Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Matty Malneck born Matthew Michael Malneck on December 9, 1903 in Newark, New Jersey and his career as a violinist began when he was age 16. He was a member of the Paul Whiteman orchestra from 1926 to 1937. During the same period he recorded with Mildred Bailey, Annette Hanshaw, Frank Signorelli, and Frankie Trumbauer.
He led a big band that recorded for Brunswick, Columbia, and Decca. His orchestra provided music for The Charlotte Greenwood Show on radio in the mid-1940s and Campana Serenade in 1942–1943. His group played in the film St. Louis Blues in 1939 and You’re in the Army Now in 1941. At this point in his career he changed the group’s name to Matty Malneck and His St. Louis Blues Orchestra.
Malneck’s credits as a songwriter and composed hit songs such as Eeny Meeny Miney Mo and Goody Goody, both with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, I’ll Never Be The Same, with music by Malneck & Frank Signorelli, lyrics by Gus Kahn, and I’m Thru With Love, music by Malneck & Fud Livingston, lyrics by Kahn.
Violinist, songwriter, and arranger Matty Malneck transitioned on February 25, 1981.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Mathias Rüegg was born on December 8, 1952 in Zurich, Switzerland and began playing jazz in secondary school. Trained as a schoolteacher, he taught for a while in special-needs schools. From 1973 to 1975 he attended the Musikhochschule in Graz, Austria, studying classical composition and jazz piano. While in Vienna, Austria he performed in a nightclub as a solo jazz pianist, joined later by saxophonist Wolfgang Puschnig. The duo formed the core of an ensemble that in 1977 became the Vienna Art Orchestra (VAO).
His distinctive, often humorous compositions have drawn on a range of influences, from traditional folk music to classics. He has also led the VAO to explore the big band repertory of American jazz composers such as Duke Ellington. Besides the traditional big-band complement, his orchestrations have prominently featured such instruments as the tuba, piccolo, bass clarinet, alphorn, exotic percussion, and wordless vocals. Beyond jazz, Mathias has composed for big bands, and classical orchestras, as well as theatre music, film music, soloist and chamber orchestra.
Rüegg has conducted workshops, worked as artistic director for music festivals, and headed multimedia and music-related projects. Rüegg founded the Porgy & Bess music club in Vienna and the Hans Koller Prize for Austrian jazz.
Composer, bandleader and educator Mathias Rüegg continues to compose and direct orchestras.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ulysses Owens Jr. was born December 6, 1982 in Jacksonville, Florida and began playing the drums at the age of 3. He played many types of music in his younger years, centering on his experience in the church. By the time he was in his early teens, he realized that he would become a jazz musician and received a full scholarship to study at the Juilliard School, in its inaugural jazz program.
After graduating from Juilliard in 2006, Ulysses traveled the world as a jazz drummer. After hearing about Jacksonville’s high dropout rate and other problems with struggling youths, he and his family designed a program to help suspended youths stay in school.
Owens was vocalist Kurt Elling’s drummer on Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman, and on bassist Christian McBride’s The Good Feeling, both of which won Grammy Award. He has also played and recorded with pianist Joey Alexander, Gregory Porter and Matthew Whitaker. His composition The Simplicity of Life was commissioned by the string quartet ETHEL for their multimedia show ETHEL’s Documerica.
Drummer and percussionist Ulysses Owens Jr., who is co-founder and artistic director of the charity, Don’t Miss A Beat, continues to perform and compose.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Charlie Ventura was born Charles Venturo on December 2, 1916 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During the 1940s, he played saxophone for the Gene Krupa and Teddy Powell bands. In 1945 he was named best tenor saxophonist by DownBeat magazine.
During the Forties he led big bands and led a band which included Conte Candoli, Bennie Green, Boots Mussulli, Ed Shaughnessy, Jackie Cain, and Roy Kral. By the 1950s he formed the Big Four with Buddy Rich, Marty Napoleon, and Chubby Jackson. He was a sideman with Krupa through the 1960s, then worked in Las Vegas with comedian Jackie Gleason. By the 1980s he slowed down until finally retiring from music.
Tenor saxophonist and bandleader Charlie Ventura transitioned from lung cancer on January 17, 1992 in Pleasantville, New Jersey at age 75. was an American from
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joe Bishop was born November 27, 1907 in Monticello, Arkansas and learned piano, trumpet, and tuba when he was young. He also played flugelhorn and mellophone. He attended Hendrix College and played professionally with the Louisiana Ramblers in 1927, including in Mexico.
Bishop played with Mart Britt, Al Katz, and Austin Wylie before joining the Isham Jones band for five years. He was a founding member of Woody Herman’s band in the 1930s, but he contracted tuberculosis in 1940 and had to leave the group. He was rehired by Herman as a staff arranger later in the 1940s, and his arrangements and compositions were recorded frequently by Herman, appearing on some 50 of Herman’s albums.
As a performer, Joe played with Cow Cow Davenport and Jimmy Gordon’s Vip Vop Band, but retired from studio work due to his health in the 1950s. Joe quit music and opened a store in Saranac Lake, New York, and later retired to Texas. His compositions include Midnight Blue, Woodchopper’s Ball, and Blue Prelude with Gordon Jenkins.
Tubist, pianist and composer Joe Bishop, whose work has been covered by musicians as diverse as Ten Years After and Lawrence Welk, transitioned on May 12, 1976.
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