Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alvin “Buddy” Banks was born on January 15, 1927 in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada and grew up in the United States. He became interested in music during high school, starting out on piano before switching to saxophone. During World War II he joined the United States Army Band as a bass player.
Making his first appearance on record was in Vienna, Austria with Thurmond Young, this group also played live at the Colored Club. He played in Paris, France with Gerry Wiggins in 1950, and then with Bill Coleman in Bern, Switzerland, Le Havre, France and Belgium. After problems with his passport in Switzerland, he left for Paris in 1953, where he recorded often with expatriate American jazz musicians as well as local performers.
These include Hazel Scott, Buck Clayton, Lionel Hampton, Mezz Mezzrow, Don Byas, Albert Nicholas, and André Persiany. He toured with Michel Attenoux and with Sidney Bechet through Western and Central Europe in 1954.
Double bassist Buddy Banks transitioned on August 7, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Lee Abrams was born Leon Abramson on January 6, 1925 in New York City, New York and was raised in Brooklyn, New York. His father played the violin and clarinet, his brother Ray played tenor saxophone.
Joining the United States Army in 1943 he spent three years until he was discharged in 1946. During his career, Abrams played with Roy Eldridge, Eddie Heywood, Andy Kirk, Hot Lips Page, Lester Young, Illinois Jacquet, Horace Silver, Wynton Kelly, Al Haig and others.
On 52nd Street, he played with Coleman Hawkins, Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Jay Jay Johnson. Drummer Lee Abrams transitioned on April 20, 1992 in New York City.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Judd Proctor was born Procter on January 2, 1931 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England. He played banjo in his youth and joined a local trio, but switched to guitar in his teens. He won a regional Melody Maker contest in a group, The Zetland Players. By the age of 18 he was conscripted into the Royal Air Force, where he met and was influenced by guitarist Ike Isaacs. After his military service ended, he worked in accountancy for British Rail, but soon left to join a dance band in Nottingham and became a professional musician.
After playing in various bands he joined Ray Ellington’s quartet in 1955, remaining for six years. He appeared on many radio broadcasts including The Goon Show. The early Sixties saw Proctor become a session musician, appearing on recordings by Cliff Richard, Helen Shapiro, The Springfields, Cilla Black, Serge Gainsbourg, Harry Nilsson and many others. In his later years he worked with the Benny Goodman Orchestra. He recorded some instrumentals under his own name, including the 1961 single Palamino/Nola, and a 1968 LP, Guitars Galore.
Judd appeared on many television shows with Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., and Victoria Wood, and on many film soundtracks. The 1960s through the ‘80s had him touring with Stanley Black, a member of the Don Lusher Orchestra, and with the Bert Kaempfert Orchestra. His last and longest regular gig was providing incidental music for the TV comedy series Last of the Summer Wine.
Guitarist and session musician Judd Proctor, whose name was often misspelled on early recordings, transitioned on August 21, 2020 in Market Deeping, Lincolnshire, England at the age of 89.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Cutty Cutshall was born Robert Dewees Cutshall on December 29, 1911 in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Early in his career he played in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, making his first major tour in 1934 with Charley Dornberger. He joined Jan Savitt’s orchestra in 1938, then played with Benny Goodman in the early 1940s.
Later in the decade he worked frequently with Billy Butterfield and did some freelance work in New York City. He started working with Eddie Condon in 1949, an association which lasted over a decade. Cutshall’s credits include work with Peanuts Hucko, Bob Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong.
While touring with Condon in Toronto, trombonist Cutty Cutshall suffered a heart attack in his hotel room and transitioned on August 16, 1968.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Eric Marienthal was born on December 19, 1957 in Sacramento, California but moved with his family to San Mateo, California when he was two years old. He was taught music while in school and picked up the saxophone in the fourth grade. His father bought him a $400 Selmer saxophone and enrolled him in Corona Del Mar High School. Throughout his education, he learned to play guitar, flute, clarinet and piano.
After graduating from high school he studied saxophone at the Berklee College of Music. By the time he left Berklee, Eric had achieved the highest proficiency rating given by the school. He began his professional career in 1980 with New Orleans trumpeter Al Hirt. Heading west he settled in Los Angeles, California and became a member of the Chick Corea Elektric Band. He recorded six albums with that band and two of them won Grammy Awards.
Marienthal has also written instructional books, including Comprehensive Jazz Studies & Exercises, The Ultimate Jazz Play Along, and The Music of Eric Marienthal. He has made instructional videos, Play Sax From Day One, Modern Sax and Tricks of the Trade. He occupies the lead alto chair of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, playing alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, and piccolo.
Grammy Award-nominated alto saxophonist Eric Marienthal continues to perform and record.
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