Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Philip Harper was born May 10, 1965 in Baltimore, Maryland but grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. He started played trumpet when he was ten under the tutelage of his brother Winard and then went on study at the Hartt School of Music with Jackie McLean.
At the age of 18 Philip moved to New York, where he started working and recording extensively, with such musicians as Little Jimmy Scott, Jimmy McGriff, Betty Carter, Etta Jones, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Bill Cosby and Cedar Walton. He became a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Charles Mingus’ Big Band and from 1988 to 1993 was an integral part of The Harper Brothers.
His discography includes The Harper Brothers, You Can Hide Inside The Music, Remembrance: Live at the Village Vanguard and Artistry, along with his two releases as a leader Soulful Sin and The Thirteenth Moon in addition to several live recordings with The Jazz Messengers. Trumpeter Philip Harper continues to perform and tour worldwide with various groups in conjunction to teaching and conducting workshops in several conservatories in Europe.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Anthony Wilson was born in Los Angeles, California on May 9, 1968 to bandleader Gerald Wilson. A guitarist and composer, he was influenced by Duke Ellington, Gil Evans, Wes Montgomery and T-Bone Walker. He received his degree in music composition from Bennington College.
Wilson released his debut self-titled album in 1997 that was nominated for a Grammy and his sophomore project the following year, Goat Hill Junket, garnered notice. He has recorded with his 9-piece band, two trio albums with organ, worked with Joe Bagg, Eva Scow, Larry Goldings, Jim Keltner and Jeff Hamilton.
Since 2001 Anthony has been a member of Diana Krall’s group performing notably the Grammy-winning Live in Paris. He has recorded ten albums as a leader and collaborated with Brazilian guitarist Chico Pinheiro on “Nova,” released in Brazil and the U.S. on their respective labels.
Guitarist Anthony Wilson can also be heard on a number of his father’s recordings and often plays live with the Gerald Wilson Orchestra whenever his schedule permits.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joe Ford was born on May 7, 1947 in Buffalo, New York and was singing in his mother and aunt’s family choir by age 5. At seven he started taking piano lessons and by the time he was eleven he started playing saxophone. In high school and college Joe played in a variety of campus jazz and funk bands.
Ford studied saxophone under Makanda Ken McIntyre, Jackie McLean and Frank Foster, and percussion under Joe Chambers. After graduating from Ohio’s Central State University He returned home to teach in the Buffalo public schools from 1968 to 1972. It was while working at the Buffalo Public Library in 1974 that Joe played in the Birthright Ensemble, and then would go on to join McCoy Tyner in 1976, recording eight albums with him through 1993.
Since the early 1980s Ford worked extensively as a sideman with Sam Jones, Lester Bowie, Jimmy Owens, Idris Muhammad, Abdullah Ibrahim, Chico O’Farrill, Avery Sharpe, Jerry Gonzalez, Malachi Thompson, Steve Berrios, Nova Bossa Nova and Freddy Cole amongst others.
In the late 1990s he led two ensembles, the Black Art Sax Quartet and a big band called The Thing. As a leader, saxophonist Joe Ford released his one album in 1993, “Today’s Night” on Blue Moon Records featuring Charles Fambrough, Kenny Kirkland and Jeff “Tain” Watts. He continues to perform and tour.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bob Leatherbarrow was born on May 3, 1955 in Buffalo, New York. He studied drums with Charlie Lorigo, orchestral percussion with John Rowland of the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the vibraphone with Dave Samuels. He began working professionally at age 14, attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts before moving to Los Angeles in 1978 to further pursue a career in music.
Throughout his career in jazz, Bob has been a member of Ernie Watts Quartet for over 25 years, has performed and recorded with Joe Farrell, Victor Feldman, Horace Silver, Rosemary Clooney, Natalie Cole, The Bill Holman Band, the Bob Florence Jazz Orchestra and Howard Roberts among others. He has also recorded in other genres with Gordon Lightfoot, Bette Midler, Placido Domingo, Dolly Parton and Henry Mancini.
Leatherbarrow has appeared of film and television soundtracks for The Simpsons, Family Guy, Austin Powers, Bruce Almighty, The Cleveland Show and The Life Aquatic to name a few, and drummed the iconic snare rolls that begin the sound signature of 20th Century Fox Studios.
Doubling on vibraphone, Bob Leatherbarrow has backed singers like Peggy Lee, Greta Matassa, Lorraine Feather and Nelly Furtado along with Stanley Clarke, Bill Perkins and his own group Polychrome, with whom he continues to compose and perform.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gerald Beckett was born in Beaumont, Texas on May 2nd and started playing alto saxophone at the age of 11. As a freshman at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas he switched to playing the flute and during his years at UNT, he played with various local bands.
It wasn’t until a move in 1985 to San Francisco that he began immersing himself in the jazz scene. He started listening to various flutists such as Eric Dolphy, Frank Wess, Herbie Mann, Hubert Laws, Dave Valentin and Paul Horn, among others. For the next 8 years Gerald studied flute at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and privately under Esther Landau.
He has performed in several venues in San Francisco and New York, either as a leader and sideman, showcasing the many facets of the instrument and its uniqueness to the jazz genre. He has self-produced three CD’s to national recognition and airplay, and has been a Grammy Ballot nominee.
As an educator Beckett has conducted Jazz Flute master classes in San Francisco and Paris. Flautist Gerald Beckett continues to perform, tour and record.
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