Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Christine Rosholt was born January 3, 1965 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Graduating from the Minneapolis Children’s Theater Company & School, she went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in performance art and photography from the Art Institute of Chicago.
Her training in theater helped her become adept at working and holding a room. She was a consummate entertainer, connecting instantly with her audience, bantering with her band, telling stories, laughing at herself.
She first appeared in theaters as an actress and singer. By the early 2000s she began performing as a jazz vocalist in clubs in her hometown, as the band singer of Beasley’s Big Band. Influences from Anita O’Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Blossom Dearie and Frank Sinatra were prevalent in her delivery.
She recorded and released three full-length CDs between 2006 and 2011, Detour Ahead, Lipstick: Live at the Dakota, and Pazz with British songwriter Kevin Hall, featuring a new direction blending pop, jazz and R&B.
Beyond a packed performance schedule which took her across the twin cities and as far as Fargo, or cramming in rehearsals for fundraisers, she was an avid volunteer, activist, committee member, craftspeople recruiter. Vocalist Christine Rosholt transitioned suddenly on December 27, 2011 in Minneapolis.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Judd Proctor was born Procter on January 2, 1931 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England. He played banjo in his youth and joined a local trio, but switched to guitar in his teens. He won a regional Melody Maker contest in a group, The Zetland Players. By the age of 18 he was conscripted into the Royal Air Force, where he met and was influenced by guitarist Ike Isaacs. After his military service ended, he worked in accountancy for British Rail, but soon left to join a dance band in Nottingham and became a professional musician.
After playing in various bands he joined Ray Ellington’s quartet in 1955, remaining for six years. He appeared on many radio broadcasts including The Goon Show. The early Sixties saw Proctor become a session musician, appearing on recordings by Cliff Richard, Helen Shapiro, The Springfields, Cilla Black, Serge Gainsbourg, Harry Nilsson and many others. In his later years he worked with the Benny Goodman Orchestra. He recorded some instrumentals under his own name, including the 1961 single Palamino/Nola, and a 1968 LP, Guitars Galore.
Judd appeared on many television shows with Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., and Victoria Wood, and on many film soundtracks. The 1960s through the ‘80s had him touring with Stanley Black, a member of the Don Lusher Orchestra, and with the Bert Kaempfert Orchestra. His last and longest regular gig was providing incidental music for the TV comedy series Last of the Summer Wine.
Guitarist and session musician Judd Proctor, whose name was often misspelled on early recordings, transitioned on August 21, 2020 in Market Deeping, Lincolnshire, England at the age of 89.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Helmut Brandt was born in Berlin Germany on January 1, 1931 and began singing in a church choir as a boy. He played violin from age ten before learning saxophone and guitar at a conservatory.
He began playing professionally in 1950 initially as a tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. Brandt switched to baritone in 1954 and led his own group.Through the end of the 1950s he worked in a Berlin radio dance band, and played in the orchestras of Lubo D’Orio and Kurt Widmann.
Baritone saxophonist Helmut Brandt, whose Mainstream Orchestra was popular in Berlin in the 1970s, transitioned from a heart attack on July 26, 2001.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Patt Casion was born on December 31, 1963. She graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and pursued a career that led her around the world, working in multiple genres. Along with playing with her own band, IOC with its rotating membership, she performed regularly in every kind of venue. Her versatility also made her an in-demand musical instructor.
Casion returned to the sound of the 50s and 60s, and introduced African based music into the post bop era music. Her music is also rooted in the Black church gospel idiom as she weaved improvisation into all her music.
Soprano saxophonist Patt Casion, who performed in both gospel and jazz genres, transitioned from cancer in Monterey, California on December 31, 2017. She was 55.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gene Mayl was born in Dayton, Ohio on December 30, 1928. He lived in France after World War II, where he worked with Claude Bolling, Don Byas, and Claude Luter.
In 1948, he formed his own Dixieland revival ensemble, the Dixieland Rhythm Kings, which recorded for London Records and Riverside Records, and was active through the mid-1970s. Among those he worked with in this group were Speckled Red and Terry Waldo.
Mayl worked extensively with George Brunis in the 1960s and 1970s, and also worked with Wild Bill Davison, Billy Maxted, Bob Scobey, and Muggsy Spanier. Double-bassist, tubaist, and vocalist Gene Mayl transitioned on May 5, 2015 in Harrison Township, Ohio.