Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Douglas Watkins was born on March 2, 1934 in Detroit Michigan. After gaining experience and a reputation as one of many very talented jazzmen on the local Detroit scene, Watkins began touring with James Moody in 1953 followed by a stint with the Barry Harris Trio. In 1954 he settled in New York City and was an original member of the Jazz Messengers from 1955 – 56.
Doug went on to spend a year with Horace Silver and then freelanced with a who’s who list of the hard boppers such as Art Farmer, Kenny Burrell, Phil Woods and Hank Mobley. In 1956 at just 21 years old he was a sideman on Sonny Rollins’ “Saxophone Colossus” alongside Max Roach and Tommy Flanagan, showcasing examples of his fine work on Blue 7 and St. Thomas.
In 1958 Watkins joined Donald Byrd for a European tour, taking up extended residence at Le Chat Qui Peche, a jazz club on Paris’ Left Bank. Along with Byrd, tenor saxophonist Bobby Jaspar, pianist Walter Davis, Jr. and drummer Art Taylor, Watkins made two albums with Byrd during this period, one recorded in the club and another at a formal concert featuring Byrd’s quintet. In 1961 he joined Charles Mingus’ group when Mingus temporarily ventured onto the piano stool, producing such gems as “Oh Yeah!!!” and “Tonight At Noon”.
Doug was known for his superb walking tone and distinct phrasing that was right on the beat, forming an organic, indivisible relationship with his instrument as he swayed with it in perfect time. Throughout his short but prolific career Watkins produced only two sessions as a leader but became the bassist of choice when his cousin by marriage, Paul Chambers was unavailable. He appeared on over 350 recordings working with Red Garland, Yusef Lateef, Philly Joe Jones, Bill Hardman, Gene Ammons and Lee Morgan just to name a few giants.
The hard bop jazz bassist Doug Watkins died in a head-on automobile crash on February 5, 1962 when he fell asleep behind the wheel while driving from Arizona to San Francisco to play a gig with Philly Joe Jones. He was just 27 years old but his legacy as a superb musician, unselfish and enabling ensemble player and a bassist-walker with few peers remains today.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Donald Rafael Garrett was born on February 28, 1932 in El Dorado, Arkansas but was raised in Chicago, Illinois. While in high school he first studied clarinet and then bass under Captain Walter Dyett. By the late 50s he was working closely with Muhal Richard Abrams, becoming a member of his Experimental Band in the Sixties.
It was during this time that he worked with Ira Sullivan, Eddie Harris, Dewey Redman and Rahsaan Roland Kirk but by the mid-sixties he relocated to San Francisco and formed a band called Sound Circus. He stayed on the West coast into the 70s working with such jazz greats as Archie Shepp, Sonny Rollins, Pharoah Sanders and numerous more including performing and recording on four John Coltrane albums – Om, Kulu Se Mama, Selflessness and Live In Seattle.
In 1971 he formed the Sea Ensemble with Zusaan Kali Fasteau and embarked on a world tour for the next several years, the duo funding their travels with Fasteau giving music lessons and Garrett skillfully making bamboo flutes. Throughout his career he studied Turkish music, added flute to his instrumental repertoire, became an educator, writer, researcher and continued to perform and record with Johnny Griffin, Sonny Stitt, Joe Henderson, Billy Bang and other great jazz musicians.
Donald Garrett, multi-instrumentalist best known for his work with John Coltrane and the free jazz musicians and improvisers of the 60s and 70s, passed away on August 17, 1989.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Harold de Vance Land was born on February 18, 1928 in Houston, Texas but was raised in San Diego, California. He started playing tenor saxophone at 16 and made his first recording as leader of the Harold Land All-Stars in 1949 for Savoy Records. By 1954 he had joined the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet but due to family problems he moved to Los Angeles in 1955. There he led his own groups, played with Curtis Counce, and co-led groups with Bobby Hutcherson, Blue Mitchell and Red Mitchell.
Harold developed his hard bop playing with the Max Roach/Clifford Brown band into a personal, modern style. His tone was strong and emotional, yet displayed a certain fragility that made him easy to recognize. From the 1970s onwards his style showed the influence of John Coltrane.
In the early 1980s through to the early 1990s he worked regularly with the Timeless All Stars, a group consisting of Cedar Walton, Buster Williams, Billy Higgins, Curtis Fuller, and Bobby Hutcherson and sponsored by the Timeless jazz record label. Land also toured with his own band during this time, often including his son on piano and usually featuring Bobby Hutcherson and Billy Higgins as well. During these years he played regularly at Hop Singh’s in Marina Del Ray in the L.A area and the Keystone Korner in San Francisco.
As an educator he was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles joining the Jazz Studies Program in 1996 teaching instrumental jazz combo. Tenor saxophonist Harold Land became a major contributor to hard bop and post bop jazz history, passing away from a stroke on July 27, 2001 at age 73.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Benny Golson was born January 25, 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While in high school he played with several other promising young musicians, including John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones and red Rodney. After matriculating Howard University, Benny joined Bull Moose Jackson’s R&B band where he met and learned about writing from pianist Tadd Dameron.
From 1953 to 1959 Golson played with Dameron’s band and then with the bands of Lionel Hampton, Johnny Hodges, Earl Bostic, Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers. While working with the Lionel Hampton band at the Apollo in 1956, Benny learned that his friend trumpeter Clifford Brown had died in a car accident. In honor, Golson composed “I Remember Clifford”.
From 1959 to 1962 Golson co-led the Jazztet with Art Farmer. Golson then left jazz to concentrate on studio and orchestral work for 12 years and during this period he composed music for such television shows as Ironside, Room 222, M*A*S*H and Mission: Impossible.
By the mid-1970s Golson returned to jazz playing and recording, he re-organized the Jazztet in 1983, was honored as a NEA Jazz Maser in ’95, made a cameo appearance in the Tom Hanks vehicle “The Terminal” that was related to his participation in the classic photo “A Great Day In Harlem”, received the Mellon Living Legend Legacy Award, the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Pittsburgh International Academy of Jazz, in which he was also inducted into their Hall of Fame.
Since 1996 Howard University created and has awarded the prestigious Benny Golson Jazz Master Award to several distinguished jazz artists. As of 2007, Benny Golson, tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger in the bebop and hard bop genres continues to tour regularly. He is known for his jazz standards “Stablemates”, “Whisper Not”, “Killer Joe”, “Along Came Betty and “Are You Real”, that have been performed and recorded by countless jazz musicians.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Curtis Counce was born in Kansas City, Missouri on January 23, 1926. Studying violin and tuba early on before settling on the string bass, he went on the road when he was 16, playing with the Nat Towles Band in Omaha.
After some freelancing, Counce moved to Los Angeles in 1945, working with Johnny Otis and making his recording debut the following year with Lester Young. During the ‘50’s he was a key member of the West Coast jazz scene, recording as a sideman with Shelly Manne, Lyle Murphy, Teddy Charles, Clifford Brown, and many others.
In 1956, Counce organized a quintet comprised of trumpeter Jack Sheldon, tenor saxophonist Harold Land, pianist Carl Perkins, and drummer Frank Butler. During a 15-month period, they recorded enough material to document their endeavor, all of which were originally released by Contemporary and fall stylistically between West Coast cool jazz and hard bop.
Changing personnel, the Curtis Counce Quintet recorded a final album for the Dooto label before breaking up in 1958. The bassist continued working in the Los Angeles area until his death on July 31,1963 from a heart attack.
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