Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Matthew Parrish was born on October 14, 1969 in Fresno, California. Traveling with his parents most of his formative years, the bassist developed a wide appreciation for culture and arts and his family finally settled in New Jersey for his high school years. This led to his tenure at Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts. From there he moved to Philadelphia where his music studies really began at Ortliebs Jazz Haus.

At Ortliebs, Parrish played with Mickey Roker and Shirley Scott, backing everyone from Cecil Payne, Johnny Coles and Danny Turner to Sylvia Simms. He was soon partnered with Al Grey and while touring hit with Clark Terry, Marian McPartland, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Lou Donaldson, Joe Cohn, Savion Glover, Bill Charlap and many others.

Considering himself an East Coast player his list of accolades is more than sufficient to fall in the lineage of great Philly players. He has toured all over the world and his beautiful, warm and complex sound has earned him an impressive reputation in the music community. He has toured with Greg Osby, Stefon Harris and Regina Carter among others and continues to tour with the Dave Leonhardt group, Houston Person as well as the Vana Gierig Trio with Paquito D’Rivera. Bassist Matthew Parrish also continues to perfect his arrangements and compositions – a true passion for the music.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Johnny Lytle was born John Dillard Lytle on October 13, 1932 in Springfield, Ohio, the son of a trumpeter father and an organist mother. He began playing the drums and piano at an early age. Before studying music in earnest, he was a boxer and was a successful Golden Gloves champion. During the late ’50s, Lytle continued to box, but landed jobs as a drummer for Ray Charles, Jimmy Witherspoon and Gene Ammons.

Switching from drums to vibraphone Johnny toured with organist Hiram “Boots” Johnson in 1955 and then formed his first group in 1957 with saxophonist Boots Johnson, organist Milton Harris and drummer William “Peppy” Hinnant. He so impressed Grammy winning producer Orrin Keepnews who signed him to his Jazzland label in 1960.

Known for his great hand speed and showmanship, Lytle was also a songwriter, penning many of his own hits, including “The Loop,” “The Man,” “Lela,” “Selim” (honoring Miles Davis), and the jazz classic “The Village Caller”. He recorded more than 30 albums for various jazz labels including Tuba, Jazzland, Solid State and Muse. Throughout his career he performed and recorded with a host of jazz greats including Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis, Nancy Wilson, Bobby Timmons and Roy Ayers.

Johnny never recorded with any of the major record labels fearing loss of control of his music and creative development, thus never gaining the status of a jazz icon like some of his peers, but finding success early in his career with chart-topping albums like A Groove, The Loop, and Moonchild. Nicknamed “Fast Hands,” he always kept an audience’s attention, was popular on the jazz circuit and built a respectable catalog of music with recordings in the ’70s,’80s and ’90s. Johnny toured throughout the U.S. and Europe, with his last performance one month before his passing on December 15, 1995 in his hometown of Springfield. The street where the vibraphonist and drummer used to live was renamed Johnny Lytle Avenue in his honor.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Ed Cherry was born on October 12, 1954 in New Haven, Connecticut. Learning to play guitar as a child by the time he moved to New York in 1978 he was playing with Dizzy Gillespie. This relationship lasted until 1992, performing in Gillespie’s quartet, big band and with The United Nation Orchestra, which recorded the Grammy Award-winning “Live at Royal Festival Hall”.

In 1993 Cherry released his first recording as a leader, “First Take” as well as performing with Paquito D’ Rivera’s small group and recording “Havana Cafe”. He worked with composer/saxophonist Henry Threadgill for two years with the group “Very Very Circus”, and released his second project as a solo artist titled “A Second Look”. During that same period worked with Hammond B3 organist John Patton recording 3 critically acclaimed sessions.

From 1997 to 1998, Ed worked in Roy Hargrove’s “Crisol” Latin jazz band, which performed in Havana, Cuba, worked with baritone saxophonist Hamiett Bluiett, and toured Europe in 2001 with his own group. He has performed at numerous festivals around the world, backs vocalist Paula West, leads his own trio, has been an educator at Essex Community College, the Henry Street Settlement in New York City, Montclair State University and currently at the Jazzmobile. He continues to perform and record.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Monk Montgomery was born William Howard Montgomery on October 10, 1921 in Indianapolis, Indiana the older brother of Wes and Buddy. A student of the double bass, his professional career did not start until age 30, after Wes’ career began,  and from 1951 to 1953 he worked in Lionel Hampton’s Orchestra.

Following that stint Monk worked with his brothers and Alonzo Johnson in the Montgomery Johnson Quintet. He would go on to record with his brothers as the Montgomery Brothers, releasing a number of albums together. 1955 saw him moving to Seattle, Washington to form the Mastersounds from 1957–1960. From 1966–1970, he freelanced with Cal Tjader, settled in Las Vegas, Nevada and continued to play with the Red Norvo Trio and worked with Kenny Burrell, Art Farmer and Eddie Harris among others.

In his final years he founded and was active in the Las Vegas Jazz Society and was planning a world jazz festival. He is perhaps the first electric bassist of significance to jazz, introducing in 1951 the Fender Precision Bass to the genre. Bassist Monk Montgomery died of cancer in Las Vegas on May 20, 1982.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Gerry Moore was born Gerald Asher Moore on October 8, 1903 in London, England A pianist, he spent the years 1922-1939 working freelance jazz gigs in his hometown, playing movie palaces and nightclubs. Among the clubs in which he worked are Sherry’s and the Empress Rooms through the Twenties and in the 30s he played Chez Rex Evans, the Bag o’ Nails, the 43 Club and Mema’s.

In 1939 Gerry worked with Buddy Featherstonhaugh, Adelaide Hall, Vic Lewis, Max Geldray along with Carlo Krahmer at the Paris Jazz Fair and the Palm Beach Hotel in Cannes. He played with Harry and Laurie Gold and worked as a pianist on the Queen Mary and Caronia in the Fifties. From the mid-1960s up until his passing on January 29, 1993 in Twickenham, pianist Gerry Moore played the clubs of London.

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