Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Sunny Murray was born James Marcellus Arthur Murray on September 21, 1936 in Idabel, Oklahoma and was raised by an uncle who later died after being refused treatment at a hospital because of his race. He began playing drums at the age of nine, however, during his teen years he lived in a rough part of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and spent two years in a reformatory.
By 1956, he was in New York City working in a car wash and as a building superintendent. During this time, he played with among others, trumpeters Red Allen and Ted Curson, pianist Willie “The Lion” Smith, and saxophonists Rocky Boyd and Jackie McLean. 1959 saw him playing for the first time with pianist Cecil Taylor and subsequently turned his direction towards experimenting with creative new ideas. In 1961, Murray made a recording with Taylor’s group that was released under the auspices of Gil Evans as one side of Into the Hot.
In 1962 Sunny went to Europe for the first time with Taylor and saxophonist Jimmy Lyons. During that time, the group made a stylistic breakthrough while in Sweden and started playing free. While in Denmark later that year, the trio recorded the influential concerts released as Nefertiti the Beautiful One Has Come.
That same year Taylor and Murray met saxophonist Albert Ayler, with whom the group recorded together for Danish television as the Cecil Taylor Unit. Upon their return to the United States, the group performed at the Take Three club in Greenwich Village and at Philharmonic Hall, Lincoln Center in New York City on New Year’s Eve 1963 as the Cecil Taylor Jazz Unit, with a healthy Grimes on bass.
Continuing to play with Ayler, Sunny went on to join Ayler’s trio with bassist Gary Peacock. He recorded a number of albums with Ayler, and his unchained approach to percussion gave Ayler the freedom to travel his own road that had hitherto been lacking. In 1964 he played with John Coltrane, however, declined the offer to join the band.
He recorded his debut album as a leader in 1965 with Sonny’s Time Now, which was released on Leroi Jones’s Jihad label. This was followed by twenty more leader albums on various labels until 2011 with the recording of Boom Boom Cat. Over the course of his career he would record as a sideman for a host of musicians, but his final recording session as a sideman was Corona, once again teamed with Cecil Taylor, released posthumously in 2018. Drummer Sunny Murray, who had a documentary made in 2008 titled Sunny’s Time Now: A Portrait of Jazz Drummer Sunny Murray, transitioned on December 7, 2017 from multiple organ failure at the age of 81.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joseph Luke Guy was born in Birmingham, Alabama on September 20, 1920 but much of his early personal life is obscured. He began his professional music career performing in New York City, and joined Fats Waller’s backup band in the late 1930s. Following that, in 1938, he succeeded Dizzy Gillespie in Teddy Hill’s orchestra.
Patterning his playing style after his musical role model, Roy Eldridge, despite his range, speed, and potential, Joe never managed to surpass Eldridge’s abilities, though he was considered a musical talent when taking into account his young age.
In 1940 he became a key soloist in Coleman Hawkins’ short-lived big band. 1941–42 saw Guy as a regular performer as a member of the after-hours band at Minton’s Playhouse alongside Nick Fenton, Kenny Clarke, and Thelonious Monk in jam sessions with early bop music. During this period he was actively involved in numerous recordings by Jerry Newman, and also appeared on songs by Charlie Christian, Hot Lips Page, Roy Eldridge, and Don Byas.
Incorporating Gillespie’s influences into his playing, Joe’s performance on Monk’s 1942 song Epistrophy is arguably the highlight of his recording career. Much of his appearances as an instrumentalist are marked by his enthusiasm and tempo, however, on occasions would over exert himself and consequently sound erratic.
Struggling with a heroin addiction throughout the majority of his brief career, in 1945–46 Guy was involved with Billie Holiday both professionally and intimately. When they were both busted for drug possession, the two cut ties thereafter. Afterwards, sidelined him from further success, he moved back to his hometown and fell into relative obscurity among the music industry.
Trumpeter Joe Guy, who performed locally in his hometown and advised others about the dangers of his addiction, transitioned on June 1, 1962, at the age of 41.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Cuong Vu was born on September 19, 1969 in Saigon, Vietnam and immigrated to Seattle with his family when he was six. At 11 he began to play the trumpet and later received a scholarship from the New England Conservatory of Music.
After graduation, in 1994 Vu moved to New York City and formed the group Ragged Jack with Jamie Saft, Andrew D’Angelo, and Jim Black. Since that time he has worked with Laurie Anderson, David Bowie, Dave Douglas, Myra Melford, Gerry Hemingway, and Mitchell Froom.
While a member of the Pat Metheny Group, he won two Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Jazz Album: Speaking of Now and The Way Up. Cuong worked with Metheny mainly as a trumpeter, but also contributed vocals, guitar and various small percussion.
As an educator, he serves as chair and professor in the jazz studies department of the University of Washington’s School of Music. Trumpeter Cuong Vu has recorded eleven albums as a leader, thirty-three as a sideman, and continues to lead his own band with bassist Stomu Takeishi and drummer Ted Poor.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Steve Marcus was born September 18, 1939 in The Bronx, New York, and studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts between 1959 and 1961. He gained experience playing in the bands of Stan Kenton, Herbie Mann and Larry Coryell from 1963 to 1973.
His debut album as a leader included an arrangement of the Beatles’ song, Tomorrow Never Knows, which also was the album’s title. He worked with jazz drummer Buddy Rich for the last twelve years of the drummer’s life. After Rich died, Marcus led the band and renamed it Buddy’s Buddies.
Saxophonist Steve Marcus transitioned on September 25, 2005 in New Hope, Pennsylvania. He was 66.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bill McKinney was born William McKinney on September 17, 1895 in Cynthiana, Kentucky. Early in his career he worked as a drummer in a circus band until he was inducted into the Army in World War I. After service, he settled in Springfield, Ohio where he took over leadership of the Synco Jazz Band.
After hiring drummer Cuba Austin, McKinney worked as leader and business manager. After touring the U.S. Midwest, they got a residency at the Arcadia Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan in 1926. While there, they were heard by bandleader and music promoter Jean Goldkette, who arranged a more lucrative home base for the band in Detroit’s Graystone Ballroom. The band was renamed McKinney’s Cotton Pickers.
During the Great Depression the band broke up in 1934 and Bill led and played with a dance band in Boston, Massachusetts for a time. From 1937 on McKinney managed a Detroit Cafe with a dance floor and live bands who McKinney booked, while booking bands for other locations on the side.
Drummer Bill McKinney retired in the 1950s and spent his last years in his childhood hometown of Cynthiana, where he transitioned on October 14, 1969 at 74.
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