Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Terri Lyne Carrington was born on August 4, 1965 in Medford, Massachusetts and by age 7 was given a set of drums that had belonged to her grandfather, Matt Carrington, who had played with Fats Waller and Chu Berry. After studying privately for three years, she played her first major performance at the Wichita Jazz Festival with Clark Terry. At age 11 she received a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music and at the ripe age of 12 years old she was profiled on the PBS kids’ biography program “Rebop”.
While attending Berklee College of Music she played with leading musicians such as Kevin Eubanks, Donald Harrison, Greg Osby and others. She also studied under master drum instructor Alan Dawson and made a private recording entitled, TLC and Friends, with Kenny Barron, Buster Williams, George Coleman and her father, Sonny Carrington, before turning 17. Throughout high school Terri traveled across the country doing clinics at various schools and colleges.
In 1983, her mentor Jack DeJohnette encouraged Carrington to move to New York, where she worked with Stan Getz, James Moody, Lester Bowie, Pharoah Sanders, Cassandra Wilson, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Al Jarreau, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, David Sanborn and too many others to list. The late 80s saw her moving to Los Angeles where she became the house drummer for the Arsenio Hall show and then again near the close of the century with the Sinbad hosted show “Vibe”.
Carrington is a Grammy nominated musician with several recordings as a leader, and has collaborated with Peabo Bryson on “Always Reach For Your Dreams” commissioned for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. She has toured the U.S. and Europe several times performing her own music and backing other musicians such as numerous configurations of Herbie Hancock’s electric and acoustic groups for a decade beginning in 1997.
In 2003 she received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music, was appointed professor in 2007 and serves as Artistic Director of the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Josh Nelson was born August 1, 1978 in Long Beach, California. His talent was discovered from a very young age, but it was during his high school years that he received the Louis Armstrong Award, the John Phillip Sousa Award, as well as numerous “Outstanding Soloist Awards” at music competitions from around the country. He attended summer camps at Berklee College of Music and mentored by Bill Cunliffe and Benny Green.
Nelson produced his 1998 independent debut album “First Stories” at age nineteen. He went on to receive his degree in Jazz Studies from Long Beach University. His sophomore project three years later titled “Emergence” was followed by “The Leadwell Project” in 2002 and “Anticipation” in 2004. Five years later he released “I Hear A Rhapsody” featuring a host of young west coast players, with his latest “Discoveries” landing on shelves in 2011.
With an innate sense of swing and rhythm, Josh has established himself as a strong voice on the local and international jazz scene, performing with some of the most respected names in jazz, including Natalie Cole, Ralph Moore, Christian McBride, Anthony Wilson, Albert “Tootie” Heath, Ernie Watts, Tom Scott, Alex Acuna, Seamus Blake, Matt Wilson, Jack Sheldon, Peter Erskine, Bob Hurst, Queen Latifah and Erin Bode.
Josh Nelson pianist, composer, arranger, and recording artist is a strong advocate for music education, and spends a good deal of his time maintaining a private studio of jazz students, as well as teaching for Soka University of America as Adjunct Jazz Faculty.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Kenneth Earl Burrell was born July 31, 1931 in Detroit, Michigan and began playing guitar at age 12. He cites his influences as Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and Wes Montgomery. He made his debut recording with Dizzy Gillespie’s Sextet while still matriculating Wayne State University in 1951.
After graduating Kenny went on the road with Oscar Peterson in 1955 and a year later moved to New York City. During this decade and forward Burrell has led his own groups and recorded some 40 albums and CDs, many of them well-received albums, such as, Midnight Blue, Blue Lights, Sunup to Sundown, Soft Winds, and his 75th Birthday Bash.
A consummate sideman, Burrell recorded with a wide range of prominent musicians. A highly popular performer, he has won several jazz polls in Japan, United Kingdom and the United States.
In the 1970s he began leading seminars about music, particularly “Ellingtonia”, examining the life and accomplishments of Duke Ellington. As of 1996 he has served as Director of Jazz Studies at UCLA, mentoring such notable alumni as Gretchen Parlato and Kali Wilson.
Guitarist Kenny Burrell has amassed over sixty albums as a leader and another 58 as a sideman with the likes of Jimmy smith, Lalo Schifrin, Charlie Rouse, Sonny Rollins, Ike Quebec, Wynton Kelly, Etta Jones, Milt Jackson, Coleman Hawkins and Red Garland among numerous others. He continues to perform, record and tour.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Dale Fielder was born July 27, 1956. Growing up in Midland, a small suburb outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania he studied oboe, bassoon and tuba in the school system and clarinet, saxophone, composition and arranging privately with Pittsburgh area tenor saxophonist Phillip Celli. An alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh Jazz Studies Program, Dale studied as an ethnomusicology major under Dr. Nathan Davis. His debut jazz performance was as a member of the Joe Harris Quartet, former drummer with the Charlie Parker Quintet and Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra.
Fielder is a recipient of a NEA grant, has completed his first large work “The Aquarian” for alto saxophone and chamber orchestra; spent eight years in NYC, moved to Los Angeles, began studying with alto legend, Charles McPherson. He has recorded a dozen CDs as a leader including the top-ten critically acclaimed “Dear Sir: Tribute To Wayne Shorter”; he received his first commission and wrote the extended eleven-movement jazz suite, “Ocean Of Love And Mercy”; was selected as BET’s 1999 Jazz Discovery winner and performs throughout Europe and Asia with his quartet.
If originality is the barometer of what truly makes a great jazz artist, Dale Fielder possesses a quality of originality in his voice. The multi-instrumentalist offers rare and obscure jazz classics to his audience coupled with his original compositions, giving the listener a variety of new concepts and presentations. He continues his performance, recording and touring.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joanne Brackeen was born Joanne Grogan on July 26, 1938 in Ventura, California but has used her married name throughout her career. The pianist and music educator attended the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, but devoted her talents to jazz by imitating Frankie Carle albums. She was greatly influenced by Charlie Parker and bebop.
Her career began in the late 1950s while working with names like Dexter Gordon, Teddy Edwards, Harold Land, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden and Charles Lloyd. In 1969 Brackeen began to “take off” as she became the first woman to join Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.
In the 70s Joanne he played with Joe Henderson (1972-75) and Stan Getz (1975-1977) before leading her own trio and quartet. Brackeen established herself as a cutting edge pianist and composer through her appearances around the world, and her solo performances also cemented her reputation as one of the most innovative and dynamic of pianists. Her trios featured such noted players as Clint Houston, Eddie Gomez, John Patitucci, Jack DeJohnette, Cecil McBee and Billy Hart.
She has served on the grant panel for the National Endowment for the Arts, toured the Middle East with the US State Department as sponsor, had solo performances at Carnegie Hall and is a professor at the Berklee College of Music. With 25 albums to her credit, pianist Joanne Brackeen continues to perform and record.
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