Daily Dose Of Jazz…
David Walter Bowman was born September 8, 1914 in Buffalo, New York but was raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where he learned to play piano as a four year old.
He moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and played there for a time, then went to London, England working with Jack Hylton in the mid-1930s. After returning to the States he settled in New York and played with Bobby Hackett, Sharkey Bonano, Sidney Bechet, and Bud Freeman late in the decade.
In the early 1940s, he worked with Jack Teagarden, Joe Marsala, Muggsy Spanier, Lee Wiley, and Eddie Condon. He took positions with ABC and NBC in the late 1940s including Perry Como and worked as a studio musician on recordings.
In the 1950s, he once again worked with Bud Freeman and with Phil Napoleon shortly before his own death. Pianist Dave Bowman passed away from an automobile accident on December 28, 1964 in Miami, Florida.
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Three Wishes
When asked what his three wishes would be Claude Purvis responded to Nica with:
- “The first, I would try to be in a position to expose my talent to everyone, to make my music known to all.”
- “A comfortable place to live.”
- “An opportunity to help jazz. I think about myself first.”
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alvin Elmore Alcorn was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 7, 1912. Learning music theory from his brother, in the early 1930s he was a member of the Sunny South Syncopators led by Armand J. Piron.
He worked in Texas as a member of Don Albert’s swing band, but he spent most of his career in New Orleans in the dixieland bands of Paul Barbarin, Sidney Desvigne, Oscar Celestin, and Octave Crosby.
During the 1950s, he moved to Los Angeles, California and joined Kid Ory’s band, then a couple years later returned home to New Orleans. After going on tour in Europe with Chris Barber in the late 1970s, he continued to perform into the 1980s.
Trumpeter Alvin Alcorn passed away on July 10, 2003.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Johnny Letman was born September 6, 1917 in McCormick, South Carolina and early in his career played in midwest bands, including those of Jerry Valentine, Scatman Crothers, and Jimmy Raschelle. Moving to Chicago in the middle of the 1930s, he worked with Delbert Bright, Bob Tinsley, Johnny Lang, Nat King Cole, Horace Henderson, and Red Saunders in the late Thirties to early 1940s.
After spending a year or so in Detroit playing with Teddy Buckner and John Kirby, he moved to New York City in 1944. There he performed with Phil Moore, Lucky Millinder, Cab Calloway, Milt Buckner, and Count Basie.
Working extensively as a studio musician and in Broadway shows throughout the 1950s and 1960s worked both in and outside of jazz music, and his associations in these decades included Joe Thomas, Stuff Smith, Chubby Jackson, Panama Francis, Dick Wellstood, Hal Singer, Sam Taylor, Eddie Condon, Wilbur De Paris, and Claude Hopkins.
By 1968 he was playing with Milt Buckner and Tiny Grimes in Paris, France. In the 1970s, he played with Lionel Hampton, Cozy Cole, and Earl Hines. In the mid-Eighties he led the New Orleans Blues Serenaders, and toured Europe. Trumpeter Johnny Letman passed away on July 17, 1992.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Virgil Gonsalves was born in Monterey, California on September 5, 1931. In 1950 he took the baritone saxophone chair in the Alvino Rey Orchestra and then with Tex Beneke in 1952. In 1954 he formed an ensemble with Bob Enevoldsen, the tenor saxophonist Buddy Wise, Lou Levy, Harry Babasin, and Larry Bunker. They recorded the album Virgil Gonsalves Sextet that same year on Nocturne Records 8. Later members were Leo Wright, Junior Mance, Ron Crotty, and Eddie Khan.
Working mainly in the San Francisco, California area as a freelance musician, he ventured into rock during the Sixties and Seventies, and became a member of the Pacific Gas & Electric rock band from 1971 to 1972. Baritone saxophonist Virgil Gonsalves passed away in Salinas, California on October 20, 2008.
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