Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Peck Morrison was born John A. Morrison on September 11, 1919 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was classically trained, and in addition to bass, being competent on trumpet and percussion was also his talent.

During World War II he played in military bands in Italy and after the war he moved to New York City to play professionally. He played with Lucky Thompson in the early 1950s, and then recorded with Horace Silver, Gigi Gryce, and Art Farmer. He played and toured Europe with Gerry Mulligan.

He was a noted accompanist and sideman with Carmen McRae, Tiny Bradshaw, King Pleasure, Zoot Sims, Dave Bailey, Betty Carter, Eddie Jefferson, the J. J. Johnson/Kai Winding Quintet, and Duke Ellington in the Fifties and the latter in the 1960s.

He performed or recorded in the Sixties with Lou Donaldson, Johnny Smith, Mal Waldron, Randy Weston, Babs Gonzales, the Newport Rebels, Shirley Scott, Red Garland, Charles McPherson, and Sy Oliver. In 1986 he performed as a member of the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band.

Bassist Peck Morrison, who never recorded as a session leader, died on February 25, 1988.

More Posts: bandleader,bass,history,instrumental,jazz,music

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Putte Wickman was born Hans Olof Wickman on September 10, 1924 in Falun, Sweden and grew up in Borlänge, Sweden where his parents hoped he would become a lawyer. He nagged them to allow him to go to high school in Stockholm, Sweden and when he arrived in the capital he still did not know what jazz was and probably the only 15 year-old who did not.

Not having access to a piano in Stockholm, he was given a clarinet by his mother as a Christmas present. As it turned out, he started to hang out with the worst elements in the class, those with jazz records. Wickman considered himself self-taught, having never taken classes on the instrument.

Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman were the role models for the young Wickman, who, in 1944 had turned to music full-time. He was taken on as band leader at Stockholm’s Nalen. He led a band at Nalen for eleven years, and during the 1960s he ran the big band at Gröna Lund and at Puttes, the club he co-owned, at Hornstull in Stockholm.

In 1994, Wickman received the Illis Quorum gold medal, today the highest award that can be conferred upon a private Swedish citizen by the government of Sweden.

Clarinetist Putte Wickman, who was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and active as a musician until shortly before his passing, died on February 14, 2006.

More Posts: bandleader,clarinet,history,instrumental,jazz,music

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Vinnie Cutro was born in New Jersey on September 9, 1953 and received his formal musical training throughout his formative years. He continued his education at New Jersey University, receiving his B.A in Music Education, then got his Masters in Jazz Performance from New York University. He furthered his studies in jazz composition, classical studies, jazz arranging and counterpoint with Dr. Tom Boras and Jim McNeely.

His working education began as a freelance musician in the New York City area. During the past 30 years Vinnie has performed with Horace Silver, Buddy Rich and Lionel Hampton. During his tenure with the latter he performed guest appearances with various American symphonic orchestras.

He has traveled extensively throughout the world appearing at jazz festivals and concerts in Europe, Japan, Africa, Canada, South America and the U.S.A. Cutro’s debut release as a leader, Blues for the Optimist, came in 1995 and featured Bob Mintzer, Jim McNeely, Victor Jones, and Mike Richmond. His sophomore release, Aberration, features guitarist Mike Stern, trombonist Bob Farrel, bassist Martin Wind, Sarah Jane Cion on piano, Victor Jones on drums and pianist Mitch Schechter.

Trumpeter Vinnie Cutro continues to compose, record and perform in the New York City area with his new ensemble New York City Soundscape.

More Posts: bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,trumpet

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Art Anton was born on September 8, 1926 in New York City. In the early 40’s he was a private student of Irving Torgman, and was a music major at New York University from 1943 through 1944. He returned for further studies from 1946 through 1947. In between, the Navy grabbed him to play its own military paradiddles. From the late ’40s onward, he began working with leaders such as Herbie Fields, Sonny Dunham, Bobby Byrne, Tommy Reynolds, and Art Wall.

In 1952, he got into the combo of saxophonist Bud Freeman, moving to pianist Ralph Flanagan’s band the following year. Anton’s drumming style stuck closely to straight-ahead jazz swinging or whatever other beat was required. After gigs in 1954 with Jerry Gray and Charlie Barnet, he relocated to the west coast and began freelancing. He performed and recorded with the big band of Stan Kenton to multi-instrumentalist Jimmy Giuffre’s smaller units.

Maintaining steady employment as a jazzman on the stingy Los Angeles, California scene was difficult, and Artie looked for other types of employment. During the ’60s, he turned to selling vacuum cleaners, worked as a private detective, while remaining a highly respected West Coast percussionist.

Drummer and percussionist Art Anton, who is also listed as Artie or Arthur, died on July 27, 2003 in Yakima, Washington.

More Posts: drums,history,instrumental,jazz,music,percussion

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Graeme Emerson Bell was born on September 7, 1914 in Richmond, Victoria, Australia. His father performed musical comedy and music hall on the early Australian Broadcasting Commission radio, and his mother was a contralto recitalist in Dame Nellie Melba’s company.

From the age of 12, Bell had weekly piano lessons in classical music by Jesse Stewart Young, a contemporary of his mother. He attended Scotch College in 1929 and 1930, leaving school at sixteen during the Great Depression and worked for T & G Insurance as a clerk for over nine years, and had a stint as a farm hand. He paid for his own piano lessons for two further years, and in later years he supplemented his income by teaching.

Graeme was converted to jazz by Roger, a drummer, who later became a singer and trumpete. Roger would play 78s on the family’s record player, including Fats Waller’s Handful of Keys. It was in 1935 that he started playing jazz with Roger at Melbourne dances and clubs. By 1941 he fronted his own Graeme Bell Jazz Gang. Unfit for active duty during World War II, he entertained Australian troops, including travelling to Mackay, Queensland in early 1943. After his return to Melbourne, Bell became a full-time professional with the Dixieland Jazz Band.

His first recordings were for William Miller’s Ampersand label in 1943, after which he became leader of the house band for the Eureka Youth League and established a cabaret, the Uptown Club, in 1946. After playing at the inaugural Australian Jazz Convention, Bell’s band was renamed Australian Jazz Band and became the first such band to tour Europe.

The Australian Jazz Band travelled to the United Kingdom in early 1948 and Graeme started the Leicester Square Jazz Club, playing music specifically for dancing, which continued into the 1950s. Many future and contemporary bands were to be influenced by his music. During the early 1950s he periodically returned to UK and Europe to perform, and in 1951 they appeared at Oxford Town Hall with the performance ultimately released as Big Bill Broonzy in Concert with Graeme Bell & his Australian Jazz Band.

Upon returning to Australia he settled in Sydney and became one of the leading promoters of jazz in the country, bringing American performers such as trumpeter Rex Stewart. He played commercial music and taught piano to supplement his income.

Pianist Graeme Bell, wrote Graeme Bell, Australian Jazzman, was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame in 1997 and made over 1,500 recordings, died on June 13, 2012 after suffering from a stroke at 97.

More Posts: bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano