Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ronald Thomas Verrell February 21, 1926 in Rochester, Kent, England. He initially showed little interest in music until he saw the Benny Goodman Quartet perform in the film Hollywood Hotel in 1938. From that point on he wanted to be a drummer, he taught himself how to play after only one lesson. In 1940, after the outbreak of World War II in Europe, the 14-year-old was evacuated to Porthcawl in South Wales, where he made his first public appearances drumming with local bands in the area.
Returning to Kent in 1943 he worked professionally for a while with the Claude Giddins band, before being conscripted to work as a Bevin Boy in the coal mines for the remainder of the war. Following the war Ronnie began performing with Scottish saxophonist Tommy Whittle and Belgian trumpeter Johnny Claes. Then between 1947 and 1951 he played with several big bands, including those led by Carl Barriteau and Cyril Stapleton.
In 1951 Verrell joined the Ted Heath Orchestra and remained with the band until Heath’s retirement in 1964. They toured America and became the first British big band to break into the US big band arena. His next move focused on session work where he backed Winifred Atwell, Jack Jones, Tony Bennett, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Jonathan King, Petula Clark and Strawbs. He would go on to join Jack Parnell’s house band and Syd Lawrence’s band in the 80s.
Ronnie performed in several television shows, including The Muppet Show where he played drums for the show’s manic puppet drummer, Animal. He dueled Buddy Rich on the show as Animal and won after Animal smashed a snare drum over Rich’s head.
The mid-1990s had him forming his own quintet he modelled after Benny Goodman’s band. Then a serious road accident forced him to stop performing for almost a year. After his recovery he continued to play, touring with an all-star band, Best of British. His final appearance was on The Frank Skinner Show in 2001.
Drummer Ronnie Verrell died on February 22, 2002 in Kingston-upon-Thames, England from a chest infection he contracted during an operation to fix a crushed vertebra resulting from a fall down some stairs.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Corrado Abbate was born on February 19, 1958 in Turin, Italy. Originally trained as a classical pianist, he quickly turned to jazz and soon demonstrated a distinct aptitude for composition and arrangement.
During the 1980s he led a number of groups highly active on the Torinese scene, Arsis, Modal Jazz Quintet, and Sharp Eleventh, playing everything from hard bop to modal, from fusion to free-funk. He helped launch many talented young musicians, and during the same period he played with Massimo Urbani, Gianni Basso, Franco Mondini, Alfredo Ponissi, Luciano Bertolotti and many others.
1991 saw him forming his own quartet with tenor and soprano saxophonist Fulvio Albano, Claudio Nicola on double bass and drummer Raffaele Fontana. Two years later they recorded the album Brecce and played numerous concerts in Italy and important jazz festivals.
His next group was Primitivo, a group that was to become the most important acid-jazz band in the Turin area. With saxophonist Danilo Pala, the Cuban trumpeter Amik Guerra and percussionist Luis Casih, together with Nicola and Fontana they recorded Speed Jazz. In the new millennium he formed the Jazzcom Project and Multiverse Jazz Quartet, and is a member of the Gigi Di Gregorio Ensemble and the Cluzon Big Band.
Pianist Corrado Abbate continues to take on projects in the theatrical field, compose music for stage, and perform as a jazz musician.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jimmy Jewell was born on February 18, 1945 in the United Kingdom and began his career in 1962, participating in several jazz and rhythm and blues bands including Eddie Marten and the Sabres. Going professional the following year he joined the band Kris Ryan and the Questions after the band’s drummer Geoff Wills recommended his inclusion. With Jewell’s participation, Questions shifted genres, from rock to something more soul-oriented. Owing to artistic differences with Ryan, he left the band after final gigs in Germany during 1965.
In 1966 he moved to London, England played for a while in the Freddie Mack Sound and subsequently toured Germany with Chris Andrews and the Paramounts. Jimmy joined the Magics, a Berlin band, and toured Germany. In 1967, back in London, he played gigs with Lord “Caesar” Sutch & the Roman Empire, and the joined soul band Stewart James Inspiration, with whom he toured until their dissolution 1968.
After joining the Keef Hartley Band, Jewell played Woodstock and a couple of albums were released with his saxophone sound: The Battle of North West Six and The Time Is Near. A was a prolific session musician and band member during the 1970s, he recorded during 1973 and 1974 appearing on Ronnie Lane’s Anymore for Anymore. He recorded with the Hollies on their self-titled album. In the Seventies he recorded for Maggie Bell and Andy Fairweather Low, toured with Gallagher and Lyle and appeared on two of their albums.
He recorded with Fairport Convention, Chris de Burgh, performed with Roger Daltrey, John Lodge and with the Hollies. Jimmy went on to release two albums: I’m Amazed and From the First Time I Met You. By the Eighties work became occasional, including small jazz bands and collaboration with bluesman Lonnie Brooks on the 1981 album Turn On The Night.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Fred Staton was born on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1915 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His musical life began with his mother’s player piano and 78 records of Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson. He began singing in his church’s gospel choir, but got introduced to playing jazz when the group’s sponsor brought in a full band’s worth of equipment, complete with charts of popular music. He first picked up the drums but having to pack up his kit left few women to flirt with as his bandmates left after the gig. This and the influence of a Johnny Hodges cut on an Ellington big band record inspired him to choose the saxophone.
He played in the first ensemble Art Blakey ever formed, alongside pianist Erroll Garner. The lack of opportunity and venues for a young black man in segregated Pittsburgh led Staton to leave the Steel City and find his fortune gigging on the East Coast. He fell in with Horace Silver and watched fellow Westinghouse High School graduates Billy Strayhorn and Ahmad Jamal pen iconic compositions.
Staton went on to become a veteran member of the Harlem Blues & Jazz Band, and toured Europe, Russia and the United States to much acclaim. He has received numerous honors and awards, and was a lifetime member and supporter of WBGO Radio. Tenor saxophonist Fred Staton continued to play jazz until his death at 102 years of age on October 25, 2017.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Raymond Michael Pizzi was born January 19, 1943 in Everett, Massachusetts. His first instrument was clarinet and he attended the Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music in the 1960s.
Pizzi taught in Randolph, Massachusetts public schools from 1964 to 1969 before relocating to California. In the 1970s he worked with Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Frank Zappa, Shelly Manne, Willie Bobo, Moacir Santos, Mark Levine, and Dizzy Gillespie.
The Eighties saw him accompanying Nancy Wilson and was a sideman for Milcho Leviev and Bob Florence. He worked with the American Jazz Orchestra into the early-1990s. Ray recorded as a leader, including in a quartet called Windrider.
As an educator he joined the faculty at the Henry Mancini Institute at the University of Miami in 1997.
Saxophonist, bassoonist, and flautist Ray Pizzi, nicknamed Pizza Man, died on September 2, 2021.
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