Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Roger Quincey Dickerson was born in 1898 in Paducah, Kentucky and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked in local theaters in the late 1910s. After touring with Wilson Robinson’s Bostonians in 1923, he then worked in Andrew Preer’s group at the Cotton Club in New York City, remaining in the group after Preer’s death in 1927.
From the mid to late 1920s he recorded in small groups with Harry Cooper and Jasper Taylor, with a latter session also featuring Johnny Dodds. When Cab Calloway took over the Preer band in 1930 Dickerson was still in the group, and he recorded several times under the new leader.
Leaving Calloway’s employ in 1931 he quit music but recorded again in 1949 accompanying a singer named Ray Cully. Trumpeter Roger Dickerson passed away on January 21, 1951 in Glens Falls, New York.
More Posts: history,instrumental,jazz,music,trumpet
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Musa Kaleem was born Orlando Wright on January 3, 1921 in Wheeling, West Virginia. He bought a clarinet in 1937, and by 1939 was touring as a saxophonist with the El Rodgers Mystics of Rhythm, featuring Eddie Jefferson on lead vocals.
In the early 1940s he began using the name Gonga Musa, and then Musa Kaleem, the name by which he is best known. He played often in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the Fortiess, gigging with Erroll Garner, Mary Lou Williams, and Art Blakey.
In the middle of the decade he toured with Fletcher Henderson, then relocated to New York City and played with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, and the Savoy Sultans by the end of the 1940s. The 1950s saw Kaleem playing on cruise ships, however, upon his return in the 1960s he played with James Moody, Coleman Hawkins, Tiny Grimes, and rejoined Jefferson.
Saxophonist and flautist Musa Kaleem passed away on March 26, 1988 in Los Angeles, California.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frank L. Marocco was born January 2, 1931 in Joliet, Illinois but grew up in Waukegan, near Chicago, Illinois. At the age of seven years, his parents enrolled him in a six-week beginner class for learning to play the accordion. His first teacher was George Stefani, who supervised the young accordionist for nine years. Beginning with studying classical music, he soon encouraged the young musician to explore other musical genres. He went on to study piano and clarinet, as well as music theory, harmony, and composition.
At 17, Frank won the first prize in the 1948 Chicago Musicland Festival, and a guest performance with the Chicago Pops Orchestra. His success sent him on a professional music career, establishing a trio and touring the Midwestern states. In the early 1950s he married and moved to Los Angeles, California.
Creating a new band, Marocco played hotels and clubs in Las Vegas, Nevada, Lake Tahoe, Nevada and Palm Springs, California. He later began working in Hollywood, where television studios and movie production companies provided him a successful career.
In the 1960s, Frank recorded a solo album released by Verve Records, worked together with Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, and performed on the world-famous album Pet Sounds. He performed on a USO tour in the Pacific, appearing onstage with Bob Hope, and also played in the Les Brown big band, during six Love Boat cruises. He performed and recorded in collaboration with hundreds of world-famous jazz musicians, classical artists and conductors during his career.
Marocco wrote and arranged music for solo, duet, and orchestra in a wide variety of musical styles, including jazz, popular standards, international, Latin, religious, and classical. He was the musical director and conductor of an annual music camp, the Frank Marocco Accordion Event, that brought together over 50 accordionists from around the U.S. and Canada.
Accordionist Frank Marocco passed away on March 3, 2012 at his home in San Fernando Valley, California from complications following hip replacement surgery. He was 81 years old.
More Posts: accordion,arranger,bandleader,composer,history,instrumental,jazz,music
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Billy Mackel was born John William Mackel on December 28, 1912 in Baltimore, Maryland and played banjo early in his career, but like many banjoists of his time he switched to guitar.
He led a band early in the 1940s, then joined Lionel Hampton in 1944 and spent the next thirty years with him. In the 1940s he also recorded with Milt Buckner, Arnett Cobb, Herbie Fields, and others, and worked with Billy Williams in the 1960s.
Guitarist Billy Mackel, who played left~handed and recorded as a leader, passed away on May 5, 1986.
More Posts: bandleader,guitar,history,instrumental,jazz,music
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.
More Posts: bass,history,instrumental,jazz,music