Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Tommy Turrentine was born Thomas Walter Turrentine, Jr. on April 22, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is the older brother of saxophonist Stanley Turrentine.

Tommy played in the bands of Benny Carter, Earl Bostic, Charles Mingus, Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie. While his brother had a successful career and recorded a number of albums over his lifetime, Tommy only recorded one album under his name with Julian Priester, Bob Boswell, Max Roach and Horace Parlan before retiring in the 1960s.

However, he recorded a number of sessions as a sideman with Sonny Clark, Booker Ervin, Lou Donaldson, Abbey Lincoln, Dexter Gordon, Jackie McLean, Archie Shepp, Sun Ra and his brother’s bands. In the late 1950s Turrentine began a working relationship with Max Roach that was spawned in part when he joined the Max Roach Quintet following the death of Clifford Brown.

In the 1970s he lived on the ground floor of a brownstone with his wife Jane on West 82nd Street in New York City, a street which during that period had a number of jazz luminaries living along its blocks between Broadway and Central Park, including Tommy Flanagan and Pharoah Sanders.

In the summer of 1979 Turrentine was one of several star trumpeters who appeared at the Village Gate for an all-star tribute to Blue Mitchell. He was also adept on the piano at chord blockings and was a compositional exponent of Thelonious Monk’s earlier chordal voicing. His bebop compositions combined a sophisticated and emotional fusion and poignant lyricism reminiscent of Benny Golson and with the passionate, spirited influence of the Brown/Roach Quintet. Trumpeter Tommy Turrentine passed away on May 13, 1997 in New York City.

Dose A Day – Blues Away

More Posts: trumpet

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Mundell Lowe was born April 21, 1922 in Laurel, Mississippi and in the Thirties he played country music and Dixieland jazz. He later played with big bands and orchestras, and on television, and in the 1960s he composed music for films and television in New York City Los Angeles.

Mundell has performed and/or recorded with with a Who’s Who list not limited to Billie Holiday, Bobby Darin, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Bill Evans, Helen Humes, Charles Mingus, Stan Getz, Doc Severinsen, Kai Winding and Sarah Vaughan. He also worked with Carmen McRae, Benny Carter, Herb Ellis, Tal Farlow, Barry Manilow, Andre Previn, Ray Brown, Kiri Te Kanawa, Tete Montoliu, Harry Belfonte and numerous others.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s Lowe was also a well-respected teacher at Dick Grove Music Workshop, later the Grove School of Music, in Studio City, California, teaching guitar as well as film scoring.

Lowe was responsible for introducing the pianist Bill Evans to producer Orrin Keepnews resulting in Evan’s first recordings as a leader. He is a regular featured performer at the annual W.C. Handy Music Festival and a member of the W.C. Handy Jazz All-Stars. He was inducted into the Mississippi Music Hall of Fame, was conferred an honorary Doctorate of Arts from Millsap College and proclaimed Mundell Lowe Day as July 18 by his home town of Laurel. The guitarist continues to teach, perform and record.

Inspire A Young Mind

More Posts: guitar

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

James Edward Rowser was born on April 18, 1926 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a professional jazz bassist he played with Philly Joe Jones from 1954, with Dinah Washington in 1956-57 and from 1957 to 1959 with Maynard Ferguson, as well as Red Garland.

By 1963 he was touring Mexico with Benny Goodman and followed with a stint in 1964 accompanying Friedrich Guida in South America. He would go onto play out the decade with Al Cohn, Zoot Sims and Les McCann, with whom he recorded frequently.

The consummate sideman, bassist Jimmy Rowser can list 97 recording sessions to his name. He has played or recorded with Ray Bryant, Yusef Lateef, Junior Mance, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Illinois Jacquet, Hilton ruiz, Eddie Harris, Cannonball Adderley, Herb Ellis, Sonny Criss, Ben Riley and Albert “Tootie” Heath.

Dose A Day – Blues Away

More Posts: bass

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Mark Sherman was born April 17, 1957 in Manhattan, New York City to a Juillliard trained soprano mother who performed with the Cleveland and Boston symphonies, so it was natural that he studied classical piano as a child.

Sherman graduated from The High School of Music and in 1975, then went on to study classical percussion at Juilliard. He performed in ensembles under the direction of Leonard Bernstein, Sir George Solti, Zubin Mehta and Herbert Von Karajan. While there he would jam regularly with Wynton Marsalis. During the course of his career, Sherman also studied with Elvin Jones, Rohland Kohloff, Justin Diccocco, Roland Hanna and Jackie Byard among others.

While still in his teens, Mark played drums in a trio with pianist Kenny Kirkland who he introduced to Wynton. At 21, he began working on Broadway and in New York’s active studio scene, playing percussion, piano, drums and vibraphone. In 1980 he released his first album Fulcrum Point on Unisphere records. The decade saw him in studio working on commercial jingles.

Sherman spent a lot of his time in the studio in the 1980s, working on commercial jingles. Pianist Mike Renzi took him under his wing, connecting him with Peggy Lee and other singers performing with Lee, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Lena Horne and Ruth Brown. In 1986 he signed with Columbia Records and released his major label debut, A New Balance.

He continued to perform with Peggy Lee in the early 1990s, began a seven-year playing relationship with Larry Coryell, became an active studio musician, and played on numerous films and Broadway soundtracks. Reemerging as a leader playing vibraphone, he also continued his active career as a sideman, recording with Capathia Jenkins, Jennifer Holiday, Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz Minnelli and others.

Sherman continued to release his own albums on Miles High Records, won the Rising Star (Vibes) category in the Down Beat Critics Poll in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 and has been a Jazz Ambassador for the U.S. State Department and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Vibraphonist, pianist and drummer Mark Sherman is currently on the faculty of Juilliard jazz program, New Jersey City University and the New York Jazz Workshop.

Inspire A Young Mind

More Posts: drums,piano,vibraphone

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Hassan A. Shakur, born J.J. Wiggins on April 15, 1956 in Los Angeles, California, is the son of pianist Gerald Wiggins. He learned to play bass standing on a chair at age four and with his father as a guide developed a high sensitivity and wide range of expression in jazz.

By age twelve he became the bassist for the Craig Hundley Trio, appearing on television shows, such as, the Today show, Johnny Carson, Jonathan Winters, Ted Mack Amateur Hour and the Della Reese show. The Trio recorded an album for World Pacific Records. At eighteen, he joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra under the direction of Mercer Ellington and to this day continues to perform with the Orchestra.

Shakur has performed with not only his father but Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Billy Eckstein, Al Grey, Sarah Vaughn, Joe Williams, Pearl Bailey, Louie Bellson, Herb Ellis and many others. He was bassist for the Broadway show “Me and Bessie” with Linda Hopkins, “Black and Blue” with Ruth Brown and Linda Hopkins, and the Duke Ellington shows “Sophisticated Ladies” and “Queenie Pie”.

Hassan is a longtime member of the Bill Easley Quartet, recording several albums, and also performs regularly with Monty Alexander on tours in the United States, Europe and Japan. He is a favorite on the cruise lines and has played Montreux, Kool, North Sea Nice, Concord, Hollywood Bowl and Saratoga jazz festivals.

He is adept at playing several instruments but Hassan Shakur’s remarkable technique, flexibility and talent for creating improvisational styles on the bass that are uniquely identifiable with him as a musician.

Take A Dose On The Road

More Posts: bass