Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Virgil Gonsalves was born in Monterey, California on September 5, 1931. In 1950 he took the baritone saxophone chair in the Alvino Rey Orchestra and then with Tex Beneke in 1952. In 1954 he formed an ensemble with Bob Enevoldsen, the tenor saxophonist Buddy Wise, Lou Levy, Harry Babasin, and Larry Bunker. They recorded the album Virgil Gonsalves Sextet that same year on Nocturne Records 8. Later members were Leo Wright, Junior Mance, Ron Crotty, and Eddie Khan.
Working mainly in the San Francisco, California area as a freelance musician, he ventured into rock during the Sixties and Seventies, and became a member of the Pacific Gas & Electric rock band from 1971 to 1972. Baritone saxophonist Virgil Gonsalves passed away in Salinas, California on October 20, 2008.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gilbert Rovère was born on August 29, 1939, Toulon, France and attended the Conservatory of Nice studying the double bass. He becme one of the most in-demand musicians in France in the Sixties.
He appeared and/or recorded with Bud Powell, Dexter Gordon, René Thomas, Jean-Luc Ponty, Barney Wilen, Al Haig, and Steve Grossman among others. For several years during his career Rovère was a member of the Martial Solal Trio with Daniel Humair.
Bibi was hired by Duke Ellington to play a Paris recording session with the orchestra and Alice Babs in 1963. He also hired him the following year to play with one of Duke’s small groups on the Italian Riviera.
Bassist Gilbert ‘Bibi’ Rovère, who received the Prix Django Reinhardt award in 1967, passed away from cancer in southern France on March 13, 2007 in Gorbio, France. He was 67.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
George F. Clarke was born on August 28, 1911 in Memphis, Tennessee. He attended Manassas High School, where he was Jimmie Lunceford’s pupil before joining the orchestra and playing with Lunceford until 1933.
Relocating to Buffalo, New York, there he played with Guy Jackson, Lil Armstrong and Stuff Smith in 1935. He and Smith worked together again on tour in 1939-1940 and in the recording studio. Returning to Buffalo, Clarke led an ensemble at a local club from 1942 to 1954.
Following this he moved to New York City and worked with Wild Bill Davis and Jonah Jones, and toured internationally in Europe in 1959 with Cootie Williams and Africa with Cozy Cole in 1962. He was occasionally active through the ‘60s in New York City. Tenor saxophonist George Clarke passed away in September 1985 in the Bronx, New York.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
Remaining vigilant, being healthy, social distancing as those in our nation who continue to navigate positively and negatively through this pandemic.
This week the album I’m recommending for listening is The Young Lions by Lee Morgan leading an ad hoc group of musicians who made up the septet for this recording. It was recorded on April 25, 1960 at the Bell Sound Studios in New York City and was produced by Sid McCoy. The album was released in 1961 on Vee~Jay Records.
The album title echoes that of a popular 1948 novel by Irwin Shaw which had been made into a feature film shortly before the album was recorded. The young lions who made the music on this album have varied musical philosophies and sundry jazz backgrounds.
The young lions phrase was revived in jazz in the 1980s when, as in 1960, there was a tension between the modern jazz traditionalists and the avant-garde.
Track Listing | 35:14- Seeds of Sin (Shorter) ~ 5:44
- Scourn’ (Shorter) ~ 5:58
- Fat Lady (Shorter) ~ 5:03
- Peaches and Cream (Shorter) ~ 6:52
- That’s Right (Morgan) ~ 11:37
- Lee Morgan – trumpet
- Wayne Shorter – tenor sax
- Frank Strozier – alto sax
- Bobby Timmons – piano
- Bob Cranshaw – bass
- Albert “Tootie” Heath (3-5, 8) drums
- Louis Hayes (1, 2, 6, 7) – drums
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
As the pandemic wages on, rising numbers amongst the unvaccinated, the unmasked and the ignorant threaten the spread to the vaccinated and the children, while once again filling our hospitals. I cringe to think of the children who are going to be forced back to school without a vaccine. I’ve personally had a vaccinated friend who tested positive while working at a day camp with exposed children. Camp was shut down immediately, friend is fine but the Delta variant is highly contagious, like chicken pox. Be vigilant and stay safe.
With that in mind, I am pulling out the classic Song for My Father, the hard bop album by the Horace Silver Quintet, inspired by a trip that Silver made to Brazil. The songs were recorded at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey by two different ensembles over two sessions ~ 3,6 on October 31, 1963 and 1,2,4,5 on October 26, 1964. Produced by Alfred Lion, it was released on the Blue Note record label in January, 1965.
The cover artwork features a photograph of Silver’s father, John Tavares Silver, to whom the title composition is dedicated. The title track, Song for My Father, is the leader’s most recognized composition, blending his native Cape Verdean folk music with bossa nova.
Track Listing | 42:12 All compositions by Horace Silver, except #5- Song for My Father ~ 7:17
- The Natives Are Restless Tonight ~ 6:09
- Calcutta Cutie ~ 8:31
- Que Pasa ~ 7:47
- The Kicker (Joe Henderson) ~ 5:26
- Lonely Woman ~ 7:02
- Horace Silver ~ piano
- Carmell Jones ~ trumpet (2, 5 solo | 1, 4 ensemble)
- Joe Henderson ~ tenor saxophone (1,2,4,5)
- Teddy Smith ~ bass (1,2,4,5)
- Roger Humphries ~ drums (1,2,4,5)
- Blue Mitchell ~ trumpet (3, ensemble)
- Junior Cook ~ tenor saxophone (3, ensemble)
- Gene Taylor ~ bass (3,6)
- Roy Brooks ~ drums (3,6)
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