Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Edgar “Puddinghead” Battle was born on October 3, 1907 into a musical family in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1921 while a student at Morris Brown University he started playing trumpet and formed his own band, the Dixie Serenaders. A few years later the group changed their name to Dixie Ramblers.
Battle played with Eddie Heywood Sr., and toured with the 101 Ranch Boys traveling show. During the 1920s he worked with Gene Coy, Andy Kirk, Blanche Calloway, Ira Coffey, and Willie Bryant. A move to New York City in the early Thirties saw him doing short stints with Benny Carter and Sam Wooding before joining George White’s ensemble on Broadway.
Over time, he began doing more work as a studio musician and arranger, writing charts for Cab Calloway, Paul Whiteman, Fats Waller, Earl Hines, Rudy Vallee, and Count Basie. During World War II, Edgar held a position as an electrician in a shipyard, while simultaneously running a big band with Shirley Clay.
In the 1950s, he founded Cosmopolitan Records and continued to play in big bands part-time through the 1960s. Among his numerous jazz compositions are the pieces Topsy, co-composed with Eddie Durham and Doggin’ Around with Herschel Evans.
Trumpeter, trombonist, saxophonist and pianist Edgar “Puddinghead” Battle, who was also a composer and arranger, transitioned in New York City on February 6, 1977, at the age of 69.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Barbara Paris was born on October 2, 1954 in Denver, Colorado and from an early age listened to Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Mel Torme and Frank Sinatra. Constantly listening to the radio she memorized every song she heard. She sang with her church choir, played violin, took piano lessons and began playing the guitar at 15. She started out singing folk music but gravitated to jazz.
After high school graduation at 16, she moved to Boulder, Colorado and began a successful hairdresser career. However, it was on vacation in St. Thomas that she met Louis Armstrong veteran Eddie Shu and subsequent encouragement led her to the stage.
Barbara made her debut as a jazz singer while in Paris, France. There an acquaintance told her about Denver resident pianist Joe Bonner and upon her return tracked him down and a 23 year musical partnership commenced. She has worked with Freddie Hubbard, Junior Mance, Joe Pass, and recorded with Nancy Wilson’s rhythm section, pianist Llew Matthews, bassist John B. Williams and drummer Roy McCurdy, among numerous others.
Vocalist Barbara Paris continues to pursue performing, composing, recording, and clinics.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Graham Burbridge was born on October 1, 1933 in Stepney, London, England. He started drumming about the age of six, playing things like British Grenadiers with Boy Scouts Bands. It was only after the war when he was around twelve that he found jazz and progressed from Spike Jones through Spanier, Bunk Johnson to Lennie Tristano. It was a fairly rapid musical education that sat him on the modern side of the fence in his genre choice.
Graham played drums in the RAF with a Military Band, but also managed to get into the dance band. Back in civilian life in 1954 he worked a daytime job and played in a trio in the evening with Pete Elderfield and Maurice Hinson. His early interests in jazz led him to all the clubs, sitting in whenever he could. One night in Humph’s he was invited to play with the Sandy Brown Band and the next day was asked to join the band full time, and his professional career took off. He played with Brown until Sandy retired.
Joining the Chris Barber Band in 1957 was fortuitous, as the relationship lasted nearly two decades. Off stage Burbridge’s interests ran towards new and antique guns, and building model aircraft, something that had been a part of his life for a long time. His interest in guns was a new endeavor but also helped to re-energize and replace the nervous energy used on stage.
Drummer Graham Burbridge transitioned in 2003.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
William Luther Johnson was born on September 30, 1912 in Jacksonville, Florida and studied piano as a child and began playing the alto saxophone at the age of 16. After working with lesser-known bands he studied in conservatories in Wisconsin and Illinois before attending Marquette University.
While in Milwaukee, Wisconsin he played with Jabbo Smith and others. He worked with Baron Lee and Tiny Bradshaw, and in 1936 joined Erskine Hawkins, with whom he performed into the early 1940s, recording with him from 1939 to 1942. He composed Tuxedo Junction with Hawkins and appeared with the band in the short film Deviled Hams in 1937.
Around mid-1946 he recorded under Bill Johnson and Orchestra, with several of the members becoming the Musical Notes. Bill Johnson and the Musical Notes recorded for Harlem, RCA, King, Regal, Tru-Blue.He recorded for Ronnex as the Bill Johnson Quartet, and the Bill Johnson Quintet for Baton. Over the years, there were many personnel changes, but Bill and Gus Gordon were on all the recordings.
In the Fifties failing health caused the breakup of the group, although he re-formed it on a couple of occasions. Alto saxophonist, clarinetist, and arranger Bill Johnson, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1957, transitioned on July 5, 1960 at 47 years old in New York City.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bob Reynolds was born in Morristown, New Jersey on September 29, 1977. His family moved to Jacksonville, Florida where he started playing saxophone at age 13. Attending high school at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts he became part of the well-known jazz band. After graduating, he attended Berklee College of Music where he studied with George Garzone and Hal Crook.
He played with John Mayer’s band for five years, then worked with Brian Blade, Aaron Goldberg, Gregory Hutchinson, and Tom Harrell. A solo recording artist since the turn of the century, his 2006 album Can’t Wait for Perfect was voted Best Debut in the Village Voice jazz poll.
As a member of the popular genre-bending instrumental group Snarky Puppy since 2014, he has won Grammy Awards with the band for the albums Culcha Vulcha and Live at the Royal Albert Hall.
Tenor saxophonist Bob Reynolds has received four ASCAP Young Jazz Composer awards, and Berklee’s Billboard Magazine Endowed Scholarship, and continues to performa and record.
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