Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Irving “Irv” Cottler was born February 13, 1918 in Brooklyn, New York. He would become a sometime member of Los Angeles, California based The Wrecking Crew, who recorded with Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore, Ella Fitzgerald, and many others.
Best known as the drummer for Frank Sinatra, with whom he worked for over 30 years beginning in 1955, Irv’s first recording session with Sinatra was in October 1955 on ‘Love Is Here To Stay’ and he played on many of the remaining Songs For Swingin’ Lovers tracks, alternating with Alvin Stoller.
From 1956 on, Irv was Sinatra’s preferred drummer and played a world tour with Sinatra during 1962, as well as on his many TV recordings. He also performed for twelve years with The Dinah Shore Show house band.
Drummer Irv Cottler passed away of a heart attack on August 8, 1989 in Templeton, California at the age of 71.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bernard Privin was born of Jewish ancestry on February 12, 1919 in New York City. An autodidact on trumpet, he played professionally while in his teens. When he was 13, he bought a trumpet the day after he heard Louis Armstrong perform.
In 1937 Berniee became a member of Harry Reser’s band, and in the same year also worked with Bunny Berigan and Tommy Dorsey. The following year, he joined the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and then worked with Charlie Barnet, Mal Hallett, and Benny Goodman. Drafted in 1943 Bernie played from 1943 to 1946 with the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band in Europe.
Returning to the United States, he worked with Goodman once more, then became a staff musician for radio and television, working with NBC and then CBS, the latter well into the 1960s. Concomitantly he played as a session musician, especially with Goodman throughout the 1950s, as well as for musicians such as Sy Oliver and Al Caiola.
Privin played frequently in Europe from the Sixties onward, playing in Sweden multiple times in the decade, and was a member of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, under the direction of Warren Covington and Pee Wee Erwin, for tours of Europe in the mid-1970s. He was a member of the New York Jazz Repertory Company when it toured the Soviet Union in 1975.
Trumpeter Bernie Privin passed away on October 8, 1999 in the city of his birth.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
My social distancing and masks continues amidst the on-going vaccinations. This week the album I’m puting on the turntable is an album from a member of a family who are vocal royalty. The album is a 2018 titled My Mood Is You by Freddy Cole.
Recorded on the HighNote label The album features Cole’s working band. Arrangements are by Randy Napoleon and John DiMartino. This album received a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album on December 7, 2018.
Track List | 47:08- My Mood Is You ~ 5:47
- Temptation ~ 4:55
- Almost In Love ~ 5:39
- I’ll Always Leave The Door A Little Open ~ 5:45
- First Began ~ 6::21
- The y Didn’t Believe Me ~ 4:34
- My Heart Tells Me ~ 6:32
- The Lonely One ~ 5:12
- Love Like This Can’t Last ~ 4:17
- Marie ~ 3:20
- Freddy Cole ~ piano, vocal
- Randy Napoleon ~ guitar
- Elias Bailey ~ bass
- Quentin Baxter ~ drums
- John DiMartino ~ piano
- Joel Frahm ~ tenor saxophone
This pandemic is here for the long haul. In the meantime, stay vigilant, wear masks and remain healthy and we’ll all be jet setting sooner than we think.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Claude Jones was born on February 11, 1901 in Boley, Oklahoma and began playing trombone at the age of 13, and studied at Wilberforce College before dropping out in 1922 to join the Synco Jazz Band. This group eventually evolved into McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, where he would play intermittently until 1929.
From there, Jones played in a variety of noted swing jazz ensembles from 1929 through the Depression until 1950, playing with Fletcher Henderson, Don Redman, Alex Hill, Chick Webb, and Cab Calloway.
He recorded with Jelly Roll Morton in 1939 and Louis Armstrong/Sidney Bechet in 1940. During the 1940s and into the Fifties, he also played with Coleman Hawkins, Zutty Singleton, Joe Sullivan, Benny Carter, and Duke Ellington.
After completing his second stint with Ellington, trombonist Claude Jones became a mess steward on the ship S.S. United States and passed away at sea on January 17, 1962.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ed Polcer was born February 10, 1937 in Paterson, New Jersey. He started leading jazz bands while attending Princeton University. While there studying engineering, he was headed toward a promising career as a professional baseball player. During that time, he was asked to play at the wedding of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier in Monaco, as well as a concert in Carnegie Hall. He chose music over baseball.
When cornetist Bobby Hackett recommended him to Benny Goodman, he abandoned his engineering and purchasing day jobs and joined Goodman’s small band. Other musicians in that band included John Bunch, Bucky Pizzarelli, Slam Stewart, Al Klink, Zoot Sims, George Masso, and Peter Appleyard.
While in his 20s and 30s, Ed played with Teddy Wilson, Bobby Hackett, Kenny Davern, Dick Wellstood, Gene Ramey, Sonny Greer, Joe Muranyi, Herbie Nichols and Joe Venuti. With his wife, singer and actress Judy Kurtz he managed and co-owned with Red Balaban, Eddie Condon’s Jazz Club in New York City from 1977–1985. Sharing the bandstand with him at the club were such musicians as Vic Dickenson, Herb Hall, and Connie Kay.
He was instrumental in giving several younger musicians, such as Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache, Dan Barrett, and Mark Shane a showcase of their talents. He served as musical director of several jazz festivals, including the North Carolina Jazz Festival, Colorado Springs Jazz Party, and San Diego Jazz Party. In the 1980s he served as president of the Long Island, New York-based non-profit International Art of Jazz, which promoted community and corporate involvement in jazz, presented jazz programs. He played for five U.S. Presidents, including the Congressional Ball at the White House for President Clinton in 1994, and played in Thailand with the King of Thailand, a jazz clarinetist and enthusiast.
He has been awarded the New Jersey Jazz Society lifetime achievement award, named a Jazz Legend by the San Diego Jazz Party, and honored by the Atlanta Jazz Preservation Society for unyielding commitment to the preservation of our beloved American art form of jazz. Cornetist, bandleader, festival director, club owner, and mentor Ed Polcer, who has a melodic mellow-toned sound with an unforced delivery, recorded ten albums as a leader and fourteen as a sideman, remains active.
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