Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Terry Vosbein was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on February 8, 1957. He received his Masters in Composition from James Madison University and his Doctorate in Composition from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has composed works for orchestra, wind ensembles, chamber ensembles and choirs. He has written works for jazz bands of all sizes and his compositions have been performed all over the world.
His latest release with the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra is titled Fleet Street and is infused with a sense of humor, adding a special dimension that is too often missing in contemporary big band writing. His 2009 Progressive Jazz album also with the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra has garnered critical acclaim.
He has been awarded seven residencies and a fellowship at University College in Oxford, where he composed Masque for Cello and Orchestra. Terry also teaches music composition at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.
For over twenty-five years Vosbein was an active jazz bassist and arranger, performing and arranging for a variety of ensembles, including the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Atlanta Pops. He has performed in a wide range of genres from country western twang to big band swing, disco and country club wallpaper, and continues to play a never ending assortment of jazz combos and studio sessions.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Chris Minh Doky was born on February 7, 1969 in Copenhagen, Denmark of Vietnamese-Danish heritage. He started playing at a young age and as a teenager was discovered by guitarist Mike Stern. He quickly became a sought-after collaborator, joining the bands of the Michael Brecker Quartet, Brecker Brothers, David Sanborn, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and the Mike Stern Band. These collaborations shaped his artistry and connected him to the traditions of jazz.
As a leader, Chris has released numerous albums to widespread acclaim, earning both gold and platinum awards as well as a Grammy nomination. He has established himself as a pioneering voice in contemporary music with projects like The Nomads and New Nordic Jazz.
His passion is a love for the bass and a relentless drive to create new music. His desire to share it with the world pushes his artistry to transcend genres. As a composer Doky’s work include soundtracks for films and collaborations with the ballet companies of Royal Danish Ballet and Twyla Tharp.
Chris was knighted in 2010 by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark due to being recognized for his contributions to the arts. Bassist Chris Minh Doky continues to explore new musical landscapes, blending Nordic serenity with American soul, and redefining the bass as a solo instrument.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bernie Glow was born on February 6, 1926 in New York, New York. During the Second World War while attending The High School of Music & Art he played in bands with Stan Getz, Tiny Khan, Shorty Rogers and George Wallington. Early on his influences were Snooky Young with the Jimmie Lunceford band, and Billy Butterfield with Benny Goodman.
At just sixteen and out of high school, Glow spent a year on the road with the Richard Himber Orchestra. Two years later he performed first with Xavier Cugat and then Raymond Scott on CBS radio. At the end of the war he played lead trumpet with the Artie Shaw band. Following that stint, he worked with Boyd Raeburn.
1949 saw the twenty-three year old retiring from the road after more than a year with Woody Herman and his famous Second Herd. Bernie worked as a trumpet player in big bands, Latin bands and dance orchestras. He performed in theaters, dance halls, night clubs and on the radio around Manhattan. This was the final preparation that launched him into the burgeoning commercial and studio scene.
During the last years of the big-band era his first-call studio work included Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and did thousands of radio and television recording sessions. Many of these studio big-band sessions were led by composer/arrangers Nelson Riddle, Quincy Jones and Oliver Nelson.
Trumpeter and sideman Bernie Glow, who played on the seminal Miles Davis and Gil Evans collaborations Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess, Sketches of Spain, and Quiet Nights, died of a blood disorder in Manhasset, New York at the age of 56 on May 8, 1982.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jacqueline Caryl Dankworth was born on February 5, 1963 in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England to jazz singer Cleo Laine and saxophonist John Dankworth. She attended St. Christopher School in Hertfordshire and is an alumna and fellow of Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
She worked as an actress with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and in West End theatre. She played Cinderella in the musical Into the Woods and appeared in the film Shoreditch, singing the song My Man by Billie Holiday.
2003 saw Dankworth releasing her debut album As the Sun Shines Down On Me on Candid Records. This album brought her to the attention of Michael Parkinson and BBC Radio 2, and she appeared regularly on air throughout that year.
She was featured on Courtney Pine’s album Devotion, and performed with him at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the London Jazz Festival. Her sophomore album with the 2004 release, Detour Ahead. Since then she has recorded a total of seven albums.
She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to music. Vocalist Jacqui Dankworth continues to perform, tour and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alejandro Vargas Rodríguez was born on February 4, 1980 in Havana, Cuba and started his musical studies at six years old, receiving lessons from Joel Rodríguez Milord, Ulises Hernández and Harold Gramatges. These continued until he graduated as a concert pianist from the University ISA (Instituto Superior de Arte) in Havana. He completed his studies with different seminars led by Herbie Hancock, Chucho Valdés, Danilo Pérez or Jorge Luis Prats.
When he was 20 he recorded his first album Calor, performing the arrangements of Benny Moré compositions. He began his jazz career performing at the Festival Jazz Plaza while attending college.
Forming his first jazz trio he competed in the 2001 in the Jojazz competition winning 1st Prize. Two years later his band Alejandro Vargas and Oriental Quartet is one of the most recognized in the country. With this fame he began touring internationally and his album Trapiche recorded in was awarded the best jazz jazz album of the year in Cubadisco contest in 2008.
Experimenting with a wide range of styles he moves from abstract to traditional where jazz standards and popular Cuban music are taken to the aesthetic of free improvisation. His trio plays between the contemporary and the afrocuban. For two years in 2006 he was a professor of Harmony and Popular Piano at the University of Havana and worked as a composer of audio visual and documentary at the school of international cinema of San Antonio de los Baños.
Developing an intense work on free improvisation and free jazz, he continually explores new horizons. Pianist Alejandro Vargas Rodríguez is currently recording a new trio album across different landscapes from the sonority of the oriental organ evoking the rural Cuban fields to mambo to the blues to Monk’s minimalism.
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