Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Neil Richard Ardley was born in Wallington, Surrey, England on May 26, 1937. He attended Wallington County Grammar School and at the age of thirteen started learning the piano and later the saxophone. He studied chemistry at Bristol University, also playing both piano and saxophone in jazz groups, graduating in 1959 with a BSc.
Moving to London, England the next year he studied arranging and composing with Ray Premru and Bill Russo. He joined the John Williams Big Band as pianist, arranger and composer, and from 1964 to 1970 was the director of the New Jazz Orchestra. The band employed some of the best young musicians in London, including Ian Carr, Jon Hiseman, Barbara Thompson, Dave Gelly, Mike Gibbs, Don Rendell, and Trevor Tomkins.
The late 1960s saw Ardley begin composing, combining classical and jazz methods. The New Jazz Orchestra 1969 album Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe is considered a classic of British jazz. It includes arrangements of Nardis by Miles Davis and Naima by John Coltrane, and compositions by young writers associated with the orchestra – including Ardley, Michael Garrick, Mike Gibbs, Howard Riley and Mike Taylor.
His rich orchestrations were augmented in the 1970s by the addition of synthesisers. He began work on an all-electronic album in 1980 which fell through when his recording contract was suddenly terminated, but continued to play and compose, especially with Zyklus, the electronic jazz group he formed with composer John L. Walters, Warren Greveson and Ian Carr.
Neil went on to sing in local choirs in the later 1990s led him to start composing choral music, and to gig and record again with a slimmed down Zyklus consisting of himself, Warren Greaveson, and Nick Robinson
Composer and pianist Neil Ardley, who was an author of popular books on music, died in Bakewell, Derbyshire, England on February 23, 2004.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Edo Castro was born on May 24, 1957 in San Francisco, California to mother Aida Saberi, the only child from her first marriage. He attended Grattan Elementary, Herbert Hoover Junior High and J. Eugene McAteer High School, all in the city by the bay. Growing up during the tumultuous 1960s, where from an early age he was exposed to a myriad of musical styles, listening not only to rock and roll, R&B, but classical music, folk and jazz.
The first jazz albums came to him via his uncle, a recording engineer pioneer Reice Hamel. From these, Edo was first exposed to and enthralled by the sounds of Vince Guaraldi, Hugh Masekela, Ahmad Jamal, Bill Evans, Ramsey Lewis and Paul Desmond. He initially studied piano and violin, but when a friend suggested he try the electric bass, he knew he had found his instrument.
Castro attended Humboldt State University in northern California. Nearly three years later he bought an acoustic bass and auditioned for the music department at San Jose State University. So inspired by the musicians he met and their sound, he moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1982, and studied at DePaul University for a year, then completed his studies at the American Conservatory of Music, earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1987 with a focus on jazz studies and electric bass.
Returning to the Bay Area in 1990, Edo has performed and recorded with among others David Amram, Roy Haynes, Fareed Haque, David Onderdonk, Ed Thigpen, Johnny Griffin, Joel Harrison, Deborah Winters, Jill Knight, Bethany Pickens, Armando Peraza, Caren Armstrong, Percy Howard, Mark Egan, Yves Carbonne, and David Friesen.
Bassist Edo Castro has performed across Europe, Asia and South America. He continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Eric Delaney was born on May 22, 1924 in Acton, London, England. Learning to play early in life by age sixteen, he won the Best Swing Drummer award and later joined the Bert Ambrose Octet which featured George Shearing on piano.
Between 1947 to 1954 he appeared with the Geraldo Orchestra and filled his time with regular session work in recording studios and on film, TV and radio. In 1954 he formed his own band and later signed with the new Pye Records label. Two years later he made three appearances on the Royal Variety Show, the first in 1956.
Specializing in up-tempo dance hall music, often carrying a rock and roll label due to the rise of The Beatles. However, Delaney was able to remain active touring in the UK in holiday resorts. He was held in high regard by his musical peers, drummer Louie Bellson with whom he recorded on the 1967 album Repercussion. Originally released in high quality stereo on the Studio2Stereo label, it was re-released on the Vocalion label in 2011.
Although best known as a swing drummer, Eric was a multi-percussionist. Classically trained as a timpanist, his unique approach turned the ‘timps’ into a lead & solo instrument. He also played xylophone, glockenspiel, military snare drum, tubular bells, Chinese and orchestral gongs, which is exhibited in his showmanship routines, such as Persian Market.
Apart from his showmanship, Delaney could be occasionally found behind a minimal kit, sitting in with a jazz quartet, and letting others take the spotlight. 1990s onward, he would also make guest appearances with bands across the UK. Another facet of his work was his playing on the soundtrack of The Longest Day, where his snare opens the movie.
Drummer and bandleader Eric Delaney, who was popular in the Fifties and early 1960s, died of a brain haemorrhage on July 14, 2011 at 87.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Yuko Okamoto was born in Miyagi, Japan on May 21, 1984 and started playing piano at age 5 but changed to Electone, a synth organ, at age 7. When she was in junior high school she won the Miyagi Prefecture first prize of the Yamaha Junior Electone Festival. She was chosen as a semifinalist of the Interntational Yamaha Electone Competition at Akasaka Britz in 2002 and Shibuya AX in 2004. In 2003 she won first prize of ‘Yamaha Electone Competition Expert Division and she earned a high evaluation on her performance and charm.
At age 18, she started studying jazz piano and composition under Kiminori Atsuta and Masa Matsuda. She also played in various jazz clubs, restaurants and bars with great bands and popular artists. In 2006 she entered Berklee College Of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. She studied composition, arranging, and performance under George Russell Jr, Walter Besely, John Arcaro, and Bill Eliott among others.
In 2008 she played her original music at Carnegie Hall in NewYork City and performed at Boston City Hall with different bands. She co-stared with One Voice Children’s Choir lead by Masa Fukuda. She has composed for film music and short image video music,
Pianist Yoko Okamoto Now she moved to New York City and is fully engaged as a composer, arranger, and performer.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jim Douglas was born Robert James Elliot Douglas on May 13, 1942 in Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland. He played drums in his youth before switching to guitar and in his teens he accompanied clarinettist Pete Kerr.
As part of a Dixieland band, he performed in Germany in 1960 and soon after Jim began playing with Alex Welsh. In 1971 he appeared on the album Freddy Randall and His Famous Jazz Band. Other than Kerr and Welsh, he worked with Alan Elsdon, Lennie Hastings, Ed Polcer, and Keith Smith.
Douglas wrote and self-published a semi-autobiographical book, Tunes, Tours and Travel-itis – Eighteen Years of Facts, Faces and Fun with the Alex Welsh Band. He followed this up three years later with Teenage to Travel-itis – Growing Up in a World of Jazz. The sequel chronicles his adventures in the Jazz world before and after his time with the Alex Welsh Band.
Guitarist, banjoist, and author Jim Douglas, who played with Red Allen, Earl Hines, and Ruby Braff from 1962 until 1981 while in the Welsh band, continues to perform.
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