Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Stanley Ernest Sulzmann was born November 30, 1948 in London, England and began on saxophone at age 13, playing in Bill Ashton’s London Youth Jazz Orchestra, later the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music from 1969-1972.

In the 1970s he played with the Clarke-Boland Big Band, Mike Gibbs, John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, Volker Kriegel, Eberhard Weber, Zbigniew Seifert, Phil Woods, Clark Terry, and Gordon Beck. The 1980s saw him working with Gil Evans, Paul McCartney, the European Jazz Ensemble, the James Last Orchestra, the Hilversum Radio Orchestra, the NDR Big Band, and the London Jazz Orchestra.

Collaborations in the 1990s include with Allan Botschinsky, David Murray, Paul Clarvis, and Bruno Castellucci. Television audiences around the world have heard him as the saxophone soloist in The Belgian Detective, the theme music to ITV’s Poirot, composed by Christopher Gunning.

Saxophonist Stan Sulzmann has held teaching positions at the Guildhall School of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, and Trinity College of Music, and continues to teach, perform and record.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Jothan Callins was born October 29, 1942 in Birmingham, Alabama. The third of nine children he received his childhood education in Ensley at Council Elementary School and Western-Olin High School. Obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida A&M University, he subsequently became a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and performed with Max Roach, Milt Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Sun Ra, Cecil McBee, Consuela Lee, George Coleman, Geri Allen, Joseph Jennings, Jeff Watts and many others.

In 1978, Jothan became the first Jazz Artist-In-Residence for the Birmingham Public Schools and helped found the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and City Stages. In 1982, after receiving a fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh, he obtained a Masters’ Degree in Ethnomusicology and Jazz Studies and remained there for five years teaching jazz history. As a prolific, creative artist, Jothan was a performer, composer, arranger, educator, consultant, musical director, and cultural catalyst, who earned the respect and admiration of fans, musicians, and critics throughout the world.

With his band, The Sounds of Togetherness, he toured and performed around the United States and the world. He specialized in Jazz performances and workshops for children and adults. In the ‘90s, Callins founded the Birmingham Youth Jazz Ensemble, Inc. (BYJE), serving as Director until his death. Trumpeter, flugelhornist, electric bassist, and composer Jothan Callins, who was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1979, passed away on April 30, 2005 at Baptist-Princeton Medical Center.

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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

As we approach November 3, VOTING in this very important election is this Quarantined Jazz Voyager’s top priority and I hope it is yours. Having received my absentee ballot, I will be delivering it this coming week. In the meantime, while remaining secluded and social distancing I’m pulling out an 2011 album by Pee Wee Ellis titled Tenoration.

It is a twelve-track jazz and funk double album by that is an all-instrumental album. Its subtitle, From Jazz to Funk and Back reflects Ellis’ affection to both jazz and funk music. On this production, he uses two different rhythm sections. CD1 emphasizes funk, and on CD 2 he’s bringing jazz.

The album was recorded in November 2010 and released the following year in April on the Art Of Groove label. The producer on the session was Joachim Becker.

1. Slanky P (Pee Wee “Alfred” Ellis / Jim Payne) ~ 7:15
2. Gittin’ A Little Hipper (James Brown /(Pee Wee “Alfred” Ellis / Bud Hobgood) ~ 3:01
3. Bon Bonn ((Pee Wee “Alfred” Ellis) ~ 7:00
4. Sticks (Cannonball Adderley) ~ 10:42
5. Zig Zag (Pee Wee “Alfred” Ellis / Paul Rusky / Jim Schneider) ~ 7:01
6. At Last (Mack Gordon / Harry Warren) ~ 6:04 #Out Of The Blue (Wright, Terry) ~ 2:15

1. You’ve Changed (Bill Carey / Carl Fischer) ~ 4:30
2. Sticks (Cannonball Adderley) ~ 4:11
3. Parlayin’ (Pee Wee “Alfred” Ellis) ~ 4:30
4. Sonnymoon For Two (Sonny Rollins) ~ 8:37
5. Now Go On (Pee Wee “Alfred” Ellis) ~ 6:01
6. Freedom Jazz Dance (Eddie Harris) ~ 4:47

• Guitar: Tony Remy (1-6)
• Keyboards: Dan Moore (1-6)
• Piano: Gareth Williams (7-12)
• Bass: Patrick Scales (1-6)
• Bass: Laurence Cottle (7-12)
• Drums: Guido May

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Bobby Few was born October 21, 1935 in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in the Fairfax neighborhood of the city’s East Side. His mother encouraged him to study classical piano, later discovering jazz listening to his father’s Jazz at the Philharmonic records. His father became his first booking agent and soon he was gigging around the greater Cleveland area with other local musicians including Bill Hardman, Bob Cunningham, Cevera Jefferies, and Frank Wright.

Exposed to Tadd Dameron and Benny Bailey as a youth and knew Albert Ayler, with whom he played in high school. As a young man, Bobby gigged with local tenor legend Tony “Big T” Lovano, Joe Lovano’s father. The late 1950s had him relocating to New York City, where he led a trio from 1958 to 1964; there, he met and began working with Brook Benton, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson and Ayler. Playing on several of Ayler’s albums, he also recorded with Alan Silva, Noah Howard, Muhammad Ali, Booker Ervin, and Kali Fasteau.

In 1969 he moved to France and rapidly integrated the expatriate jazz community, working frequently with Archie Shepp, Sunny Murray, Steve Lacy, and Rasul Siddik. Since 2001, he has toured internationally with American saxophonist Avram Fefer, with whom he recorded four critically acclaimed CDs. He plays extensively around Europe and continues to make regular trips back to the United States. Recently, Few has played with saxophonist Charles Gayle and leads his own trio in Paris. He is currently working on a Booker Ervin tribute project called Few’s Blues that features tenor player Tony Lakatos, bassist Reggie Johnson and drummer Doug Sides.

As a leader and co~leader, he recorded eighteen albums and fifty as a sideman.  Pianist and vocalist Bobby Few, whose playing style has been described as delicate single-note melodies, roll out lush romantic chords, and rap out explicitly Monkish close-interval clanks, continued to perform and record until he passed away on January 6, 2021 at age 85.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Masabumi Kikuchi was born on October 19, 1939 in Tokyo, Japan and lived his early life in World War II and post-war country. He studied piano and music at the Tokyo Art College High School. After graduating, he joined Lionel Hampton’s Japanese touring band.

Known for his eclectic music that ranges from vanguard classical to fusion and digital music. Not only working with Hampton, but he also performed with Sonny Rollins, Woody Herman, Mal Waldron, Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Gil Evans, Elvin Jones, Miles Davis, Gary Peacock, Paul Motian, Billy Harper, and Hannibal Peterson.

As a leader and co~leader, he recorded twenty-five albums, and as a sideman or member of other groups, he recorded twenty~eight albums.  Pianist and composer Masabumi Kikuchi passed away from a subdural hematoma on July 6, 2015 at a hospital in Manhasset, New York.

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