Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bill Pierce, known to many as Billy Pierce, was born September 25, 1948 in Hampton, Virginia. He studied with Joe Viola and Andy McGhee at Berklee College of Music, and with Joe Allard.
In the early 1980s he was recruited by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Through the late Eighties and into the late 1990s he recorded simultaneously as a leader while also in Tony Williams’s quintet in the mid-1980s to early 1990s.
As a leader he has recorded seven albums and another 18 as a sideman with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Geoff Keezer, Kevin Eubanks, Makoto Ozone, Superblue, Tony Williams, and Lazlo Gardony.
As an educator Billy says he likes seeing music being carried on by young people developing, achieving their dreams, and being a part of history. Many of his students have made a name for themselves: Antonio Hart, Mark Gross, Javon Jackson, Walter Smith, Mark Turner, Miguel Zenon.
Saxophonist Billy Pierce, who is the former chair of the Berklee woodwind department, continues to perform, tour and educate.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Isidore Jean “John” Barbarin was born September 24, 1871 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He began learning cornet at age 14, then played in various New Orleans brass bands, like the Onward Brass Band, the Excelsior Brass Band, and Papa Celestin’s Tuxedo Brass Band.
He did not make it on to record until 1945, when he recorded with Bunk Johnson; in 1946 he recorded with the Original Zenith Brass Band. He was a mainstay of the New Orleans jazz scene in the decades around the turn of the 20th century.
Cornet and alto horn player Isidore Barbarin died on June 12, 1960 in New Orleans.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Doug Beavers was born September 22, 1976 in Bellflower, California. He received a BA in music from California State University, East Bay, an MA in composition from the Manhattan School of Music. He is the founder of the music production company and record label, Circle 9.
As a performer Doug has worked with Eddie Palmieri, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Mingus Big Band, Christian McBride, Paul Simon, and others. He also served as an adjunct professor at Los Medanos College and music faculty of Jazz Trombone at California State University, East Bay.
His most recent album recording,Sol, was released in 2020. In 2021, he received a New Jazz Works grant from Chamber Music America. Trombonist, arranger, composer and producer Doug Beavers, a Grammy Award-winning musician, is currently an adjunct faculty member at the College of New Jersey.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frank Orchard was born on September 21, 1914 in Chicago, Illinois. He studied at Juilliard from 1932-33 and performed for a year with Stanley Melba’s band, but then worked outside of music altogether, mostly as a salesman until 1941.
Orchard became a part of the New York Dixieland scene in the 1940s, working with Jimmy McPartland, Jimmy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong, Bobby Hackett, Max Kaminsky, Wingy Manone, Joe Marsala and the Eddie Condon gang.
The mid-1950s saw Frank’s move to Dayton, Ohio and eventually to St. Louis, Missouri and still playing trombone although out of the spotlight. He never led his own record date and returned to New York in the 1960s. He worked regularly at Jimmy Ryan’s from 1970-71 and with Billy Butterfield in 1979.
Trombonist, violinist, banjoist and tubist Frank Orchard, who also played in the Willie “The Lion” Smith band with Jack Lesberg, Mac McGrath, Max Kaminsky, Rod Cless, died December 27, 1983 in Manhattan, New York City, New York.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jerome Don Pasquall was born on September 20, 1902 in Fulton, Kentucky, and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. As a child, he played the mellophone in brass bands. He served in the United States Army in 1918 in the 10th Cavalry Band, and picked up clarinet during this time.
Following his discharge, Pasquall played with Ed Allen in 1919 and then found work on riverboats playing with Charlie Creath and Fate Marable. He moved to Chicago, Illinois to study at the American Conservatory, and played with Doc Cook’s Dreamland Orchestra as a tenor saxophonist.
Departing for Boston, Massachusetts he attended the New England Conservatory of Music. In 1927 and 1928, he played with Fletcher Henderson. Following this he returned to Chicago and led his own ensemble, in addition to playing with Freddie Keppard, Dave Peyton, Jabbo Smith, Tiny Parham, and Fess Williams.
He toured Europe with the 1934 Blackbirds, Eddie South, Henderson again in 1936, and Noble Sissle from 1937 throught World War II in 1944. After the mid-1940s, he did freelance work in New York City with Tony Ambrose among others, and gradually receded from active performance.
Clarinetist, alto saxophonist, mellophonist Jerome Don Pasquall, who never led his own recording session, dies on October 18, 1971 in New York City, New York.
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