Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Born in Boggs, Oklahoma on December 7, 1906, George James began his career late in the 1920s, in the bands of Charlie Creath and Johnny Neal. Moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1928, he played with Jimmie Noone, Sammy Stewart, Ida Marples, Jabbo Smith, and Bert Hall.
In 1931 on into 1932 he toured with Louis Armstrong, then remained in New York City at the end of the tour. He went on to join the Savoy Bearcats and, later, Charlie Turner’s Arcadians. Fats Waller assumed leadership of the Arcadians in the middle of the decade, and James played under him until 1937.
Finishing the Thirties decade playing in the Blackbirds Revue, in the early 1940s George worked with James P. Johnson, Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson, and Lucky Millinder. He led his own band in 1943-44 and later in the decade he played with Claude Hopkins and Noble Sissle.
He was active both as a leader and a sideman into the 1970s, playing with Clyde Bernhardt and the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band in that decade. Saxophonist, clarinetist, and flautist George James passed away on January 30, 1995 in Columbus, Ohio.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Fulton “Fidgy” McGrath was born in Superior, Wisconsin on December 6, 1907. He played with Red Nichols early in the 1930s, then joined the band of the Dorsey boys and worked on their studio recordings and radio broadcasts.. Additionally he worked extensively as a studio musician and in radio orchestras.
From 1935-37 McGrath played in Lennie Hayton’s radio ensemble, before playing later in the decade with Bunny Berigan, Joe Venuti, and Chauncey Morehouse. After spending time in an NBC orchestra, he moved to the West Coast around 1943, where he became a first-call studio musician who worked on film soundtracks in Hollywood.
His compositions include Shim Sham Shimmy and Mandy Is Two, the latter of which was recorded by Billie Holiday.
Pianist and songwriter Fidgy McGrath passed away at the age of 51 on January 1, 1958 in Los Angeles, California.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Eugene Sufana Allen was born on December 5, 1928 in East Chicago, Indiana. He began playing clarinet and piano as a child, and was playing with Louis Prima at age 15 in 1944. He stayed in Prima’s band until 1947, then worked with Claude Thornhill for two years in 1949, and from 1951 to 1953 he played with Tex Beneke.
In 1953 he began playing with the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra, playing with them intermittently until 1961, and also worked with Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Hal McKusick in the 1950s. Toward the end of the decade, and into the early 1960s, Gene worked with Gerry Mulligan, Manny Albam, Woody Herman, Thelonious Monk, and Bob Brookmeyer.
His later associations include work with Urbie Green, Mundell Lowe, Rod Levitt, and Rusty Dedrick. In the calendar year of 1963, Allen successfully played in and recorded with the big bands of Benny Goodman, Thelonious Monk, and Woody Herman.
Baritone saxophonist and bass clarinetist Gene Allen passed away on February 14, 2008.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Herman Autrey was born into a musical family on December 4, 1904 in Evergreen, Alabama. He played alto horn before taking up trumpet as a teenager and performed locally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Florida. After Florida, he went on to work in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York City, where he played with Charlie Johnson in 1933.
He became well known through Fats Waller, who hired him in 1934 after signing a contract with Victor Records. He played with the drummer Harry Dial, guitarist Al Casey, and reedist Gene Sedric. Autrey went on to record extensively with Waller, Fletcher Henderson, and Claude Hopkins.
Into the 1940s Herman worked as a sideman with Stuff Smith, Sammy Price, and Una Mae Carlisle and his ensembles sometimes included pianist Herbie Nichols. By the early 1950s he was hurt in a car crash, sidelining his career for a year. He played with Saints & Sinners in the 1960s, including on their 1968/69 tours of Europe. In 1969, he played with Buzzy Drootin’s Jazz Family, which included Benny Morton, Herb Hall, pianist Sonny Drootin, and bassist Eddie Gibbs.
In the Seventies, he began to lose his playing capacity and spent more time as a vocalist. Trumpeter Herman Autrey passed away on June 14, 1980 in New York, at the age of 75.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Laurie Haines Reese was born on December 3, 1961 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A sojourn to Miami, Florida she studied at the University of Miami~Coral Gables, earning a Bachelor in Music Performance, then a Master of Music Performance degree from the University of Southern California~Los Angeles, she studied the advanced classical cello repertoire with Eleanor Schoenfeld.
She played both classical & jazz, performing regularly with Ira Sullivan & Strings Attached. She also free-lanced extensively, playing in various symphony orchestras, doing studio work and working with a string quartet & a flute quartet.
Following her graduate work in Los Angeles, she went to Maui to work full-time as a professional musician. While there, she co-founded a trio called Chamber Jazz Maui, along with Jazlynn Woods & Tim O’Hara, that performed a variety of repertoire “from Bach to Beatles.” From there, she spent six months in Seattle, before heading back home to Pennsylvania where she has remained and co-founded The Reese Project with her husband Tom reese..
Adept and equally comfortable in the recording studio and on stage, Laurie has been performing professionally since she was seventeen years old. She has been nominated for a Grammy and recorded with several bands. Cellist Laurie Reese continues her session work..
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