Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Stan Levey was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 5, 1926, the son of a car salesman and boxing promoter. A self-taught prodigy, at age 16 Levey went to a local club where Dizzy Gillespie was headlining and convinced him to let him sit in on drums. So impressed was Dizzy that he offered the youngster an opportunity to join the group full-time. Taking some heat for recruiting a white, Jewish 16 year old to anchor his band, Dizzy simply responded – “show me a better black drummer and I’ll hire him”.
Levey joined the group, relocated to New York City with Dizzy, joined a small band led by Coleman Hawkins featuring Thelonious Monk, cut his first recording session with Art Tatum, played with Ben Webster and sat in with Woody Herman’s First Herd when regular drummer was unavailable.
In 1945 Levey joined Charlie Parker’s Quintet and when Dizzy and Charlie joined forces later that year they kept Levey and brought in bassist Al Haig and pianist Curly Russell. Considered the first and most innovative bebop lineup in history and it was during this period that classic standards like “A Night In Tunisia”, “Manteca” and Groovin’ High” were written.
During the late 40’s Levey toured with Norman Granz’s Jazz At The Philharmonic, in 1951 returned to Philly and formed his own band, worked five years with Stan Kenton, settled on the West coast joining Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All Stars and his drumming would influence the emerging West Coast jazz sound. He increased his session playing backing the likes of Sinatra, Fitzgerald, Holiday and Streisand. He played on over three hundred soundtracks for television and film, and turned his passion for photography into shooting a number of record covers.
Levey retired from music in 1973 to pursue his love of photography and he covered everything from fashion spreads to industrial photos to record jackets. On April 19, 2005 he passed away in Van Nuys, California at the age of 79. He never returned to music.
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Daily Dose OF Jazz…
Gene Ramey, born April 4, 1913 in Austin, Texas, began playing trumpet in college but switched to the sousaphone when he played with George Corley’s Royal Aces, The Moonlight Serenaders and Terence Holder. It wasn’t until his move to Kansas City in 1932 that he took up the bass, studying with Walter Page.
Becoming a fixture in the Kansas City jazz scene, the double bassist played with Jay McShann’s orchestra from 1938 to 1943. Never a leader but a most sought after sideman, especially once he moved to New York, Ramey played with the who’s who of jazz including but not limited to Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, Count Basie, Ben Webster, Hot Lips Page, Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis.
His transition into bebop was easily accomplished due to the countless hours of daily practice with his friend Bird. They developed their style without drums, piano or other horns and Ramey was soon the first bassist to play the whole harmony chord while Bird ran his changes. Ramey is credited with stating that long before the jazz world started calling it bop he and Bird had created this pattern.
Ramey had a prolific career as a bassist for over three decades, never losing touch with Dixieland or swing as witnessed in his solos on recording sessions. Returning to Austin in 1976 his short-lived retirement led to lessons to local bassists, then to live performances and full-time musicianship until a heart attack caused his death on December 8, 1984.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
In the jazz world his moniker was Duke Jordan but he was born Irving Sidney Jordan on April 1, 1922 in Brooklyn, New York. The gifted and imaginative pianist was well known for his work with Charlie Parker during his classic quintet years with Miles Davis. From the 50’s on he had a long solo career performing in trio format after playing for periods with Sonny Stitt and Stan Getz. His most notable composition Jordu became a jazz standard when Clifford Brown adopted it into his repertoire.
He married the talented jazz singer Sheila Jordan in 1952 and the union lasted for a decade. He continuously performed throughout the sixties although he faded from the public eye until he began recording an extensive sequence of albums for Steeplechase in 1973 producing some of his best live recordings.
In 1978 he moved his residence to Copenhagen, Denmark where he lived until his death on August 8, 2006. His music always reflected the inherently melodic style that was enlivened by his delightful crisp touch and unexpected turns of phrase. Duke Jordan’s recordings can be found on Prestige, Savoy, Blue Note, Charlie Parker Records, Muse, Spotlite and Steeplechase.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Thaddeus Joseph Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan on March 28, 1923 into a musical family of ten. His older brother Hank was a pianist and a younger brother Elvin, a drummer. A self-taught musician, Thad was performing professionally by the age of sixteen. Enlisting in the Army from 1943 – 1946, he played in the U.S. Army bands during World War II.
By 1954 Thad joined the Count Basie Orchestra and was a featured soloist on such tunes as April In Paris, Shiny Stockings and Corner Pocket. But his main contribution to the orchestra was his compositions and arrangements of The Deacon, Counter Block and H.R.H. in honor of their command performance in London for the Queen. This was followed by a hymn like ballad by Jones titled “To You” performed by the Basie and Ellington bands in their only performance together, and “Dance Along With Basie” recording with nearly all Jones un-credited arrangements of standards.
1963 saw Jones leaving Basie to become a freelance arranger and studio player in New York. Two years later he and drummer Mel Lewis would form The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra that began as an informal jam session amongst New York’s studio elite. They found a home at the Village Vanguard with Thad at the helm for twelve years and in 1978 they won a Grammy for the recording “Live In Munich”.
That same year Jones moved to Copenhagen to the surprise of his New York colleagues. The band continued under Lewis’ direction until his death and is still currently in residence as the Village Vanguard Orchestra. During his life in Copenhagen he composed for the Danish Radio Big Band, taught jazz at the Royal Danish Conservatory, formally studied composition and took up the valve trombone. Ill health began to take its toll on Jones by the mid- eighties and on August 21, 1986 the composer, arranger, trumpeter and flugelhornist passed away in Copenhagen.
Thad Jones’ most notable album was “Suite For Pops” featuring intense bebop improvisations of saxophonist Billy Harper and high note screeching of trumpeter Jon Faddis. His most well known composition is “A Child Is Born”.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
James Moody was born March 26, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia but grew up in New Jersey. He was attracted to the saxophone after hearing George Holmes Tate, Don Byas, and Count Basie. Joining the U.S. Air Force in 1943 he played in the “Negro Band” on the segregated base. Following his discharge, he began playing bebop with Dizzy Gillespie for two years. One of his colleagues was Kenny Barron, who would become an important collaborator.
He recorded his first record for Blue Note in 1948, the first in a long career playing both saxophone and flute. Relocating to Europe for three years stating he had been scarred by racism in the U.S., it was during this period that his acclaimed hit “Moody’s Mood For Love” was recorded and he added the alto to his repertoire. Returning to the States in 1952 he recorded with Prestige, played flute and sax with Pee Wee Moore and by the 60’s rejoined Dizzy.
Throughout the seventies he worked in Las Vegas show bands before returning to jazz as a leader and playing with the Lionel Hampton’s Golden Men Of Jazz. Preferring the tenor, Moody alternates with the alto and adding flute on many of his recordings.
The octogenarian continued to be a globetrotter with his quartet featuring pianist Renee Rosnes, bassist Todd Coolman and drummer Adam Nussbaum. He is a member of the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars Big Band, often collaborating with conductor Jon Faddis, and worked alongside Jon in the WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany. James Moody has been an institution in jazz since the 1940’s playing tenor, flute and occasionally the alto saxophone.
Saxophonist, flautist and composer James Moody passed away of complications from pancreatic cancer at age 85 in San Diego, California on December 9, 2010. Two months later he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for his recording “Moody 4B”, and named in his honor, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center hosts the James Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival.
