Daly Dose Of Jazz…
Mulgrew Miller was born August 13, 1955 in Greenwood, Mississippi. Growing up in a home with a piano he played tunes on the piano from the age of six, playing by ear. He had piano lessons from the age of eight and during his childhood he played blues and R&B for dances, and gospel music in a church. His principal influence on piano at this stage of his life was Ramsey Lewis.
While in high school, Miller formed a trio that played at cocktail parties and around the age of fourteen after hearing Oscar Peterson on the Joey Bishop Show he decided to become a jazz pianist. After graduating from Greenwood High School, he attended Memphis State in 1973 on a band scholarship. He played euphonium and met pianists Donald Brown and James Williams who introduced him to the music of well-known players such as Wynton Kelly, Bud Powell, and McCoy Tyner.
He would go on to study with Madame Margaret Chaloff but left her tutelage to play with Ricky Ford and Bill Pierce. By 1976 he was the substitute for the regular pianist in the Duke Ellington Orchestra but left in in 1980 after being recruited by vocalist Betty Carter, then joined Woody Shaw’s band from 1981 to 1983, with whom he made his 1981 he made his studio recording debut, on Shaw’s United. During the early 1980s he also accompanied vocalist Carmen Lundy and played and recorded with saxophonist Johnny Griffin.
Mulgrew joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1983 under the recommendation of Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison. Although struggling to fit in with the dominating rhythm section his playing matured during his tenure. His recording career as a leader began in 1985, with Keys to the City, the first of Miller’s several Landmark Records recordings. He left Blakey to become Tony Williams’ pianist in 1986 and remained busy forming his own bands Wingspan and later Trio Transition with Reggie Workman and Freddie Waits
He would go on to work with Wallace Roney, Frank Morgan, Benny Golson, Steve Nelson and Donald Byrd, and toured internationally and domestically with the New York Jazz Giants with Jon Faddis, Tom Harrell, Lew Tabackin, Bobby Watson, Ray Drummond and Carl Allen. He continued to accompany and record with vocalists including Dianne Reeves and Cassandra Wilson, and played and recorded with saxophonist Joe Lovano.
For several years after he had turned 40, Miller concentrated on composing and playing his own music. In 1997 he toured Japan with 100 Golden Fingers, a troupe of 10 pianists, then joined bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pederson in 1999 to record duets based on 1940s performances by Duke Ellington and Jimmy Blanton. He signed with Maxjazz producing albums as a leader with Derrick Hodge, Rodney Green, Karriem Riggins, as well as trio projects and touring with bassist Ron Carter and guitarist Russell Malone, and as sideman with John Scofield, Kluvers Big Band, Yusef Lateef and Archie Shepp.
As an educator Mulgrew became heavily involved in music education as the Director of Jazz Studies at William Patterson University from 2005, and was the Artist in Residence at Lafayette College, from which he was awarded an honorary doctorate in Performing Arts. Pianist Mulgrew Miller’s list of accomplishments continued with his recording as a leader, working with his own trio and quintet until his passing on May 29, 2013 in Allentown, Pennsylvania from a stroke at the age of 57.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ravi Coltrane was born August 6, 1965 in Long Island, New York to saxophonist John and pianist Alice Coltrane and was named after sitar player Ravi Shankar. Raised in Los Angeles, California, he was not yet two years old in 1967 when his father died.
Ravi graduated from El Camino Real High School in 1983 and three years later was studying music with a focus on the saxophone at the California Institute of the Arts. He worked extensively with M-Base guru Steve Coleman, who influenced his musical conception.
Coltrane has played and recorded as a sideman with Geri Allen, Kenny Barron, McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Stanley Clarke, Branford Marsalis and many others. In 1997, after performing on over thirty recordings as a sideman, Ravi entered the studio to record his first album as leader Moving Pictures, with drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, bassist Lonnie Plaxico and pianist Michael Cain.
This led to extensive touring and a series of recording sessions as a leader producing his sophomore project From the Round Box, followed by Mad 6 and In Flux. He has performed in India as part of a State Department tour delegation to promote HIV/Aids awareness. He has played Monterey , Montreux, Newport and the Vienna jazz festivals, is a part of the Blue Note 7, and has worked with Renee Rosnes, Drew Gress, Luis Perdomo, E.J. Strickland, Al Jarreau, Earl Klugh, David Gilmore, Ralph Alessi and the late George Duke. Post-bop saxophonist Ravi Coltrane continues to perform, record, tour and produce.
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Rickey Woodard was born August 5, 1950 in Nashville, Tennessee and picked up his first music experiences playing saxophone in the family band. He went on to attend Tennessee State University and following graduation joined the Ray Charles band, spending seven years with him.
Woodard became a member of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, has recorded with Frank Capp, and is a member of Jeanine and Jimmy Cheatham’s Sweet Baby Blues Band. In 1988 he moved to Los Angeles and started playing sessions for Concord Records that soon led to a recording contract.
By 1993 Rickey embarked on a series of yearly visits to the Peterborough Jazz Club in England. There he was billed with veteran British jazz musicians such as Dick Morrissey, John Burch and Tony Archer. In 1994 he was a part of the recording session Seven Sensational Saxophones – Fujitsu-Concord 26th Jazz Festival with Jesse Davis, Gary Foster, Bill Ramsay, Ken Peplowski, Chris Potter and Frank Wess.
He recorded his debut album The Frank Capp Trio Present Rickey Woodard in 1991 and has released seven more as a leader or co-leader in the company of Joe Chambers, Eric Reed, Cedar Walton, Ernie Watts, Pete Christlieb, Gerry Wiggins, Chuck Berghofer, Tony Dumas, Roy McCurdy, James Williams, Christian McBride and Ray Brown. As a sideman he has another ten projects as a sideman working with Horace Silver, Kenny Rogers, Nnenna Freelon and Diana Krall.
Saxophonist Rickey Woodard continues to lead his own quartet, perform and tour with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, The Juggernaut and The Cheathams.
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Billy Kilson was born William Earl Kilson on August 2, 1962 in Washington, DC. He started on trumpet at ten, switched to trombone at 11, then to drums at 16. He studied at the Berklee College of Music from 1980 to 1985, took private lessons from Alan Dawson during 1982-89, and then toured Europe with Walter Davis.
Kilson has played with such notable jazz musicians as Ahmad Jamal, Dianne Reeves, Greg Osby, George Duke, Steps Ahead, Tim Hagans, Terumasa Hino, Bob James, Dave Bob Belden, Kevin Mahogany, Kirk Whalum, Chris Botti, Freddie Jackson, Donald Brown and Paula Cole.
He is perhaps best known for his work with Dave Holland playing on the 1999 Grammy Award nominated album Prime Directive and his Grammy-winning 2002 release What Goes Around. He also has chops as a leader with his own quartet ensemble along comprised of James Genus and Tim Hagans. Releasing his debut compact disc in 2006 as a leader, titled Pots and Pans, it was followed by a sophomore DVD project, Rhythm Dancer, in 2012. Drummer Billy Kilson continues to record, perform and tour.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ellyn Rucker was born in Des Moines, Iowa of July 29, 1937 and she started playing piano when she was eight, discovered jazz at 13, and studied classical piano at Drake University. However, it wasn’t until 1979 that she decided to become a full-time musician.
Rucker toured Europe several times both with and without Spike Robinson, recorded a small catalogue of several albums for Capri Records, has a full-length video Live In New Orleans on Leisure Jazz label, and has performed at festivals and clubs around the U.S. and Europe.
Though she is not a household name to jazz fans around the globe Ellyn Rucker is a fixture on the Denver, Colorado jazz scene. The Bill Evans influenced hard bop and bop-based pianist and vocalist continues to perform, record and tour.
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