Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Calvin “Cal” Massey was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 11, 1928 and studied trumpet under Freddie Webster. Following his studies, he played in the big bands of Jay McShann, Jimmy Heath, and Billie Holiday.
In the late 1950s Cal headed an ensemble with Jimmy Garrison, McCoy Tyner, and Tootie Heath. Occasionally John Coltrane and Donald Byrd would play with Massey’s group and in the 1950s he gradually receded from active performance and concentrated on composition.
His works were recorded by Coltrane, Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Lee Morgan, Philly Joe Jones, Horace Tapscott and Archie Shepp. Massey played and toured with Shepp from 1969 until 1972 and also performed in The Romas Orchestra with Romulus Franceschini.
Massey’s political standpoint was radical and his work was strongly connected with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and ’70s. The Black Panther Party was an inspiration for The Black Liberation Movement Suite which he created with Franceschini and was performed three times at Black Panther benefit concerts. His ideology resulted in him getting whitelisted from major recording companies and only one album was recorded under his name.
Trumpeter and composer Cal Massey passed away from a heart attack on October 25, 1972 at the age of 44 in New York City, New York.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Brian Ernest Austin Brown was born on December 29, 1933 in Melbourne, Australia and was a self-taught player and emerged in the 1950s, a leading figure in Australia. He performed as a soloist and with his own ensembles since the mid-1950s throughout Australia and in Scandinavia, United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Brunei and Germany.
In early 1956 Brown returned to Melbourne from Europe and formed the Brian Brown Quintet with drummer Stewie Speer, trumpeter Keith Hounslow, schoolboy pianist Dave Martin and bassist Barry Buckley. The new hard bop band was a regular from 1955 to 1960 at Horst Liepolt’s Jazz Centre 44 in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia. They introduced bop to Melburnians, a musical style largely unheard in Australia.
He made eight albums over an 18-year period heading various groups. Touring Europe with his Australian Jazz Ensemble in 1978, Brian also led groups doing experimental and original classical pieces from 1980 to 1986.
As an educator, he founded the Improvisation Studies course at the Victorian College of the Arts, where he taught from 1978 until his retirement in 1998. He appeared at the World Saxophone Congress in Tokyo in 1988, with Tony Gould. In June 1993 he was awarded the Order of Australia for service to the performing arts.
Soprano and tenor saxophonist, flutist, synthesizer, panpiper, leather bowhorn, composer, and educator Brian Brown passed away on January 28, 2013.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Rudy Collins was born on July 24, 1934 in New York City, New York. He played trombone in high school and started on drums at that time as well. From 1953 to 1057 he studied with drummer Sam Ulano.
He began gigging in New York City, playing with Hot Lips Page, Cootie Williams, Eddie Bonnemere, Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Smith, Carmen McRae, Cab Calloway, and Roy Eldridge. At the Newport Jazz Festival, Rudy performed with J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding.
Later in the 1950s, Collins became increasingly interested in the budding free jazz scene, in addition to playing with more traditional ensembles. He worked with Herbie Mann from 1959 and later with Cecil Taylor, Quincy Jones, Dave Pike, and Lalo Schifrin.
He recorded with Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Gene Ammons, Ray Bryant, Billy Butler, Junior Mance, James Moody, the Jimmy Owens-Kenny Barron Quintet, Randy Weston, and Leo Wright. Drummer Rudy Collins, whose last recordings were in 1981, passed away on August 15, 1988.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frank Rehak was born on July 6, 1926, in New York City and started on piano and cello before switching to trombone. He was a member of the Gil Evans band and worked with Miles Davis, appearing with Davis on the broadcast The Sounds of Miles Davis.
As a leader he recorded Jazzville Vol. 2 on the Dawn label but as a sideman he had a prolific career. He recorded with Tony Bennett, Al Cohn, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Quincy Jones, Gene Krupa, Hugo Montenegro, Cat Anderson, Ernestine Anderson, Charlie Barnet, Big Maybelle, Art Blakey, Bob Brookmeyer, Ruth Brown, Cándido Camero, Chris Connor, Urbie Green, Johnny Hartman, Michel Legrand, Melba Liston, Mundell Lowe, Teo Macero, Carmen McRae, Red Mitchell, Whitey Mitchell, Blue Mitchell, André Previn, Gerry Mulligan, Kai Winding and the list goes on.
Along with a failed marriage to nightclub dancer Jerri Gray, he also had a heroin addiction, which combined with other financial problems led to his withdrawal from music. With that, he lapsed into relative obscurity.
In an effort to deal with these issues he spent time at Synanon, which led to his mention in Art Pepper’s autobiography. Trombonist Frank Rehak passed away on June 22, 1987 in Badger, California.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jacques Pelzer was born in Liège, Belgium on June 24, 1924, and got his inspiration from Benny Carter, then Charlie Parker and Lee Koni. His first exposure to jazz was after World War II when he joined the Bob Shots, a legendary Belgian bop band that included at various time pioneers such as Bobby Jaspar, René Thomas, and Sadi. He also played with other historical figures of Belgian jazz such as pianist/arranger Francy Boland, guitar and harmonica player Toots Thielemans, bassist Benoît Quersin. His work with René Thomas continued for several years, leading to several recordings.
Pelzer’s evolution in the Sixties and Seventies included free jazz and fusion, recorded the soundtrack of the film “Le Départ” with Don Chery, Philip Catherine, and Gato Barbieri. He had three tours of the United States with Chet Baker, resulting in a lasting friendship and musical partnership and ultimately met Dexter Gordon, Archie Shepp, Stan Getz, Lee Konitz, Philly Joe Jones and Bill Evans.
The next two decades saw Jacques returning to straight-ahead jazz, acoustic jazz, and bebop standards, modern compositions with an accent on lyricism and expression. Moving back to the studios in 1990 to record his CD Never Let Me Go with his band the Open Sky Unit along with Barney Wilen, Michel Graillier, Eric Legnini as guests. This recording received the Sax Prize for best jazz album of the year 1991.
Three magnificent Belgian jazz musicians, guitarist Philip Catherine, bassist Philippe Aerts, and drummer Bruno Castellucci joined for his final album Salute To The Bandbox. Alto and soprano saxophonist and flutist Jacques Pelzer passed away on August 6, 1994 in his hometown.
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