972. He retired as a professional musician in 2003, however, the deer, dogs, and dandelions across his five acres of land enjoyed the daily melodies from his piano, bass, and/or cello until the summer of 2019 when bassist Frank de la Rosa passed away on July 5, at his home in Washougal, Washington. He was 85.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Wayman Carver was born on December 25, 1905 in Portsmouth, Virginia and was one of the earliest flute soloists to perform jazz. He was one of very few jazz flautists active in the swing era and his first professional experience was with J. Neal Montgomery.
After he moved to New York City in 1931, he recorded in the early Thirties with Dave Nelson, and played with Elmer Snowden, Benny Carter, and Spike Hughes.
From 1934 to 1939 he played with Chick Webb on both alto saxophone and flute. After Webb died he continued in the orchestra during its period of leadership under Ella Fitzgerald until 1941.
>After leaving the jazz scene he became a professor of music at Clark College, where he taught saxophonists George Adams and Marion Brown, among others. Flutist and alto saxophonist Wayman Carver passed away on May 6, 1967 in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
The Gene Ammons Story: Gentle JugOctober 6, 1992 was the Fantasy reissued compact disc release date of the original Prestige/Moodsville Records is my next exploration into one of the world’s great bop, cool jazz, and soul-jazz tenor saxophonists to keep me company during this pandemic. The Gene Ammons Story: Gentle Jug is a compilation reissue of sixteen songs recorded on two separate dates. A master at interpreting ballads, Gene Ammons presents lyrical music that is quite enjoyable.
The album was produced and original photography taken by Esmond Edwards, recorded by Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, and the art direction was contributed by Phil Carroll. The reissue producer and writer of the liner notes was Bob Porter and the album was remastered by Phil De Lancie.
A compilation of two previously released albums, 1961’s Nice an’ Cool” (1 to 8) recorded on January 26, 1961, and 1962’s The Soulful Mood of Gene Ammons (9 to 16) recorded April 14, 1962. Tracks 1 to 8, originally issued on Prestige / Moodsville 18 as Gene Ammons – Nice An’ Cool Tracks 9 to 16, originally issued on Prestige / Moodsville 28 as Gene Ammons – The Soulful Moods Of Gene Ammons.
Tracklist
Nice An’ Cool
- Till There Was You (Meredith Wilson ~ 7:08
- Answer Me, My Love (Rauch, Winkler) ~ 4:35
- Willow Weep For Me (Ann Ronell) ~ 4:00
- Little Girl Blue (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) ~ 4:55
- Something I Dreamed Last Night (Magidson, Yellen, Fain) ~ 7:41
- Something Wonderful (Riodgers, Hammerstein) ~ 3:03
- I Remember You (Mercer, Schertzinger) ~ 4:21
- Someone To Watch Over Me (Gershwin, Gershwin) ~ 3:48
- Two Different Worlds (Frisch, Wayne) ~ 4:53
- But Beautiful (Burke, Van Heusen) ~ 4:27
- Skylark (Carmichael, Mercer) ~ 6:19
- Three Little Words (Kalmar, Ruby) ~ 3:49
- On The Street Of Dreams (Lewis, Young) ~ 3:09
- You’d Be So Nice To Come Home (Cole Porter) ~ 4:17
- Under A Blanket Of Blue (Neiburg, Livington, Symes) ~ 5:12
- I’m Glad There’s You (Dorsey, Mertz) ~ 6:02
- Gene Ammons ~ Tenor Saxophone
- Patti Bown (tracks: 9 to 16) | Richard Wyands (tracks: 1 to 8) ~ Piano
- Doug Watkins (tracks: 1 to 8) | George Duvivier (tracks: 9 to 16) ~ Bass
- Ed Shaughnessy (tracks: 9 to 16) | J.C. Heard (tracks: 1 to 8) ~ Drums
When the curtain goes up and the pandemic is controlled I will return to flying around the globe discovering the best of jazz. Until that time arrives stay safe and healthy.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jabbo Smith, born as Cladys Smith on December 24, 1908 in Pembroke, Georgia. At the age of six he went into the Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston, South Carolina where he learned trumpet and trombone. By the age of 10 was touring with the Jenkins Band and at the age of 16, he left the Orphanage to become a professional musician, first playing in bands in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Around 1925 he made his home in Manhattan, New York City, where he made the first of his well-regarded recordings till 1928.
In 1928 Jabbo toured with James P. Johnson’s Orchestra until the show broke up in Chicago, Illinois. He stayed for a few years and his series of twenty recordings for Brunswick Records in 1929 are his most famous of which 19 were issued. Billed as a rival to Louis Armstrong, unfortunately, most of these records did not sell well enough for Brunswick to extend his contract.
1935 Chicago had him featured in a recording session produced by Helen Oakley under the name of Charles LaVere & His Chicagoans, which included vocals by him and LaVere on LaVere’s composition and arrangement of Boogaboo Blues. In the 1930s, he made his base in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for many years, alternating with returns to New York. While there he collaborated with saxophonist Bill Johnson. Subsequently, Smith dropped out of the public eye, playing music part-time in Milwaukee, and worked a regular job at an automobile hire company.
He made a successful comeback in the late 1960s playing with bands and shows in New York, New Orleans, Louisiana, London, and France through the 1970s and into the 1980s.
He recorded concerts in France, Italy, Switzerland and Netherlands with the Hot Antic Jazz Band. Trumpeter Jabbo Smith, known for his virtuoso playing, passed away on January 16, 1991.
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