Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Saul Rubin was born in New York, New York on October 30, 1950. He studied at Hartt College in Hartford, Connecticut and was taught by jazz masters. He graduated with a Undergraduate Degree in Composition in 1980.
An accomplished guitarist Saul’s career has taken him around the world as well as occupying a place in the New York jazz scene as a musician, producer, impresario and personality. He is a regular member of Roy Hargrove’s Big Band sitting in the guitar seat as well as writing charts for the band.
He has shared the stage and studio with Sonny Rollins, Kirk Lightsey, Victor Lewis, Jonathan Batiste, Bob Cranshaw, Gregory Porter, Renee Fleming, John Hicks, Johnny O’Neal, Hank Jones, Frank Wess, Candido, Winard Harper, Larry Willis, Eric Revis, Sherman Irby, Thomas Chapin, Lew Soloff, and countless others.
Rubin has produced countless recordings and live shows, has run his infamous long- running weekly Jazz Vocalist Series at his ZEB’S performance space and studio, and has played host to many of the world’s greatest jazz artists. This intimate “loft Jazz” style venue became a go-to place for musicians in New York from 2009 to 2016.
His last album as a bandleader aptly entitled, Zeb’s House, is a tribute to the community of great artists, showcasing both his irrepressible sense of humor as well as his signature gritty, purposeful, urbane sensibility, throughout a mix of both originals and standards.
Guitarist, composer and producer Saul Rubin continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Rolland Pierce “Rollie” Culver was born on October 29, 1908 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. His first entry into professional entertainment was as a tap dancer, but after 1930 he concentrated on drumming.
He played in the territory band of Heinie Beau for most of the 1930s, then, in 1941, began playing with Red Nichols. He drummed behind Nichols for more than twenty years, working with him right up to Nichols’s death in 1965.
Other associations include work with Jack Delaney and Raymond Burke. He became a session musician for film soundtracks. Drummer Rollie Culver transitioned on December 8, 1984 in Culver City, California.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Glen Moore born October 28, 1941 in Portland, Oregon. His performing career began at age 14 with the Young Oregonians in Portland, where he met and played with Native American saxophonist Jim Pepper.
He graduated with a degree in History and Literature from the University of Oregon. His formal bass instruction started after college with Jerome Magil in Portland, James Harnett in Seattle, Washington and Gary Karr in New York, Plough Christenson in Copenhagen, Ludwig Streicher in Vienna, Austria and Francois Rabbath in Hawaii.
His main instrument is an upright bass which was made by Klotz in Tyrol, Austria around 1715. Moore is a founding member of Oregon, but also worked regularly with Rabih Abou-Khalil, Vasant Rai, Nancy King and Larry Karush.
Double bassist Glen Moore, who occasionally performs on piano, flute and violin, continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Elmon Wright was born on October 27, 1929 in Kansas City, Missouri to trumpeter Lammar Wright Sr. and the brother of trumpeter Lammar Wright Jr. Following in his father’s and brother’s footsteps, he learned to play the trumpet.
Wright played with Don Redman early in his career, then with Dizzy Gillespie’s first big band in 1945. He then went on to play with Roy Eldridge and then went back to Gillespie’s band, touring and recording with him from 1946 until 1950.
He toured with Earl Bostic for a year in 1954, then worked as a freelance musician in New York City, performing at the Apollo Theater in Harlem with R&B and rock groups. He played with Buddy Rich and Earle Warren in 1959 and recorded with Milt Jackson in 1963. Trumpeter Elmon Wright transitioned in 1984.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Cocuzzi was born in Camp Springs, Maryland on Andrews Air Force Base on October 26, 1964. Taking a very early interest in playing drums, immediately after graduating from high school, in 1982 he attended Montgomery Junior College in Rockville, Maryland as an applied percussion major. While there he also studied arranging with Bill Potts, who wrote for Buddy Rich and others.
Towards the end of the decade he had established himself, performing in and around the nation’s capital. During these years, in addition to playing drums, Cocuzzi also played piano and vibraphone, gradually advancing his skills on the latter instrument until it became the dominant force in his impressive arsenal.
The early 90s saw John appearing at numerous festivals across the country, as well as Belgium and the Netherlands. Throughout his career he has mainly led his own small groups and has also played piano with the swing, blues and jump band, Big Joe And The Dynaflows, led by Big Joe Maher.
He has worked and/or recorded with Howard Alden, Joe Ascione, Louie Bellson, Bobby Gordon, Chuck Hedges, Nat King Cole, Milt Hinton, Dick Hyman, Russell Malone, Ken Peplowski, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Houston Person, Eddie Locke, Barbara Morrison, Peter Appleyard, Russell Malone, Ed Polcer, Daryl Sherman, Warren and Allan Vaché, Johnny Varro, Bob Wilber and Snooky Young. A dynamic and swinging drummer, Cocuzzi is a fluently inventive improviser on piano. His vibraphone playing ably blends the urgent thrust he displays in his drumming with the fluid grace of his piano playing.
On radio, Cocuzzi recorded a session for NPR’s “Riverwalk: Live at The Landing” with the Jim Cullum Band. It was a tribute to Benny Goodman, The Swing Shift: Jazz on Late-Night Radio, and featured Allan Vaché on clarinet with Nicholas Payton on trumpet.
For 15 years, he was the music director for the 219 Restaurant’s Basin Street Lounge in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia. He was also music director for the Crystal City Jazz Celebration from 2003 to 2006.
Jazz, blues and swing vibraphonist, pianist and drummer John Cocuzzi, whose influences are Lionel Hampton and Red Norvo, continues to perform
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