Daily Dose Of Jazz…

David William Sanborn was born July 30, 1945 in Tampa, Florida where his father was stationed in the US Air Force, and grew up in Kirkwood, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Contracting polio at the age of three and confined to an iron lung for a year, the polio left him with impaired respiration and his left arm shorter than the right.

While confined to bed he was inspired by the saxophone breaks in songs he heard on the radio by Fats Domino’s Ain’t That a Shame and Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti. At the age of eleven David changed to saxophone from piano lessons when doctors recommended that he take up a wind instrument to improve his breathing and strengthen his chest muscles. By 14 he was good enough to play with blues Albert King and Little Milton in local clubs. Alto saxophonist Hank Crawford was an early and lasting influence.

Sanborn studied free jazz in his youth with saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Julius Hemphill. He continued his education at Northwestern University and transferred to the University of Iowa, where he played and studied with saxophonist J.R. Monterose. In 1967 he took a Greyhound bus to San Francisco, California to join the Summer of Love, and was invited to sit in on a session with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and stayed with the band for five years. He went on to play with the Brecker Brothers, Al Jarreau, and Tim Berne.

Finding life on the road increasingly difficult he continued to tour, was active as a session musician, and played on numerous albums by artists including Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Sting, the Eagles, Rickie Lee Jones, James Brown, George Benson, Carly Simon, Elton John, Bryan Ferry and the Rolling Stones.

As a leader he recorded twenty-five albums and his discography as composer and sideman is extensive and includes videos, television and film. Sanborn won six Grammy Awards and had eight gold albums and one platinum album and was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Alto saxophonist David Sanborn, who was known primarily as a smooth jazz musician, died of complications from prostate cancer in Tarrytown, New York on May 12, 2024.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Patricia Dean was born on July 29th in Tampa, Florida and was surrounded by music while growing up.  Her brother played bass and father played lead alto saxophonist in the big band of guitarist Bobby Sherwood, and was also a pianist, composer and clarinetist. Her greatest influence was singer/drummer Karen Carpenter.

She got her first drum set and  began studying privately and really playing, at the age of 11. She played her first professional job with her father and brother when she was 14. Citing Sarah Vaughan, Shirley Horn, Nancy Wilson and Julie London as among her singing influences, and names Ed Thigpen, Jack DeJohnette, Tony Williams and Sonny Payne for her drumming.

Through the years she has worked with Nat Adderley, Ira Sullivan, Whitey Mitchell, Bobby Militello and the late John LaPorta. Vocalist and drummer Patricia Dean continues to pursue her career in southwest Florida.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

David Silliman was born on July 28, 1960 and raised in the San Francisco, California bay area where he was exposed to a wide variety of music. His first studies were in the classical field, studying snare drum, xylophone and timpani. He was later exposed to Jazz, Latin Jazz, Brazilian and Funk music. His current setup varies from the standard American drum set augmented with a South American cajon, drums from the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean along with various other percussion instruments.

He hass performed on the stages of European and American jazz festivals,  and spent years playing with Blossom Dearie as a member of her trio. He has toured with Al DiMeola, Cassandra Wilson, Leslie Uggams, Mariah Carey, Edmar Castaneda, and performed with Aretha Franklin. He is no stranger to the Broadway pit or the New Jersey Symphony, having sat in the chairs of both.

Drummer and percussionist David Silliman, who has yet to record as a leader, continues to perform.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Charlie Queener was born in Pineville, Kentucky on July 27, 1921 or 1923, the actual year of his birth is in question. During the Forties he worked with the Muggsy Spanier Orchestra, Harry James Orchestra, Benny Goodman Orchestra, Joe Marsala Orchestra, and Glen Gray among others.

Between 1946-50 Queener settled into Nick’s in New York and then spent much of his career freelancing with Dixieland all-stars. Among his associations were Bobby Hackett, Billy Butterfield, Jimmy McPartland, Ruby Braff, Max Kaminsky, Wingy Manone from 1954 to 1960, Wild Bill Davison and with Clarence Hutchenrider on and off from 1958 to 1973, to name a few.

He worked into the 1990s, also composed orchestral works starting in the mid-1960s but never led a record session of his own. Pianist Charlie Queener, who played in Dixieland, swing and mainstream settings, died in July 1997.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Rubén “Baby” López Fürst was born July 26, 1937 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From the age of five he studied music and piano, and was soon attracted to jazz. In 1951 the 14 year old Ruben got the nickname Baby from the other musicians because he was a child. He made his debut on the jazz scene performing at the concerts organized by the Hot Club de Buenos Aires.

In 1953 Baby played in a string ensemble led by the López Fürst brothers who performed a jazz concert at the Provincial Hotel in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. With his brother Héctor on banjo and him on piano they created the Hot Jammers group and made two 78-single records for Victor. He went on to be part of the Dixie band, The Picking Up Timers.

In 1957 the big succes of Oscar Alemán inspired Baby to leave the piano and take up the guitar, trying to emulate one of his idols: Django Reinhardt. Then began regular performances with a string-group named the Blue Strings. It was a quartet in the vein of gypsy string swing.

Modern jazz captivated him in 1959, when he listened to Gerry Mulligan at the Hot Club de Montevideo in Uruguay. Trying to play those new sounds, in 1962 he joined the modern group of pianist Sergio Mihanovich. On the two albums recorded in 1962, the work began Argentine cool jazz with saxophonist Leandro “Gato” Barbieri, Sergio Mihanovich on piano, drummer Osvaldo “Pichi” Mazzei, trumpeter Rubén Barbieri, Oscar López Ruiz on electric guitar, Rubén López Furst on piano, Domingo Cura on percussion, Osvaldo Bissio vibráphone, and baritone saxophonist Julio Darré.

Fürst is one of the most important pianists in the history of Argentinean jazz and opted to stay in Buenos Aires and make a name for himself at home unlike his counterparts Barbieri and Lalo Schiffrin. He played for over 20 years, mainly with his own trio or quartet.

The hard bop musician also formed a swing group. Pianist and guitarist Baby Fürst, whose primary influences were Teddy Wilson and Bill Evans, died on July 26, 2000 at the age of 63 in Buenos Aires.

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