Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gabriele Orsi was born on November 30, 1967 in Monza, Lombardia, Italy. He first played guitar in numerous rock bands but in 1993 turned his attention to the pursuit of azz. At that time he attended Berklee summer school in Perugia, Italy during the Umbria Jazz Festival.
From that point forward Orsi has been playing in small bands, especially performing his own compositions together with some traditional jazz excerpts which he is always readapting to his style. He also performs with big bands and jazz orchestras such as the Swing Time Big Band and Flight Band.
He is co-leader of some bands playing jazz, fusion and funk: Freedom Jazz Trio, Silver Jazz Band, and Fluxus Quartet. Gabriele cooperated and performed with big music players as well as Biagio Coppa, Eleonora D’Ettole, Marco Castiglioni, Silvano Borzacchiello. Riccardo Di Paola, Silvano Serighelli, Carmen Staaf, Santino Carcano, Francesco Di Lenge, Maurizio Signorino, Daniele Petrosillo, Beppe Caruso, Rosalyn Robinson, Attilio Zanchi, Valerio Della Fonte, Joey De Francesco, John Patitucci and numerousothers.
Orsi had a period of taking instructions with Jerry Bergonzi, John Stowell, Joe Diorio, Steve Lacy, Jeff Richman, Ralph Alessi, David Friesen, Marc Ducret, Gino Robeir, John Riley e Bobby Previte.
In 2004, Gabriele and the saxophonist Maurizio Signorino constituted the project Fluxus Quartet, looking for a modern quality jazz which might be listened and understood also by “outsiders”. The band is composed by Gabriele, Maurizio and Santino Carcano on double bass and drummer Francesco Di Lenge.
In 2006 Gabriele set up his own quartet together with Fulvio Ferrari on piano, Daniele Petrosillo on double bass, and drummer Francesco Di Lenge. In 2007 they released the compact disc Mr. T. on the Music Center label, in which Joey De Francesco is the guest star. His name is associated with Bolivar Jazz Trio/Quartet, C.O.D. Trio, Santino Carcano, Fluxus Quartet, Freedom Jazz Trio, Mhelonious Tonk, Silver Jazz Band, and Orsi.
Guitarist and composer Gabriele Orsi currently lives in Milano, Lombardia, Italy and continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Franklin “Ellington” Blair was born November 8, 1943 in Toledo, Ohio. He grew up in California and began taking violin lessons as a child, graduating with honors from Lincoln High School in San Diego, California in 1961.
Blair became a heavy academic, holding degrees from Eastman and Curtis conservatories. He even founded a school, The Universal Natural System. He is best known as the inventor of the Vitar, an acoustic combination of violin and guitar.
He was featured on many jazz funk records in the early 1970s and released a few sought after psych-funk releases on Mercury, Columbia and CTI. During the 1980s Ellington disappeared off of the map, never to return.
Violinist & guitarist Ellington Blair, suffered from heart failure and was homeless when he died on June 3, 2006 in New York City, New York
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joseph Bowie was born October 17, 1953 in St. Louis, Missouri and was greatly influenced by his older brothers, saxophonist Byron and trumpeter Lester. His first international tour was with Oliver Lake of the Black Artists Group in 1971. During this time in Paris, France he worked with Alan Silva, Frank Wright, and Bobby Few. He also worked with Dr. John in Montreux, Switzerland in 1973.
Moving to New York City, and with the help of Off Broadway Theater impresario Ellen Stewart he established La Mama children’s theater. He performed with Cecil Taylor, Human Arts Ensemble, Nona Hendryx, Leroy Jenkins, Vernon Reid, Stanley Cowell, Sam Rivers, Philippe Gaillot, Dominique Gaumont and Ornette Coleman.
In 1976 Joseph relocated to Chicago, Illinois where he led bands for Tyrone Davis and other R&B artists. Returning to New York City in 1978 he began singing with punk and funk musician James Chance and the Contortions. Defunkt was born during that time and over the next 25 years, Defunkt recorded 15 albums.
Bowie has collaborated with Jean-Paul Bourelly and Jamaaladeen Tacuma. He has performed “big band funk” arrangements with Ed Partyka at Music School Lucerne, Barbary Coast Ensemble at Dartmouth College, JazzArt Orchestra, and the HR Frankfurt Radio Big Band. The first Defunkt Big Band debuted in 1999 in New York City at the Texaco Jazz Festival sponsored by the Knitting Factory.
In 2003, he moved to the Netherlands where he met Hans Dulfer and was introduced to the Dutch music scene. He has performed with Hans, Candy Dulfer, Saskia Laroo Band, Naked Ears, Monsieur Dubois, Emergency Room, Funkateer, Seven Eleven, and Almost Three.
In 2014 he produced Sax Pistols Allergy for the U.S (ZIP Records) with lyricist Hilarius Hofstede. The album Defunkt Mastervolt was released in 2015 on ZIP Records. Robin van Erven Dorens directed the documentary In Groove We Trust about Bowie’s life.
Trombonist and vocalist Joseph Bowie continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ronald Wayne Laws was born on October 3, 1950 and raised in Houston, Texas. He is the fifth of eight children and started playing the saxophone at the age of 11. He went on to attend Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, for two years.
In 1971 he journeyed to Los Angeles, California to embark upon a musical career. He started performing with trumpeter Hugh Masekela and the following year joined Earth, Wind & Fire, where he played saxophone and flute on their album Last Days and Time. Eighteen months later he decided to become a solo artist. Laws released his debut album Pressure Sensitive on Blue Note Records in 1975.
His first two albums charted on Billboard and by his third album, Friends and Strangers in 1977 was certified gold. Ronnie produced and sang on his sister Debra’s 1981 album Very Special. He would go on to play saxophone through the Eighties on albums by Ramsey Lewis, Sister Sledge, Deniece Williams, Jeff Lorber, Alphonse Mouzon, and Howard Hewett. In the 1990s he recorded with Norman Brown and again with Earth, Wind & Fire.
Saxophonist, flutist and vocalist Ronnie Laws, who has also worked with Guru, Brian Culbertson, and the Crusaders, also influenced Boney James and Norman Brown, and continues to explore the boundaries of his talent.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Takeshi Ogura was born on June 17, 1962 in Tokyo, Japan. He initially studied piano and trumpet before switching to the guitar. Moving to New York City at 26, he studied jazz guitar with be-bop guitar pioneer Chuck Wayne while attending The College of Staten Island in the Eighties. There he studied harmony and composition with Dr. Joseph Scianni. For ten years he was active on the New York jazz scene, then life caught up with him and he quit playing.
Takeshi got back to playing guitar in 2001 and has steadily built a reputation as a versatile and expressive player. Taking up residence in the Bronx, he often appears around the city with his jazz trio playing his compositions and unique arrangements of jazz standards. Since 2009 he regulary performs at The Bass Line in Mt. Vernon, New York.
He has shared stage performances with Duke Jones, Norman Connors, Sean Smith, Scott Fragala, Tyrone Govan, John Cooksey, John Fumasoli, James “Sugar Bear” Skelton, Jr., Art Bennett, Jasper Cain, Bill Crow, Seiji Ochiai, Dwayne Purdue, and Hiroshi Yamazaki.
Guitarist Takeshi Ogura, who has never led a recording session, continues to support this local and regional jazz scene with his trio and funk-jazz band New Project, along with Alan Eicher, Rondew Monroe and Greg Brown.
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