Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frank Guarente was born Francisco Saverio Guarente on October 5, 1893 in Montemiletto, Italy and received formal training in music before emigrating to America in 1910. He settled in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where a brother of his lived.
Relocating to New Orleans, Louisiana in 1914, where he took a job in a bank and associated with ethnically Italian musicians such as Nick LaRocca and Tony Parenti. He met King Oliver and eventually started getting gigs with New Orleans brass bands. He played at Tom Anderson’s club and toured Texas under the name Ragtime Frank with his ensemble, the Alabama Five.
Serving in the United States Army during World War I in 1917, then played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Charlie Kerr and Eddie Lang. Putting together his own group in 1921 in New York City, which included Arthur Schutt and Chauncey Morehouse. Soon after, Paul Specht picked his players up to join a larger orchestra, and Guarente played with Specht on European tours through 1924.
Leading a Specht side group called The Georgians, they recorded between 1922 and 1924 in the style of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. He left Specht in 1924, to form his own group, The New Georgians, that toured Europe and remained active until 1927. This he followed by working in England with the Savoy Orpheans and ensembles associated with Bert Firman.
Returning to the United States in 1928, he joined Specht’s orchestra again, playing until 1930. He joined Victor Young’s band in 1930, remaining there until 1936, and also played with Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, Bing Crosby, and The Boswell Sisters on record and radio. In 1937 ill health forced him to stop performing and on July 21, 1942 in New York City, trumpeter, composer and bandleader Frank Guarente transitioned at the age of 48.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Greely Walton was born in Mobile, Alabama on October 4, 1904. He played violin in his youth before settling on saxophone, and went on to study music at the University of Pittsburgh in the 1920s.
During the 1920s he first worked with Elmer Snowden, then with Benny Carter. For seven years beginning in 1930 he played with Luis Russell during which time they served as Louis Armstrong’s backing ensemble. After leaving Russell in 1938 he worked with Vernon Andrade, and in the Forties he worked with Horace Henderson, Cootie Williams, and Cab Calloway.
From 1945-47 he acted as musical director for The Ink Spots, and played with Noble Sissle and Sy Oliver towards the end of the decade. In the Fifties he worked in radio and television in the 1950s.
Retiring from music before the end of the decade, tenor saxophonist Greely Walton transitioned on October 9, 1993 in New York City.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Nancy Harrow was born October 3, 1930 in New York City, New York and studied classical piano beginning at age seven, then decided to pursue careers in dancing and singing.
In 1961 Nancy released her debut album Wild Women Don’t Have The Blues for Candid Records. It featured Kenny Burrell, Buck Clayton, Dickie Wells, and Milt Hinton. Her sophpomore album for Atlantic Records two years later titled You Never Know featured John Lewis, Dick Katz, Phil Woods, Jim Hall, Richard Davis, and Connie Kay. She then left music to raise a family.
Since her return in 1975 she has worked with Katz and Woods, Clark Terry, Roland Hanna, and Bob Brookmeyer. She recorded albums based on The Lost Lady by Willa Cather, The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Winter Dreams, based on the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Two of Harrow’s songs have been adapted, one to a puppet show and one to The Cat Who Went to Heaven, based on a story by Elizabeth Coatsworth. The latter had short New York City runs at the Mercer Street Theater, the Asia Society, the Harlem School of the Arts, the Kennedy Center and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Singer and songwriter Nancy Harrow, who has recorded eighteen albums as a leader on a collaboration with John Lewis, continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Kobi Yakob Arad was born on October 2, 1981 and raised in Haifa, Israel. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Tel Aviv University and became the first musician to earn a doctorate in contemporary improvisation and third stream from the New England Conservatory of Music.
While living in Israel, Kobi participated as a keyboardist in a trio with Asaf Sirkis and Gabriel Mayer in the 1990s. He collaborated with Stevie Wonder and his manager Stephanie Andrews at the Berklee Performance Center in 2005.
Between 2009 and 2015 Arad released Sparks of Understanding, The Experience Project, Webern Re-Visioned, and Superflow which is a collaboration with Roy Ayers, featuring bassist Jonathan Levy.
He went on to record a tribute album Ellington Upside Down with the Kobi Arad Band. The album’s mashup of “Take The ‘A’ Train” and “It Ain’t Mean a Thing” was nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental at the 17th Independent Music Awards in 2019. His album Segments went on to win Best Jazz Instrumental in the album category at the same event.
In 2021 he won the Independent Music Artist award in Best Jazz for his performance of Thelonious Monk’s Bemsha Swing at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards. Pianist, vocalist, composer, and music producer Kobi Arad, who has collaborated with Stevie Wonder, Cindy and Carlos Santana, and Jack DeJohnette, continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Johnny Meijer was born Jan Cornelis Meijer on October 1, 1912 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Widely recognized as a virtuoso jazz accordionist not only did he play popular songs but also fast swing numbers. In 1974 he recorded the Dutch Swing College Band’s Johnny Goes Dixie LP, which went gold.
He will also be remembered for his proficiency with classical and folk music in his native city. was typically seen during performances with a cigar in his mouth. He was a major influence on French accordionist Richard Galliano.
Unfortunately, due to his short temper and drinking, during the last years of his life, Meijer was rarely invited to play large performances, mainly in connection with his short temper and his drinking, the King of the Accordion saw out his final days mostly in silence, occasionally playing weddings and parties.
The subject of a film, Amsterdam erected a statue to the musician. Accordionist Johnny Meijer, who celebrated his 75th birthday at the North Sea Jazz Festival, transitioned on January 8, 1992 in Amsterdam.
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