Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Philip William Seamen was born on August 28, 1926 in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. He began playing drums at the age of six, turning professional at the age of 18 by joining Nat Gonella and his Georgians in 1944. At 20 he spent a year with Gordon Homer Big Band at the Coronation Ballroom in Ramsgate. He joined the Tommy Sampson Orchestra in 1948 and by 1949, Seamen and tenor saxophonist Danny Moss formed a bebop quintet from within the ranks and was featured on a radio broadcast by the orchestra.
He then went on to play in the Joe Loss Orchestra for about 14 months before taking the top job with Jack Parnell from 1951 until midway 1954. Seamen, being much sought after during the 1950 played in Kenny Graham’s Afro-Cubists projects from 1952 to 1958, from 1954 onwards with the Joe Harriott Quartet, the Ronnie Scott Orchestra and Sextet. He was recruited opn countless sessions as well to perform with Dizzy Reece, Victor Feldman, Jimmy Deuchar, Kenny Baker, Vic Ash, Don Rendell, Stan Tracey, Laurie Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy and Josh White, to name a few.
In 1957 Phil was on his way to America with the Ronnie Scott Sextet as part of a Musicians’ Union exchange tour deal. Unfortunately the Southhampton custom officers found him in possession of drugs, killing his lifelong dream of visiting the States. In 1958, the West End production of West Side Story opened with him after Leonard Bernstein reputedly specifically asked for him, so the producers hired him.
During the first half of the 1960s, he worked often with Tubby Hayes, Joe Harriott, played a couple of nights with Dexter Gordon at Ronnie Scott’s, and recorded with Carmen McRae. In 1964 he played R&B with Alexis Korner and Georgie Fame.
He started teaching in 1962, one of his pupils being Ginger Baker, who went on to influence a whole generation of rock drummers. However, his addiction to alcohol, heroin and other drugs hampered his health and career as many bandleaders refused to hire him with the exception of Freddie Hubbard in 1964 and Roland Kirk in 1967 with a UK tour. On October 13, 1972 drummer Phil Seaman transitioned in his sleep at his home in Old Paradise Street Lambeth, South London, at the age of 46.
Bestow upon an inquiring mind a dose of a Burton upon Trent drummer to motivate the perusal of the genius of jazz musicians worldwide whose gifts contribute to the canon…
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Meredith Irwin Flory, was born on August 27, 1926 in Logansport, Indiana and was encouraged by his organist mother to learn clarinet as a child. During World War II he was an Army Air Force pilot and after his discharge went on to matriculate through Indiana University, graduating with a degree in philosophy.
Known professionally as Med Flory, in the early 1950s he played in the bands of Claude Thornhill and Woody Herman, before forming his own ensemble in New York City. 1955 saw him relocating to California and starting a new group, which played at the 1958 Monterey Jazz Festival. In the late 1950s, he played with Terry Gibbs, Art Pepper, and Herman again, playing both tenor and baritone saxophone. He was cast in twenty-nine episodes from 1956 to 1957 of the ABC variety show, The Ray Anthony Show.
In the 1960s Med turned his attention away from music and concentrated on acting and screenwriting in television and film. His long list of credits include mostly westerns and crime dramas, which were popular at the time.
By the mid Sixties Flory returned to music and worked with Art Pepper and Joe Maini on transcriptions and arrangements of Charlie Parker recordings. In 1972, he co-founded Supersax, an ensemble devoted to Parker’s work. Supersax’s debut album, Supersax Plays Bird, won a Grammy Award.
Tenor and baritone saxophonist, bandleader, and actor Med Flory transitioned on March 12, 2014 in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
Bestow upon an inquiring mind a dose of a Logansport saxophonist to motivate the perusal of the genius of jazz musicians worldwide whose gifts contribute to the canon…
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Norman Louis Bates was born on August 26, 1927 in Boise, Idaho. His mother was an organist and he was a younger brother of bassist Bob Bates. He played in Jimmy Dorsey’s band for a year in 1945, then with Raymond Scott and Carmen Cavallaro shortly thereafter.
By 1948 he was part of the Dave Brubeck Trio, and the following year performed with Paul Desmond. Norman recorded with Jack Sheedy’s Dixieland Jazz Band in 1950.
After spending four years in the Air Force, Bates played with Wally Rose’s Dixieland Band in 1955 and then replaced his brother Bob in Brubeck’s quartet, playing on multiple albums from Dave Brubeck and Jay & Kai at Newport (1956) onwards. He also recorded with Desmond’s group again in 1956. In 1957 he left Brubeck, and led a trio in San Francisco, California.
Double bassist Norman Bates transitioned on January 29, 2004.
Bestow upon an inquiring mind a dose of a Boise bassist to motivate the perusal of the genius of jazz musicians worldwide whose gifts contribute to the canon…
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Claude Barthélemy was born on August 22, 1956 in St. Denis, France and started playing guitar when he was fourteen years old. He began playing professionally with Michel Portal’s Ensemble Unit in 1978 and worked with Aldo Romano, Stu Martin, and Gérard Marais.
In the early 1980s he assembled a trio with Jacques Mahieux and Jean-Luc Ponthieux. Additionally he worked with Jean-Marc Padovani and Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique. By the mid-1980s he concentrated on composition, writing for mixed ensembles. Several of his pieces incorporated video and dance.
Barthélemy co-founded the group Zhivaro in 1987 and from 1989 to 1991 was the director of Orchestre National de Jazz. The 1990s saw him leading the octet La Nouvelle-Orleans, the quartet Monsieur Claude, and accompanying Elise Caron and Sylvie Cobo.
Guitarist Claude Barthélemy continues to perform as a director and leader of various ensemble configurations
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Edward Durham was born on August 19, 1906 in San Marcos, Texas to Joseph Durham, Sr., and Luella Rabb Durham. From an early age he performed with his family in the Durham Brothers Band. At the age of eighteen, he began traveling and playing in regional bands.
From 1929 Eddie started experimenting to enhance the sound of his guitar using resonators and megaphones. In 1935 he was the first to record an electrically amplified guitar with Jimmie Lunceford in Hittin’ the Bottle that was recorded in New York for Decca.
In 1938, Durham wrote I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire with Bennie Benjamin, Sol Marcus, and Eddie Seiler. During the 1940s he created Eddie Durham’s All-Star Girl Orchestra, an all black female swing band that toured the United States and Canada.
That same year Eddie recorded single string electric guitar solos with the Kansas City Five or Six, which were both smallish groups that included members of Count Basie’s rhythm section along with the tenor saxophone playing of Lester Young. The orchestras of Bennie Moten, Jimmie Lunceford, Count Basie and Glenn Miller took great benefit from his composing and arranging skill.
Guitarist, trombonist, composer and arranger Eddie Durham, who was one of the pioneers of the electric guitar in jazz, transitioned on March 6, 1987.
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