Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Tony Vella was born on April 4, 1937 in Terrasini, a Sicily commune in the metropolitan city of Palermo, Itlay. In 1957 he gained immense experience working with big and small configurations. In Italyhe was the main arranger, for numerous important record houses.
From 1972 he dedicated his efforts to cultural activities and the formation of young talents holding theory courses, and practical instrumental and ensemble music applied to jazz music. By 1975 Tony participated in the Pescara the Jazz Festival with the New Jazz Society of Palermo, the only Italian group invited to perform along with the Zoot Sims Quartet, Antony Braxton, Elvin Jones Quintet, Red Norvo Trio, Chet Baker Quartet, Charles Mingus Group, Roland Kirk Quintet and Don Cherry Organic Music Theatre.
Three years later he formed and directed L’Orchestra in collaboration with the Reinhardt Center for their concert season. Organized by the Associazione Siciliana Amici della Musica and introduced to Auditorium SS. Salvatore of Palermo.
In the Eighties Vella was a partr of the Messina Jazz Meeting with the Brass Group Big Band, as orchestra director and arranger. With the band he has collaborated with international musicians Archie Shepp, Hernie Wilkins, Mel Lewis, Sam Rivers, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Paolo Lepore, Franco Cerri, and Danilo Terenzi.
The next decade he established The Tony Vella Fusion Jazz Band entirely composed from young Sicialian musicians. A big band, modeled on some of the great American orchestras like Quincy Jones. The Fusion Jazz Band presented remarkable arrangements of a repertoire that includes Brazilian and popular jazz. They accompanied singers Beppe Vella, Gaetano Riccobono, and Tony Piscopo, as well as numerous musicians such asCalderone Ignazio, Aldo Oliveri, Benedetto Modica, Giovanni Mazzarino, Sergio Munafò, Aldo Messina, and Sebastiano Alioto, among others.
Pianist, organist, composer, arranger and orchestra director Tony Vella continues to perform, conduct and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
William Orie Potts was born April 3, 1928 in Arlington, Virginia. As a child he played Hawaiian slide-lap steel guitar and the accordion in his teens. At 15 he won an accordion competition with a performance of Twilight Time. After hearing Count Basie on the radio he started studying the piano in high school. He went on to attend Catholic University of America in 1946–1947, then formed his own group under the name Bill Parks, which toured in Massachusetts and Florida.
While serving in the Army from 1949 to 1955 he transcribed charts for Army bands. During this time Bill composed and arranged for Joe Timer and Willis Conover’s ensemble, The Orchestra, which was broadcasted on Voice of America radio. He wrote four of the songs on The Orchestra’s 1954 Brunswick Records LP, and recorded some of their live shows, which occasionally featured guest appearances from Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.
By 1956 he was leading a house band at Olivia Davis’ Patio Lounge in Washington, D.C. and Lester Young booked an engagement there. Potts convinced Young to record with him on two of the evenings. These recordings were later released as the Lester Young in Washington, D.C. sessions.
The following year he worked extensively as a composer, arranger, and performer for Freddy Merkle’s Jazz Under the Dome album which featured Earl and Rob Swope. Soon after this he suffered a crushed vertebra in a car crash and ended up in a body cast for three months. During his recuperation Bill began working on charts and arrangements for an album consisting of jazz reinterpretations of many songs from George Gershwin’s opera Porgy & Bess.
Fully recovered by 1959, he released a session under his own name titled The Jazz Soul of Porgy and Bess for United Artists Records. It featured a nineteen-piece band whose members included Al Cohn, Harry Edison, Art Farmer, Bill Evans, Bob Brookmeyer, Marky Markowitz, Zoot Sims, Charlie Shavers, Earl Swope, and Phil Woods. The album received a five out of five star rating from Down Beat magazine upon its release.
Following this, Potts spent several years working in New York City before returning to the D.C. area, where he worked locally in addition to touring with and/or arranging for Paul Anka, Eddie Fisher, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Woody Herman, Quincy Jones, Stan Kenton, Ralph Marterie, Buddy Rich, Jeri Southern, Clark Terry, and Bobby Vinton.
In 1967 he released an album on Decca Records, How Insensitive, with a studio group called Brasilia Nueve. This group included Markowitz and Sims from the Porgy and Bess session , as well as Tito Puente, Chino Pozo, Mel Lewis, Barry Galbraith, and Louie Ramirez.
As an educator Bill taught music theory at Montgomery College from 1974 to 1990 and was the leader of the student jazz band. He also led a big band for occasional performances at Washington’s Blues Alley nightclub in the 1980s.
Retiring to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1995, pianist and arranger Bill Potts died of cardiac arrest on February 16, 2005 in Plantation, Florida.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Wally Schnalle was born on March 30, 1957 in Santa Clara, California. Graduating from San Jose State University he recorded early on with Francis Wong and performed with the Nova Vista and San Jose Symphonies.
In 1994 Wally recorded his debut set as a leader for the small Tree Fort label and he soon formed a regularly working quintet although the drummer had been leading groups on and off since 1989. His quintet with tenor saxophonist Dann Zinn and trumpeter John Worley appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival.
He recorded for Retlaw in 1997 and played often in northern California. In addition to his work as a drummer, Schnalle has been the music editor for the International Drum! magazine and has been active as a teacher.
Drummer and bandleader Wally Schnalle continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bill Ohashi was born on March 29, 1949 in New York City, New York. His formative years were spent learning at Julliard, Mannes College, U. of PA, Berkley School of Music, and bandstands in NYC, New England and the southern corridor. He was making the jam session rounds in the city with jazz legends Kenny Dorham, Roy Eldridge, Charlie Mingus, Jack DeJohnette, Joe Henderson, Jaki Bayard, Carla Bley, George Cables, Lenny White, Billie Cobham and Art Blakey’s Messengers, among others.
Bill’s early work was with Willie Colon, Eddie Palmieri, Larry Harlow, Machito, Slide Hampton, Chuck Israels, Chico O’Farrill, Joe Farrell, Elvin Jones, Bruce Fowler, Ray Charle’s Big Band, Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, Charlie Mingus, Gil Evans, as well as Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Eddie Kendricks & The Temptations, Franki Valli & The Four Seasons, Marvin Gaye, The Spinners, Aretha Franklin, The Four Tops, Jay & the Americans, Yoko Ono, The O’Jays & Stevie Wonder.
After a brief to move to the west coast and a short hiatus from playing, the legendary Ray Charles wisely gave Bill the opportunity to join his band on the road for about a year, bringing Bill back into the working music scene; Bill subsequently toured Europe three times with Lionel Hampton, playing around NYC and began his own record label, EAR Records, Inc.
As an educator he taught at NYC’s Third St. Music School, Henry St. Settlement, Boy’s Harbor, New England Conservatory, Metropolitan School of Music and others. Trombonist Bill Ohashi, who subs on Saturday Night Live, continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Sonny Burke was born Joseph Francis Burke on March 22, 1914 in Scranton, Pennsylvania and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He attended St. Ambrose High School, where he was All-State fullback. After one year at the University of Detroit, he transferred to Duke University, where he formed and led the jazz big band known as the Duke Ambassadors.
During the Thirties Burke was a big band arranger in New York City, worked with Sam Donahue’s band, and in the 1940s and 1950s worked as an arranger for the Charlie Spivak and Jimmy Dorsey bands, among others. In 1955 he wrote, along with Peggy Lee, the songs to Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, and with John Elliot for Disney’s Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, which won the 1953 Oscar for Best Short Subject – Cartoons.
He wrote the music for a number of popular songs, including Black Coffee and Midnight Sun, co-written with jazz vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. The song’s lyrics were added later by Johnny Mercer. He was an active arranger, conductor and A&R man at major Hollywood record labels, especially Decca Records where he worked with Charles “Bud” Dant.
Sonny would go on to become musical director of Warner Bros. Records / Reprise Records, and was responsible for many of Frank Sinatra’s albums, producing Sinatra’s My Way, Petula Clark’s This Is My Song, written by Charles Chaplin for his movie, A Countess From Hong Kong.
Burke was the bandleader for recordings of leading singers that included Dinah Shore, Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters, The Mills Brothers, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé and Billy Eckstine.
Arranger, composer, big band leader and producer Sonny Burke died from cancer on May 31, 1980, in Santa Monica, California, aged 66.
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