Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ernest “EC3 Coleman III was born a second generation musician in Naples, Italy on February 9, 1963 to Ernest and Rebecca Coleman. His father, Ernest Jr. was a jazz musician who played tenor saxophone and was a great arranger and composer.
He studied at the Naval Conservatory of Music in Norfolk, Virginia and was awarded a special honor for being the youngest student to graduate from this conservatory. Moving to Los Angeles, California after his tour with the Navy Band, EC began his true musical quest performing for Guys & Dolls, Ain’t Misbehavin, and A Chorus Line.
Getting the call to work with Loretta Holloway in Las Vegas, Nevada he opened for Jay Leno, Bill Cosby, David Brenner, Yakov Smirnoff, Whoopi Goldberg, Don Rickles and many many more. Coleman took over as Loretta’s musical director and traveled around the world. For twelve years.
He eventually got called to play with jazz bassist Al McKibbon. Excited to get the call, he auditioned and got booked for The Bourbon Street Review show. For three years this was his training ground. Al being like a second father to him, they lived together for many years and this was where he attained most of his great knowledge of music.
When the show closed Billy Higgins was there to offer EC work with saxophonist Azar Lawrence and for the next year and a half they were on the road. A move to Las Vegas, Nevada saw him working with Frank Sinatra’s pianist and conductor Vincent Falcone. Meeting jazz pianist Kevin Toney led him to play with Kevin bassist Brad Bobo.
He went on to work with Kenny Burrell, Russell Malone, Lorendo Alameida, Lorez Alexandria, John Clayton, George Cables, Herman Riley, Charlie Owens, Frank Sinatra, Vic Damone, Diahann Carroll, Pudgy, and the orchestras of Caesar Palace, Harrah’s Tahoe and Reno, and The Las Vegas Symphony.
Since then he embarked on a solo career as a leader, recording eight albums and producing thirteen records for Misha, Wendy C, Wendy B, Rayshun Lamarr, Zac Williams, Fabian, and Troy “Sol” Edler.
Drummer, producer and bandleader Ernest “EC3” Coleman continues to expand the language of his musical talent.
More Posts: bandleader,drums,history,instrumental,jazz,music,producer
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Paul Wertico was born January 5, 1953, in Chicago, Illinois. He began his professional career as a member of the Chicago based Simon & Bard Group. When Pat Metheny heard him play in 1983, he invited him and bassist Steve Rodby to join his band. During his time with Metheny, he played on ten albums and four videos, appeared on television, and toured around the world. He won seven Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Best Contemporary Jazz Performance, and Best Rock Instrumental Performance, as well as magazine polls, and several gold records.
Paul left Metheny in 2001 and formed the Paul Wertico Trio with John Moulder and Eric Hochberg. He collaborated with Larry Coryell, Kurt Elling, and Jeff Berlin. From 2000 to 2007, he was a member of SBB, the platinum-record-winning Polish progressive rock band. Wertico was a member of the Larry Coryell Power Trio until Coryell’s death in 2017.
He went on to create or gain membership in several groups Marbin, Paul Wertico’s Mid-East/Mid-West Alliance, Wertico Cain & Gray, and has won several awards. He has worked with Frank Catalano, Eddie Harris, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, Sam Rivers, Bob Mintzer, Terry Gibbs, Buddy DeFranco, Roscoe Mitchell, Evan Parker, Jay McShann, Herbie Mann, Randy Brecker, Jerry Goodman, Fareed Haque, Ramsey Lewis and the list goes on.
As an educator Paul has taught drums privately for 55 years, conducted clinics and masterclasses in addition to writing educational articles for Modern Drummer, DRUM!, Drums & Drumming, Drum Tracks, and DownBeat, and online for Musician.com. He is an Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University, and also headed the school’s Jazz & Contemporary Music Studies program for five years. He served on the faculty of the percussion and jazz-studies programs at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois for 16 years, and taught at the Bloom School of Jazz in Chicago for several years.
Drummer and percussionist Parl Wertico continues to perform, record and educate.
More Posts: bandleader,drums,history,instrumental,jazz,music,percussion
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
James Robert Haslip was born December 31, 1951 in the Bronx, New York City to Puerto Rican immigrants. Spanish was his first language but he learned to speak English in kindergarten. Moving to Huntington, New York when he was four years old, by age seven he was playing drums then trumpet and tuba until landing on the bass at 15.
Surrounded in the home with music that included classic and orchestra jazz, Latin, and pop vocals, he and his peers also visited nightclubs and concert venues. Jimmy took music lessons and attended a private music school, but considers himself self-taught. He went to a local music shop with his father, purchased a right-handed bass though he is left-handed, and learned to play it upside down without restringing.
During his high school years Haslip formed his first band called Soul Mine with his classmates, playing soul music at school dances and parties. The early 1970s saw him playing with New York glam band Street Punk, then moved to Los Angeles, California in 1976, where he played with guitarists Tommy Bolin and Harvey Mande.
A founding member of the jazz fusion group Yellowjackets in 1977, a relationship that lasted until 2012, he has also worked with Jeff Lorber, Eric Marienthal, Bruce Hornsby, Rita Coolidge, Gino Vannelli, Kiss, Tommy Bolin, Allan Holdsworth, Marilyn Scott, Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, Donald Fagen, and Anita Baker.
Bassist Jimmy Haslip is currently taking a break from performance to concentrate on family and producing independent projects.
More Posts: bandleader,bass,history,instrumental,jazz,music
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frank Gambale was bornon December 22, 1958 in Canberra, Australia. He graduated from the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood, California with Student of the Year honors and taught there from 1984 to 1986.
With the Mark Varney Project, consisting of Allan Holdsworth, Brett Garsed, and Shawn Lane, he recorded two albums, his debut Truth in Shredding in 1990 and his sophomore project Centrifugal Funk the following year.
1987 saw Frank spending six years as a member of the Chick Corea Elektric Band, playing with Eric Marienthal, John Patitucci, and Dave Weckl. With the band he recorded five albums and shared two Grammy Award nominations.
He spent twelve years as a member of Vital Information led by Steve Smith. He reunited with the Elektric Band in 2002 and with Corea in 2011 when he joined Return to Forever IV with Stanley Clarke, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Lenny White.
Gambale has been head of the guitar department at the Los Angeles Music Academy. He joined the Isina mentorship program as head of the guitar department in 2014. During the next year, he started an online guitar school.
Guitarist Frank Gambale has released twenty albums over a period of three decades, and continues to perform and teach.
More Posts: bandleader,guitar,history,instrumental,jazz,music
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Trilok Gurtu was born October 30, 1951 to Hindu Brahmin parents in Mumbai, India. His mother was a famous classical vocalist who encouraged him to learn to play the tabla. He attended Don Bosco High School in Mumbai and he received formal training in percussion from Shah Abdul Karim.
Gurtu began playing a western drum kit in the 1970s, and developed an interest in jazz. Not understanding overdubbing he learned multiple parts which most musicians would have never attempted. In the 1970s, he played with Charlie Mariano, John Tchicai, Terje Rypdal, and Don Cherry.
In 1977 he recorded Apo-Calypso, an album by the German ethnic fusion band Embryo. His mother also sang on that record, and later joined him on his first solo CD, Usfret. The 1980s saw Trilok playing with Swiss drummer Charly Antolini and with John McLaughlin in McLaughlin’s trio. He joined Oregon and played on three of their records. In the early 1990s, he resumed his career as a solo artist and a bandleader.
By the end of the decade he was a member of Tabla Beat Science, collaborated with the Arkè String Quartet in 2007, and in 2012 with the electronic folk duo Hari & Sukhmani. He has worked with Terje Rypdal, Gary Moore, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinul, Michel Bisceglia, Bill Laswell, Maria João & Mário Laginha, Stefano Bollani and Robert Miles.
Drummer, percussionist, tabla player and composer Trilok Gurtu continues to compose, perform and record.
More Posts: composer,drums,history,instrumental,jazz,music,percussion,tabla