Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Dannee Fullerton was born January 12, 1944 in Los Angeles, California and at the age of four, moved with his mother to Saudi Arabia, joining his father who worked for the Arabian American Oil Company. By 11, he was enrolled at the Institut Montana Zugerberg, an all boys international school in Switzerland. It was here that drums became a strong influence and his very first drum set was a pair of brushes and a set of bongo drums. Along with singing, Dannee played the guitar and the drums.

At 14, he started a band at the Institut and gave concerts 3 to 4 times a year, something that had never before been accomplished on that campus. By 15 Dannee attended a concert and on the bill was the Gerry Mulligan Quartet and the Benny Goodman Orchestra featuring Gene Krupa playing Sing,Sing,Sing. The effect upon hearing this music caused Fullerton to give away all his rock and roll albums and so he could seriously concentrate on jazz.

During these formative years, he taught himself and others to play Jazz and continued to hold jazz concerts at school. Creating the school’s first jazz club, convincing the Director to allow students to attend jazz concerts, he was able to see concerts by the Oscar Peterson Trio, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, J.J. Johnson, Stan Getz, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Ahmed Jamal, Cannonball Adderly, the John Coltrane Quartet and the Dave Brubeck Quartet… Dannee was now hooked on the jazz art form and was intent on learning it.

Graduating from high school, Fullerton  attended Berklee College of Music and studied under Alan Dawson, Herb Pomeroy, John La Porta, and Jack Peterson. Later he studied privately with drummer Pete La Roca. He played sessions with Keith Jarrett, Mick Goodrick, Gene Perla, John Abercrombie, Sam Rivers, Sadao Watanabe, Byard Lancaster and other students at the time. He performed with the Keith Jarrett Trio for two years, in his Boston, Massachusetts trio.

Drafted into the US Army during the Vietnam era, he served in various Army bands over the next 24 years, serving in Europe, Korea, Okinawa and many locations within the United States. During his service Dannee performed with Maynard Ferguson, Herb Ellis, The Ink Spots, Bill Watrous, Bill Lohr, “Jazz Express” (Dannee’s own group) John Payne, Don Erdman, Kurt Black, Buddy Tate, Joe Newman, Mike Francis and Curt Warren to name a few.

Retiring from military service in 1989, he settled outside Tacoma, Washington. Drummer Dannee Fullerton, who never recorded professionally, continues to perform locally with Jack Percival, Sid Potter, Tim Eikholt, Tom Russell, Gary Black, Joe Bach, Roger Gard, Pete Lira, Bob McNamara, Ken Upton and Lance Buller, among others.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Brian Smith was born on January 3, 1939 in Wellington, New Zealand and studied piano in his youth but was primarily an autodidact on reeds. He played locally in pop and jazz groups before moving to England in 1964, where he played with Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated.

Following this stint he played at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club from 1966 to ‘67 and in the big bands of Tubby Hayes and Maynard Ferguson from 1969 to 1974. Smith went on to work with the group Nucleus from 1969 to 1982. During the next two decades he also performed with Mike Westbrook, Neil Ardley, Mike Gibbs, the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Keith Tippett, Pacific Eardrum and Paz.

1982 saw the return to New Zealand, where Brian began playing with his own quartet. His 1984 album Southern Excursions was named Australian Jazz Record of the Year.  Based out of Auckland, working with Frank Gibson, Jr. later in the Eighties, his Moonlight Sax albums were chart successes in New Zealand. Saxophonist and flautist Brian Smith continues to perform and record.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

John McLevy was born on January 2, 1927 in Dundee, Scotland. He played in Europe with the Benny Goodman Orchestra in the 1970s, alongside George Masso, Hank Jones and Slam Stewart.

He performed with artists such as Max Bygraves, Roy Williams, accordionist Jack Emblow and later in a duo with veteran trumpeter Tommy McQuater.

Trumpeter John McLevy transitioned on November 27, 2002.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

William Fredrick Bean was born on December 26, 1933 into a musical family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother played the piano, his father was an amateur singer and guitarist, and his sister sang  professionally. He started on guitar at the age of twelve.

His father taught him some of the basics on guitar before he received lessons from Howard Herbert. He went on to study with Dennis Sandole for a year. During the late 1940s and 1950s, he performed at venues in the Philadelphia area, until in the mid-Fifties he moved to New York City and recorded with Charlie Ventura and Red Callender. By 1958 he was moving to the West Coast and settling in Los Angeles, California to record for Decca. In Los Angeles, he worked with Buddy Collette, Paul Horn, John Pisano, Bud Shank, Milt Bernhart, Les Elgart, Herb Geller, Lorraine Geller, Calvin Jackson, and Zoot Sims.

Returning to New York City in 1959 after accepting Tony Bennett’s offer to join his band, Bean remained with Bennett’s band for less than one year. Hal Gaylor, who had been Bennett’s bassist, assembled a trio with Bean and pianist Walter Norris, calling themselves The Trio. They recorded an album for Riverside Records in 1961. Finding it difficult to find work, the trio disbanded shortly after recording.

Bean performed with Stan Getz, Herbie Mann, and John Lewis, recording albums with Mann and Lewis. He co-led six recording albums and another 16 as a sideman. Returning to his hometown of Philadelphia, guitarist Billy Bean retired in 1986, and passed away on February 6, 2012.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

John William Frank Critchinson was born on December 24, 1934 in London, England. He worked as a part-time musician with Ronnie Scott, Tubby Hayes, and Jimmy Deuchar, among others. In 1979, at the recommendation of his mentor, Bill Le Sage, he became a member of Ronnie Scott’s Quartet until it folded in 1995. During that time, he worked with many visiting American artists, including Chet Baker, George Coleman, James Moody, Joe Henderson and Johnny Griffin.

In the early 1980s, he had an association with the British jazz fusion duo Morrissey–Mullen, appearing on two of their albums. He recorded with Dick Morrissey and was a member of Martin Drew’s Our Band, with Ron Mathewson, Jim Mullen, and Dick Morrissey.

In 1995, he formed a quartet with saxophonist Art Themen, bassist Dave Green and Dave Barry on drums. When Scott died in 1996, Critchinson formed the Ronnie Scott Legacy with Pat Crumly on saxophone and flute. Later in his life, he played and recorded with saxophonist Simon Spillett.

Pianist John Critchinson, who recorded eleven albums as a leader and was affectionately known as Critch, passed away on December 15, 2017.

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