Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joe Springer was born on May 22, 1916 in New York City, He played locally on Coney Island from about 1931. His first major gig was with Wingy Manone in 1935.
He first recorded in 1940 with Louis Prima and soon after worked with Buddy Rich in 1942, followed by a year with Gene Krupa until 1943. Joe went on to work with Oscar Pettiford, Tiny Grimes, Ben Webster, Charlie Barnet, Jimmy McPartland, Charlie Shavers, Roy Eldridge, and Raymond Scott.
Accompanying Billie Holiday regularly in the 1940s, Springer also worked with Anita O’Day. He continued working in New York City into the 1960s before retiring to Florida that decade.
Pianist Joe Springer passed away on October 24, 2004 in Miami, Florida.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
David Izenzon was born on May 17, 1932 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Graduating from the Carnegie Institute of Technology, he later received a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music.
Izenzon began playing double bass at the age of twenty-four and played in his hometown before moving to New York City in 1961. There he played with Paul Bley, Archie Shepp, Sonny Rollins, and Bill Dixon, but he is best known for his association with Ornette Coleman, which began in October 1961. He played in Coleman’s 1962 Town Hall concert and played with him frequently from 1965 to 1968, often in a trio format with Charles Moffett.
During this time Izenzon also recorded with Harold McNair and Yoko Ono. He taught music history at Bronx Community College from 1968 to 1971 and played with Perry Robinson and Paul Motian, but reduced his time in music in 1972 when his son became ill. In 1973 Izenzon received a Ph.D. in psychotherapy from Northwestern University. The following year, he co-founded Potsmokers Anonymous with his wife, Pearl.
In 1975 he composed a jazz opera titled How Music Can Save The World, dedicated to those who helped his son recover. From 1977 he worked again with Coleman and Motian up until his death. Double bassist David Izenzon passed away on October 8, 1979 of a heart attack, arriving dead on arrival at Bellevue Hospital in New York City.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Michael Moore was born May 16, 1945 in Glen Este, Ohio and started on bass at age fifteen, at Withrow High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He performed in ensembles and the Presentation Orchestra in George G. “Smittie” Smith’s Withrow Minstrels and played with his father in Cincinnati nightclubs.
Attending the Cincinnati College Conservatory, he played with Cal Collins and Woody Evans locally. He toured Africa and Europe with Woody Herman in 1966, and recorded with Dusko Goykovich while in Belgrade.
The 1970s saw Michael working with Marian McPartland, Freddie Hubbard, Jim Hall, Jimmy Raney, Bill Evans, Benny Goodman, Jake Hanna, Warren Vache, Herb Ellis, Zoot Sims, Ruby Braff, George Barnes, Chet Baker, and Lee Konitz. In 1978, he auditioned for and was hired by Bill Evans after longtime bassist Eddie Gómez had left the group and Evans was in transition with drummer Philly Joe Jones.
Leaving after five months due to dissatisfaction with the group, late in the decade he began working with Gene Bertoncini, with whom he would play into the 1990s. In the 1980s he worked with Sims again and with Kenny Barron and Michael Urbaniak. A member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet from 2001 until Brubeck’s death in 2012. Bassist Michael Moore continues to pursue his musical career.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bonnie Wetzel was born Bonnie Jean Addleman on May 15, 1926 in Vancouver, Washington. She learned violin as a child, and was an autodidact on bass. She played with Ada Leonard in an all-female ensemble, and soon after worked in a trio with Marian Grange.
Marrying trumpeter Ray Wetzel in 1949, the pair worked in the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in 1951. She went on to play in Beryl Booker’s trio with Elaine Leighton in 1953, touring Europe in 1953-54 and recorded for Discovery Records.
She also played with Herb Ellis, Charlie Shavers, Roy Eldridge, and Don Byas. Later in the 1950s she freelanced in New York City. Double bassist Bonnie Wetzel passed away on February 12, 1965 at the age of 38.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Billy Munn was born William on May 12, 1911 in Glasgow, Scotland. He studied at the Athenaeum School of Music before moving to London, England and joining the band of Jack Hylton from 1929 to 1936.
During the Thirties he played on recordings with Spike Hughes and Benny Carter. Following these engagements Billy then played with Sydney Lipton from 1936 to 1940, and concomitantly played with Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins on their tours of England, as well as with Wingy Manone in the United States.
He played with Stephane Grappelli in 1943 and George Chisholm in 1944, then led his own ensemble at the Orchid Room in Mayfair from 1945 to 1948. He co-founded the BBC program Jazz Club in the 1940s with producer Mark White and clarinettist Harry Parry.
From 1948 to 1949, Munn directed the Maurice Winnick Orchestra at Ciro’s club in London, England and subsequently led the house band at the Imperial Hotel in the seaside resort town of Torquay, England for three decades, from 1949 to 1979. He recorded several times with this group. After 1979 he played solo, mostly locally in Torquay.
Pianist and arranger Billy Munn passed away on May 2, 2000 in Ayrshire, Scotland, a few days shy of his 89th birthday.
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