Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Joseph G. Cocuzzo was born on September 17, 1937 in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in a family of enthusiastic amateur musicians. He began playing drums as a small child, later studied extensively, and played in many bands in and around his home town.

In the late 1950s he was residing in Chicago, Illinois where he joined the big band led by Ralph Marterie before moving on to the Woody Herman band. By the early Sixties he worked with Don Ellis, Les and Larry Elgart, Gary McFarland and Tony Bennett. The mid-70s saw Joe returning to Bennett for a five-year engagement, then he was with Harry James before beginning a decade-long spell with Rosemary Clooney.

The subtle skills he displayed with Bennett and Clooney found him in demand as a singer’s accompanist and he also worked with Vic Damone, Julius LaRosa, Susannah McCorkle and Sylvia Syms. Throughout this period and on through the new millennium, Cocuzzo was in frequent demand for recording sessions, appearing on albums by many artists including Buddy De Franco and Dick Sudhalter.

During his time with Clooney Cocuzzo had begun writing song lyrics, and he went on to collaborate with several composers, notably the Brazilian Ivan Lins. A smooth and swinging player, always aware of the subtly supportive role required by many leaders, especially singers, Cocuzzo was a member of New York Swing.

Drummer and songwriter Joe Cocuzzo, who never recorded as a  leader but has 77 recordings as a sideman, died on  July 31, 2008 in New Jersey.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Albert Aloysius Casey was born September 15, 1915 in Louisville, Kentucky. He was a child prodigy who first played violin, then switched to ukulele. He began playing guitar in 1930 and attended DeWitt Clinton High School in New York City where he studied guitar. He met Fats Waller in 1933 and the following year, at eighteen, he became a member of Waller’s band.

Making several recordings with the band, he is known for having played the solo in Buck Jumpin’. After Waller’s death in 1943, he led his own trio and for two consecutive years in the 1940s, he was voted best guitarist in Esquire magazine.

From 1957, he was a member of a rhythm and blues band led by King Curtis. Four years later he dropped out of music, though he returned in the 1970s to record with Helen Humes and Jay McShann. Another absence followed until 1981, when he returned to music to play with the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band.

During his career, Casey worked with Louis Armstrong, Chu Berry, Coleman Hawkins, Lionel Hampton, Billie Holiday, Billy Kyle, Frankie Newton, Clarence Profit, Art Tatum, and Teddy Wilson.

Guitarist Albert Casey died of colon cancer on September 11, 2005, four days shy of his 80th birthday.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Eddie Moore was born in Houston, Texas on September 14, 1940 and began his musical journey at Texas Southern University where he earned a Bachelors in Arts and immersed himself in the Houston music scene.  He relocated  to Kansas City, studied under Bobby Watson at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and received a M.A in Jazz Studies.

He formed a jazz fusion group Eddie Moore & The Outer Circle in 2012, with diversity and inclusiveness defining him as an artist. His debut album, The Freedom of Expression, was released in 2013. With a performing and visual arts curator he created an experimental platform in partnership with Charlotte Street that pairs time-based artists, producers and musicians.

Eddie has received awards and a 2017 residency at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. He has composed music that has been featured commercially for Sprint,  Netflix’s Queer Eye,  Morgan Cooper’s short film Room Tone, and Peacock’s Bel-Air.

He has shared the stage and recorded with Tia Fuller, Pam Watson, Logan Richardson, Maurice Brown, Boys II Men, Brian Blade and the Fellowship, John Baptiste, Erykah Badu, Mos Def, Bilal, Ledisi, Chantae Cann, Krystal Warren,  Andre Hayward, Tivon Pennicott,  and Various Blonde.

As an educator his passion for teaching sent him on a course as a jazz lecturer at the  University of Kansas, created a pilot Incubator,  Tribe Studios, which programs master classes, music business meet-ups, and provides creative/maker space for musicians and visual artists.

Pianist and bandleader Eddie Moore is an integral member of the music community in Kansas City, as well as an advocate for change and resources for professional artists.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Bernard Etté was born on September 13, 1898 in Kassel, Germany. The son of a hairdresser, he studied music formally at the Louis Spohr Conservatory in Kassel. He initially worked with Carl Robrecht as an instrumentalist, playing piano and banjo in addition to violin.

In the early 1920s he assembled his own ensemble, and took up a residency in Berlin, Germany and performed on radio. The group also recorded in the 1920s, often with traveling American musicians. During the 1930s, as the Nazi party rose to power, Etté shifted away from jazz to light music, and led a large orchestra during World War II.

He played for wounded soldiers on behalf of the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt in 1940 and for prison overseers at Auschwitz in 1944. After the war, he moved to the United States but was unsuccessful in adapting to new stylistic trends when he attempted a new career.

Returning to Germany, he led bands for luxury retreats in the East Frisian Islands and schlager and operetta backing bands in central Germany. By the end of the 1950s he quit actively playing music, and lived out his last years in an old folk’s home.

Bernard Etté, jazz and light music violinist and conductor died on September 26, 1973 in Mühldorf, Bavaria, Germany.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Freddie Moore was born on August 20, 1900, in Washington, North Carolina. Here’s some more information about Freddie Moore: He began playing drums in 1912 at the age of 12 and started his career in traveling shows, picking up much experience in variety shows and on vaudeville. He was with Charlie Creath in 1927 in St. Louis, Missouri and recorded with King Oliver from 1929-30, touring with him from 1931-32. He played in New York City with Wilbur Sweatman from 1928-31.

He went on to lead his own band with Peter Brown and Don Frye in Detroit, Michigan from 1933 to 1937. He feelanced for the next 20 years with Sidney Bechet, King Oliver, Art Hodes, Eubie Blake, John Kirby, Bob Wilber and Conrad Janis along with many others. The drummer was with Wilbur DeParis’ New New Orleans Jazz Band from 1952-54 and played in Europe with Mezz Mezzrow from 1954-55. He had associations with Sammy Price, Tony Parenti and even Roy Eldridge in 1971.

In the 1980s and the early 1990s he stayed active, playing with various bands in the New York area and often doubled on washboard. He was a colorful performer, often mugging and adding showbiz effects to the music. Moore, who appeared on a Rahsaan Roland Kirk record playing Sweet Georgia Brown, led his only record date for the New York Jazz label in 1981.

Drummer and singer Freddie Moore, whose long career finally came to an end after seven decades of playing with so many notable musicians, died on November 3, 1992 in New York.