Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Tatsuya Takahashi was born December 24, 1931 in Tsuruoka, Yamagata, Japan. He played on U.S. military bases in the early 1950s, and later in the decade moved to Tokyo, Japan.
He worked with Keiichiro Ebihara from 1961, but by 1966 was leading his own ensemble, Tokyo Union, which remained active until 1989. In the 1970s he played at the Monterey and Montreux Jazz Festivals.
After leaving Tokyo Union, Takahashi worked in jazz education, and in 1996 founded a new ensemble, Jazz Groovys.
Saxophonist Tatsuya Takahashi died on February 29, 2008 in Tokyo, Japan.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Peter Charles Strange was born on December 19, 1938 in Plaistow, Newham, London, England. He played violin as a child before switching to trombone as a teenager.
His first major gig was with Eric Silk and his Southern Jazz Band when he was just 18 years old. In 1957, Silk’s clarinetist Teddy Layton split off and formed his own band, and Strange went with him. Called up for National Service in 1958 he became a bandsman in the Lancashire Fusiliers, whilst serving in Cyprus.
Following his discharge from service Peter played with Sonny Morris, Charlie Gall, and Ken Sims, then joined Bruce Turner from 1961 to 1964. After 1964, Turner went into partial retirement for about 10 years, so he played off and on with Freddy Randall, Joe Daniels, and Ron Russell, but not carrying any full-time associations. He returned to play with Turner again permanently in 1974.
In 1978 co-founded the Midnite Follies Orchestra with Alan Elsdon. 1980 saw Strange founding the five-trombone ensemble, Five-A-Slide, which featured Roy Williams and Campbell Burnap. He joined Humphrey Lyttelton’s band in 1983, and remained with the ensemble until he died.
Trombonist, arranger and composer Peter Strange, who played with his own side group, the Great British Jazz Band, died of cancer at the age of 65 on August 14, 2004 in Banstead, Surrey, England.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Nicholas Stabulas was born on December 18, 1929 in New York City, New York. After working in commercial music, Stabulas was a member of Phil Woods group from 1954 to 1957.
Through the Fifties he did extensive work as a sideman in the 1950s, with Jon Eardley, Jimmy Raney, Eddie Costa, Friedrich Gulda, George Wallington, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Gil Evans, Mose Allison, Carmen McRae, and Don Elliott.
In the 1960s he worked with Chet Baker, Kenny Drew, Bill Evans, Lee Konitz and Lennie Tristano. He remained active into the Seventies.
Drummer Nicholas Stabulas, who recorded fourteen albums as a sideman, died in a car crash on February 6, 1973 in Great Neck, New York.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Graham Leslie Lionel Clark was born on December 16, 1959 in England. He plays the violin as his first instrument, sings and also the electric guitar. As a freelance violinist he is adept in most styles of jazz, rock, blues and pop, however, he specializes in improvisation.
He worked with Daevid Allen from 1988 to 2014, and has also worked with Andy Sheppard, Keith Tippett, Tim Richards, Phil Lee, Paz, Brian Godding, Elbow, Lamb, Bryan Glancy, Little Sparrow, Jah Wobble, Graham Massey, Louis Gordon and Liz Fletcher.
Violinist Graham Clark, who has been featured on seven albums, continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alex Acuña was born Alejandro Neciosup Acuña on December 12, 1944 in Pativilca, Peru. He played in local bands such as La Orquesta de los Hermanos Neciosup from the age of ten, then followed his brothers and moved to Lima, Peru as a teenager. At the age of eighteen he joined the band of Perez Prado, and in 1965 moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
In 1974 he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and worked with Elvis Presley, The Temptations, and Diana Ross. The following year he joined the jazz-fusion group Weather Report, and while in New York City, Acuña recorded several songs for RCA records. Leaving Weather Report in 1978 he became a session musician in California, recording and playing live with r&b and jazz musicians Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Jackson, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Roberta Flack,Al Jarreau and the list goes on and on.
The Eighties saw Alex recording and touring with the Christian jazz band Koinonia. In 1987 he was summoned back to Perú by producer Ricardo Ghibellini to be the musical producer of Los Hijos del Sol, a group of Peruvians designed to promote Peruvian music worldwide.
Drummer and percussionist Alex Acuña, who has worked as an educator at University of California Los Angeles, and Berklee College of Music, LAMA, Musicians Institute, USC, and CSUN, continues his career of performing and educating.
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