Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bob Davis was born on July 26, 1927 in Cosmos, Minnesota and was directly inspired by the efforts of his mother, a pianist who frequently hit the road with touring bands. He began his music career as a drummer and by age 13 had been absorbed into a family band. Leaving home meant not only no longer backing up his mother, but a chance to play piano himself. By the age of 18, his piano styles were ahead of his time and he was playing improvisational jazz with some of the greats.
Davis spent a couple of years gigging with Herbie Fields prior to starting his own group, which was active through the ’50s and recorded for several small labels, The group featuring fellow Minneapolis drummer Bill Blakkestad gigged frequently around the Midwest, including Chicago, Illinois. Though influenced by Oscar Peterson and Bud Powell, he saw advantages in Nashville and established a relationship with guitarist and producer Chet Atkins on the 1953 Jazz from the Hills project that led to other session work.
He recorded three great albums, in addition to recording with Sarah Vaughn, Al Hirt, Dizzy Gillespie. He also was musical director for Playboy Clubs, taught as a music college & high school professor, and was a promoter and agent for music giants such as the Jacksons and Tina Turner. He continued playing jazz and ballads in concerts and clubs into his older years while living most of his life in Miami, Florida. After retiring at the age of 69, Bob continued to play incomparable jazz feats.
In his last days, pianist, educator, promoter and agent Bob Davis retired from music, suffering from bone cancer which robbed him of the joy of playing music.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Danny Barcelona was born on July 23, 1929 in Waipahu, a community of Honolulu, Hawaii. A self taught percussionist, by the age of 18 in his final year in high school, he was already playing music with trombonist, singer, and bandleader Trummy Young, joining his Hawaii All-Stars in the early Fifties. When Young left to join Louis Armstrong’s combo in 1952, he assumed leadership of the band, a sextet known as the Hawaiian Dixieland All-Stars. They would tour the Hawaiian Islands, Japan and the rest of the Far East.
Danny was introduced to Louis Armstrong by Young in 1956 and upon his recommendation, in 1958 at the age of 27 became Armstrong’s drummer for 15 years. As a Filipino-American, Armstrong would frequently introduce him to audiences as The Little Filipino Boy, then follow up by calling himself the Little Arabian Boy.
He appears on more than 130 of Armstrong’s recordings including Hello, Dolly! and What a Wonderful World. He toured with Armstrong and Young around the world until illness took Armstrong and he returned to Hawaii. There he became a longtime performer at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel, and worked for many years at Harry’s Music Store and the Easy Music Center.
In 1979, he returned to the mainland and settled with his family in Monterey Park, California. Drummer Danny Barcelona transitioned in Monterey Park on April 1, 2007, due to complications from cancer at the age of 77.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
James “Plunky” Branch was born on July 20, 1947 in Richmond, Virginia and educated in the city’s segregated schools. He then attended Columbia University in New York City, but by 1971 he had moved to San Francisco, California. It was here that he formed Juju, a musical group that combined rhythm and blues, jazz, soul, and African musical influences.
He founded the band Plunky & Oneness, which began as Juju in 1971 which he renamed twice, Oneness of Juju and Plunky & the Oneness of Juju, before it was given its current name in 1988. One of Plunky & Oneness’ songs, Every Way But Loose, is featured on the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, playing on fictional radio station Paradise FM.
Branch is the president and founder of the independent record label N.A.M.E. Brand Records, through which he has released 25 albums. As a studio musician Plunky has worked for The Cosby Show and has appeared on several avant-garde jazz albums.
As an educator he has been Director of the Jazz Ensemble at Virginia Union University as well as an instructor of Afro-American Music History at Virginia Commonwealth University.
He has been the recipient of two NEA Jazz Fellowships and was appointed to the Governor’s Task Force for the Promotion of the Arts in Virginia. In 1999 he was recognized by Richmond Magazine as Musician of the Year for 1999. J. Plunky Branch continues to perform, record, compose and produce.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Abraham Laboriel López was born on July 17, 1947 in Mexico City, Mexco into a talented family with a rock singer brother and a sister who is a singer, film and television actress. A classically trained guitarist, he switched to bass guitar while studying at the Berklee College of Music, graduating in 1972.
It was during this time that he learned the importance of versatility as a musician. Henry Mancini encouraged Laboriel to move to Los Angeles, California, to pursue a recording career, which he did in 1976. Though he struggled to find work for two years, he found his first gig on a road tour with Olivia Newton-John. After a consequent European tour with Al Jarreau, he settled into a full-time studio career in Los Angeles.
He would go on to work and record with Al Jarreau, Billy Cobham, Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, Herbie Hancock, Lalo Schifrin, Gary Birton, Stan Getz, Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Quincy Jones, Randy Crawford, Dave Grusin, and Umberto Tozzi as well as Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Barbra Striesand, Madonna, Andre Crouch, Herb Alpert Minnie Riperton, Barry Manilow, and many others.
Abraham was a founding member of the bands Friendship and Koinonia. With the latter he recorded four albums. In addition he recorded several solo albums on which he recruited a cast of musicians that included Alex Acuña, Al Jarreau, Jim Keltner, Phillip Bailey, Ron Kenoly, his son Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums, and others.
In 2005, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by the Berklee College of Music. Electric bassist Abraham Laboriel has played on over 4000 recording sessions, is ranked No. 42 on Bass Player magazine’s list of The 100 Greatest Bass Players of All Time, and continues to record and perform as a member of the band Open Hands with Justo Almario, Greg Mathieson, and Bill Maxwell.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Brenda Hopkins Miranda was born July 14th, and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her childhood was filled with sounds from all over the world and from an early age her profound sensibilities led her to intuitively reject stylistic boundaries. She began her musical path at the age of five with piano, ballet and painting lessons at Bonneville School. Her remarkable talent got her admission to the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico to begin undergraduate studies in Classical Piano at 16 while still attending high school.
Holding a Bachelors Magna cum Laude degree in Classical Piano from the Conservatorio, she was awarded a Berklee School of Music scholarship, received a Masters degree with honors in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory, and completed Doctoral Studies in Musicology at the Universidad de Granada in Spain.
As a bandleader Hopkins Miranda has released six recordings between 1998 and 2017 with her last four albums making the top 20, with three of them in the top 10 and two in the top 5 album list. A recognized composer and artist on several short films and documentaries, throughout her professional career she has been active as a first call pianist on international tours for a host of Latin American artists like Ricardo Montaner, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Marco Antonio Muñiz, Pandora, Ednita Nazario, Glenn Monroig, Yolandita Monge and many others.
In 2006 Brenda moved to Granada, Spain for two years to pursue a PHD in musicology at the Universidad de Granada. She successfully auditioned. Brenda is also a groundbreaking pioneer in education. She was the winner of the Gilles Boulet 2014 first prize and medal awarded in Florianopolis, Brazil by the Interamerican Organization for Higher Education and has created over 300 creativity exercises for musicians. Brenda gives music creativity workshops all over the world.
Pianist, composer, arranger, improviser, bandleader, and producer Brenda Hopkins Miranda currently is a professor at the Universidad Interamericana Recinto Metropolitano Music Program. She continues to perform.
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