Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Chick Corea was born Armando Anthony Corea on June 12, 1941 in Chelsea, Massachusetts of Sicilian and Spanish descent. His father, a jazz trumpeter led a Dixieland band introduced him to the piano at the age of four. Growing up surrounded by jazz music, he was influenced at an early age by bebop stars Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Horace Silver and Lester Young. At eight Corea added drums, which later influenced his use of the piano as a percussion instrument.

Corea started taking piano lessons and musical composition at age eight and went on to spend several years in the drum and bugle corps, the Knights of St. Rose. By high school he was gigging, listening to Herb Pomeroy’s band at the time, and had a trio that performed Horace Silver’s music at a local jazz club.

A move to New York had him studying music at Columbia University and The Julliard School but found them both disappointing, subsequently immersing himself in the New York jazz scene. Corea’s first major professional gig was with Cab Calloway, followed by Blue Mitchell, Herbie Mann, Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaria. He released his debut album Tones For Joan’s Bones in 1966 and has followed with an impressive discography.

He would venture into the avant-garde with Miles Davis on Filles de Kilimanjaro, In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew; and on Joe Farrell’s Song of the Wind. Hew would record and tour with Davis into the 70s until leaving to form the group “Circle” with Dave Holland, pushing more free jazz. Striking out on his own, in 1971 he formed the fusion band Return To Forever that featured Flora Purim on vocals and has spawned a multitude of albums with his most popular tune “Spain” coming from the Light As A Feather album.

He has done duet projects, delved into electric instrumentation, has won 18 Grammys out of 51 nominations, two Latin Grammy awards, has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, formed the 5 Peace Band and continued to perform, tour and record until his death. Pianist, keyboardist, and composer Chick Corea passed away of a rare form of cancer at his home near Tampa Bay, Florida on February 9, 2021, at age 79

More Posts: piano

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Nat Hentoff was born Nathan Irving Hentoff on June 10, 1925 in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from the Boston Latin School, matriculated through Northeastern University with honors, did graduate work at Harvard University and was a Fulbright fellow at the Sorbonne in Paris.

He became an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic and a syndicated columnist having written for Down Beat, Jazz Times as well as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Village Voice, The New Yorker amongst others.

Hentoff joined Down Beat Magazine as a columnist in 1952 and from 1953 through 1957 was an associate editor. In 1958 he co-founded The Jazz Review, a magazine that he co-edited with Martin Williams until 1961. His broadcast career began with a notable radio show called “JazzAlbum”, that would continue into the 50s. During this period he would also host radio shows “Evolution of Jazz” and “The Scope of Jazz”.

In June 1955, Hentoff co-authored with Nat Shapiro “Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya: The Story of Jazz by the Men Who Made It”. The book features interviews with some of the best-known names in jazz, including Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and Paul Whiteman. He went on to author numerous other books on jazz.

Hentoff is a Guggenheim Fellow, NEA Jazz Master, and has been honored y Northeastern University, National Press Foundation, Human Life Foundation and the American Bar Association. He has written twenty non-fiction books and nine novels, of which eight are dedicated to jazz. Writer, author and record producer Nat Hentoff passed away of natural causes at his Manhattan apartment on January 7, 2017.

More Posts: writer

Requisites

Maiden Voyage is a concept album aimed at creating an oceanic atmosphere. Many of the song titles refer to marine biology or the sea, and the musicians develop the concept through their use of space and almost tidal dynamics. Three of the albums tunes – Maiden Voyage, The Eye of the Hurricane and Dolphin Dance have become jazz standards. The album was presented with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.

Personnel: Herbie Hancock – piano, Ron Carter – bass, Tony Williams –drums, Freddie Hubbard – trumpet, George Coleman – tenor saxophone

Supervised by: Rudy Van Gelder

Record Date: Blue Note / May 17, 1969

Cover: The sailboat lends to the nautical theme of a first outing.

Songs: Maiden Voyage, The Eye Of The Hurricane, Little One, Survival Of The Fittest and Dolphin Dance

More Posts: collectible,piano

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Winard Harper was born Hiram Winard Harper on June 4, 1962 in Baltimore, Maryland and started beating on cans at age three and his natural affinity was encouraged by his father. By age five he was making guest nightclub appearances with his older brother Danny’s band. It was his hearing of the Clifford Brown/Max Roach recording that sealed his inspiration to play jazz.

Harper’s first major gig was in 1982 with Dexter Gordon, followed by Johnny Griffin and then spent four years with Betty Carter. It was with the later that he learned much about the music business, preparing him to be a bandleader and giving him the inside track on bookings. This experience gave him the foundation to launch The Harper Brothers along with his brother Philip, and a few of the hottest young talents of the Nineties – Justin Robinson, Javon Jackson, Walter Blanding, Kioshi Kitagawa, Stephen Scott, Kevin Hayes, Michael Bowie and Nedra Wheeler.

The Harper Brothers recorded four albums prior to the dissolution of the band and Winard went on to record seven albums to date as a leader. He has played the sideman to Avery Sharpe, Ray Bryant, Abdullah Ibrahim, Pharoah Sanders, Clifford Jordan, Steve Turre, Joe Lovano, Frank Wess, Jimmy Heath and Wycliffe Gordon. Since the turn of the century the drummer, composer and bandleader continues to perform, tour and record with his own sextet.

More Posts: drums

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen was born May 27, 1946 in Osted, near Roskilde on the Danish island of Zealand. As a child he played piano and started learning the double bass during his teenage years. By age 14 while still studying he began his professional jazz career in Denmark with his first band, Jazzkvintet 60. At 17, he had already turned down an offer to join the Count Basie Orchestra, being too young to legally live and work in the U.S.

The 1960s saw Pedersen playing with several visiting or residing musicians in Denmark such as Bud Powell, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Roland Kirk, Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, Bill Evans, and Ben Webster to name a few. He became the bassist of choice whenever a big-name musician was touring Copenhagen.

Pedersen worked in duo and trio arrangements with pianist Kenny Drew, recording over 50 albums together, worked with Oscar Peterson, Stephane Grappelli and Joe Pass and recorded extensively as a leader. His best-known songs are “My Little Anna”, “Jaywalkin” and “The Puzzle”. He was awarded the Nordic Council Music Prize, the “Best Bass Player Of The Year” by the Downbeat Critics’ Poll, co-led a duo with Mulgrew Miller that toured Europe, Japan, Australia, and Korea and later enlarged into a trio with drummer, Alvin Queen. Bassist Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen, known as The Great Dane With The Never Ending Name, died of heart failure on April 19, 2005 at the age of 58 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

More Posts: bass