Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jim McNeely was on born May 18, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from the University of Illinois he moved to New York City in 1975. By ’78 he joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band, spending six years as a featured soloist.
In 1981 Jim joined Stan Getz’s quartet and for the next four years served as pianist/composer. The early part of the ‘90s he held the piano chair with the Phil Woods Quintet, and from 1996 to the present day McNeely holds the position as pianist/composer-in-residence for the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.
Jim has been the chief conductor for the Danish Radio Big Band in Copenhagen, Denmark, is currently artist-in-residence with the HR Big Band in Frankfurt, Germany and continues to appear as guest with many of Europe’s leading jazz orchestras such as The Metropole Orchestra in The Netherlands and The Stockholm Jazz Orchestra in Sweden.
The Grammy award winning jazz pianist, composer and arranger has recorded more than a dozen CDs under his own name, earning nine Grammy nominations between 1997 and 2006. In 2008, he was awarded a Grammy with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra for their album Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard.
Grammy-winning pianist Jim McNeely leads his own tentet, his own trio, and appears as soloist at concerts and festivals worldwide while serving on the faculties of The Manhattan School of Music, William Patterson University and is musical director of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop.
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From Broadway To 52nd Street
Sophisticated Ladies had a preview run of 15 shows beginning February 16th prior to its official opening at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre on March 1, 1981 and ran for 767 performances. Duke Ellington composed the music for the revue with a cast that included Gregory Hines, Judith Jamison, Phyllis Hyman, Hinton Battle, Gregg Burge and Mercer Ellington. Hines’ older brother Maurice joined the cast later in the run.
The score includes classic jazz tunes “Mood Indigo,” “Take The “A” Train, I’m Beginning To See The Light, Hit Me With A Hot Note and See Me Bounce, It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing), I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart, Old Man Blues, In A Sentimental Mood, Sophisticated Lady, Don’t Get Around Much Anymore, Satin Doll and I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good among numerous others.
Jazz History: In the 1980s the jazz community shrank dramatically and split. A mainly older audience retained an interest in traditional and straight-ahead jazz styles. Wynton Marsalis strove to create music within what he believed was the tradition, creating extensions of small and large forms initially pioneered by such artists as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. In the early part of the decade, a commercial form of jazz fusion called pop fusion or smooth jazz became successful and garnered significant radio airplay.
Smooth jazz received frequent airplay with more straight-ahead jazz in “Quiet Storm” time slots (a format begun at Howard University’s WHUR by host Melvin Lindsay) at radio stations in urban markets across the United States. This helped to establish or bolster the careers of Grover Washington, Jr., Kenny G, Kirk Whalum, Boney James and David Sanborn and vocalists including Al Jarreau, Anita Baker, Chaka Khan and Sade.
In this same time period “Echoes of an Era” was released by the sextet comprised of Chaka Khan (vocal), Joe Henderson (saxophone), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Chick Corea (piano), Stanley Clarke (bass) and Lenny White (drums). The quintet released another “Echoes” enlisting the vocal talents of Nancy Wilson. The quintet would also release two albums titled “The Griffith Park Collection”.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Redd Holt was Isaac Holt born on May 16, 1932 in Rosedale, Mississippi. His interest in drums and percussion began as a child and he bought his first drum set when he was a sophomore at Crane Technical High School. Graduating from high school in 1951, he attended the Cosmopolitan School of Music in Chicago and then received advanced musical instruction at the Chicago School of Music.
Between 1954 and 1966 Holt was part of the original Ramsey Lewis Trio that spawned the classic hit singles “Hang on Sloopy” and “In Crowd.” He was co-founder and leader of Young-Holt Unlimited from 1966 to 1974, creating another hit, “Soulful Strut,” and the successful single, “Wack Wack”, used in the movie Harriet the Spy and various other movies and commercials.
Redd has directed the Gumption Performing Artists Workshop, received the Jazz Master Award from the Midwest Arts, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Indianapolis Radio Sounds of Jazz, and the Grand Master of Time Award from the Jazz Institute of Chicago and the DuSable Museum of African American History.
As a jazz educator drummer Redd Holt has been active for many years in Urban Gateways, a nonprofit organization providing multicultural performing, and visual and literary arts programs. He continues to perform his percussion and vocal skills at jazz clubs, festivals, theaters and concerts around the world.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ellis Larkins was born in Baltimore, Maryland on May 15, 1923. The pianist was the first African American to attend the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore and began his professional playing career in New York City after moving there to attend the Julliard School. Following school Larkins performed with Billy Moore and Edmond Hall.
He recorded with Coleman Hawkins, Mildred Bailey and Dickey Wells in the 1940s, Ruby Braff and Ella Fitzgerald in the Fifties recording “Ella Sings Gershwin” and “Songs In A Mellow Mood” with the latter. His 1960s work included recordings and/or performances with Eartha Kitt, Joe Williams, Helen Humes, George Gibbs and Harry Belafonte.
Though he was best known as an accompanist, Larkins recorded several solo albums in the 1950s. In the 1970s he performed regularly at several New York venues, including Gregory’s, a small bar in the east 70s. Next to Jimmy Jones, traditional jazz fans regard him as one of the most lyrical and romantic pianists in jazz history. Ellis Larkins passed away on September 30, 2002.
Take A Dose On The Road
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Stu Williamson was born on May 14, 1933 in Brattleboro, Vermont and is the younger brother of jazz pianist Claude Williamson. The trumpeter relocated to Los Angeles in 1949 and became a regular on the West Coast scene. He played with Woody Herman, Mel Lewis-Pepper Adams Quintet, Elmo Hope, Lennie Niehaus, Billy May and Charlie Barnet the first half of the Fifties.
Williamson played a significant role in Stan Kenton’s Orchestra, Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse Café All-Stars and Terry Gibbs’s Dream Band. Between 1954 and 1958 Williamson played intermittently with Shelly Manne and was a ubiquitous session player up until 1968.
Although he had a beautiful, rich, round tone and his ability to create melodic solos full of invention, power and clarity gave him the opportunity to front small groups and big bands. Disappearing from the jazz scene after battling drug addiction for much of his life, including for years after he left the music. Trumpeter Stu Williamson passed away on October 1, 1991 in Studio City, California.
Dose A Day-Blues Away
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