Daily Dose Of Jazz…
David Walter Bowman was born September 8, 1914 in Buffalo, New York but was raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where he learned to play piano as a four year old.
He moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and played there for a time, then went to London, England working with Jack Hylton in the mid-1930s. After returning to the States he settled in New York and played with Bobby Hackett, Sharkey Bonano, Sidney Bechet, and Bud Freeman late in the decade.
In the early 1940s, he worked with Jack Teagarden, Joe Marsala, Muggsy Spanier, Lee Wiley, and Eddie Condon. He took positions with ABC and NBC in the late 1940s including Perry Como and worked as a studio musician on recordings.
In the 1950s, he once again worked with Bud Freeman and with Phil Napoleon shortly before his own death. Pianist Dave Bowman passed away from an automobile accident on December 28, 1964 in Miami, Florida.
More Posts: history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Horst Konrad “Conny” Jackel was born on August 30, 1931 in Offenbach am Main, Germany. Initially working as a steel construction fitter, he attended the conservatory in 1951 and from 1952 played in the clubs of the US Army in France, the Netherlands and Germany.
In 1955 he became a member of the Helmut Brandt Combo, contributing to its success. In 1959 he went on to perform the equally demanding arrangements of the Media Band of Harald Banter in Cologne. 1961 saw Jackel moving to the Erwin Lehn Orchestra in Stuttgart, where he performed with Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie and Frank Sinatra.
From 1964 to 1969 he was a member of the Hessischer Rundfunk Jazz Ensemble led by Albert Mangelsdorff, then became first trumpet of the orchestra in 1967 under Willy Berking and the HR Big Band under Heinz Schönberger. He would go on to perform with Joki Freund, Rudi Sehring, Attila Zoller, Charly Antolini and the Sugar Foot Stompers among other traditional bands.
Suffering from cancer, he lost his lower jaw to amputation forcing him to give up the trumpet. Occasionally he was active as a drummer with The Bookreaders. After a long illness as a result of an operation, trumpeter and flugelhornist Conny Jackel, whose motto was “No beer – no music!”, passed away on April 28, 2008 in Bad Nauheim, Germany.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jack Teagarden was born Weldon Leo Teagarden on August 20, 1905 in Vernon, Texas into a musical family, two brothers, a sister and father all musicians. His father started him on baritone horn but by age seven he had switched to trombone. His first public performances were in movie theaters, where he accompanied his mother, a pianist.
By 1920, Teagarden was playing professionally in San Antonio, Texas with the band of pianist Peck Kelley. In the mid-1920s he started traveling widely around the United States in a quick succession of different bands. 1927 saw him in New York City where he worked with several bands and by 1928 he was playing with the Ben Pollack band.
In the late 1920s, he recorded with such bandleaders and sidemen as Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Bix Beiderbecke, Red Nichols, Jimmy McPartland, Mezz Mezzrow, Glenn Miller, and Eddie Condon. Miller and Teagarden collaborated to provide lyrics and a verse to Spencer Williams’ “Basin Street Blues”, which in that amended form became one of the numbers that Teagarden played until the end of his days.
Seeking financial security during the Great Depression, Jack signed an exclusive contract to play for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra from 1933 through 1938. In 1946, he joined his lifelong friend Louis Armstrong and his All Stars. In late 1951, he left to again lead his own band.
Suffering from pneumonia, trombonist and singer Jack Teagarden, considered the most innovative jazz trombone stylist of the pre-bebop era, passed away in New Orleans at the age of 58 on January 15, 1964.
More Posts: bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,trombone,vocal
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Dill Jones was born Dillwyn Owen Paton Jones on August 19, 1923 in Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, Wales. He was brought up in New Quay on the Cardiganshire coast. Music was in the family, his mother a pianist and his aunt played organ at the Methodist Tabernacle. He was exposed to jazz as a 10-year-old by hearing records by Fats Waller and Bix Beiderbecke on the radio.
After leaving college, Jones followed his father into banking but was called up by the Royal Navy for wartime service in the Far East. When the war ended he enrolled at Trinity College of Music in London, England but did not complete the course, preferring the informality of late night jazz sessions.
Joining the Harry Parry Sextet and Vic Lewis’ Orchestra before plying his trade as ship’s pianist on the luxury liner, the Queen Mary, he sailed between New York City and Southampton. This gave Dill the chance to hang out in New York’s jazz clubs and hear Coleman Hawkins and Lennie Tristano, among others. After forming the Dill Jones Quartet in 1959, he emigrated to the United States in 1961, settling in New York City. He became an expert in the Harlem stride style. was soon in demand, earning his reputation playing with the likes of Gene Krupa, Jimmy McPartland and Yank Lawson.
Between 1969–1973, Jones was a member of the JPJ Quartet with Budd Johnson, Oliver Jackson and Bill Pemberton. A double CD anthology of Dill Jones` work was released in 2004, entitled Davenport Blues – Dill Jones plays Bix, Jones and a Few Others.
Pianist Dill Jones, who was instrumental in bringing jazz to British television when he hosted the BBC Jazz Club, passed away from throat cancer in a New York hospital on June 22, 1984. He was 60
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Roy Crimmins was born in London, England on August 2, 1929. Originally self-taught, he was later mentored by the American bass trombonist with the Philarmonia Orchestra, Ray Premru, and the then Ted Heath principal trombonist, Don Lusher. He turned professional when he joined the Mick Mulligan band in 1952.
Collaborating with Alex Welsh in 1954, the pair started their own band and recorded with American guest stars such as the clarinetist Pee Wee Russell and Wild Bill Davison. For the next decade they performed until Roy moved to Germany in 1965 where he kept a consistent line-up and a regular group. Residing in Switzerland from 1970 until 1977 he formed his own band under the pseudonym Roy King and recorded three albums.
Touring Europe extensively during this era, he had his own television show in Vienna, Austria for five years. The late 1970s saw Crimmins returning to England and working once again with Welsh until he died in 1982. In the mid-1980s he was approached to join his Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington orchestras,interpreting the original Lawrence Brown, Tricky Sam Nanton and Juan Tizol trombone solos. He performed at the Nice and North Sea Jazz Festivals.
As an advisor to the Mayor of Eilat, Israel, his involvement in this venture led to the renowned Red Sea Jazz Festival. Soon after, Roy and his family moved to Tel Aviv, Israel where he established the Israel Jazz Ensemble, and was commissioned by Musica Nova to write a concerto, which premiered in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art to great acclaim. His music is still broadcast regularly.
Trombonist, composer and arranger Roy Crimmins, whose career spanned over fifty years, passed away on August 27, 2014 at the age of 85. He is buried on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee.
More Posts: arranger,composer,history,instrumental,music,trombone