Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Maria Jeanette Lindström was born on May 29, 1971 in Stockholm, Sweden and grew up in Östersund and Ås in the Jämtland region of Sweden. She made her recording debut for Caprice Records with Another Country in 1995, which earned her the Jazz in Sweden prize. Two more albums followed for the same label.
In 2003 Jeanette began a collaboration with the Bonnier Amigo Music Group on the album Walk. The album and its sequel, In the Middle of This Riddle, were warmly received by audiences and critics in Sweden and abroad. She recorded a side project album Whistling Away the Dark with Palle Danielsson, Bobo Stenson, Jonas Östholm, and Magnus Öström.
In 2007 the song Leaf, from In the Middle of This Riddle, was remixed by King Britt, a DJ and record producer from Philadelphia, and a track from the album was chosen for Volume 7 of the compilation series Saint-Germain-des-Prés Café. Her album Attitude & Orbit Control was released in 2009 and she received a Swedish Grammis at the awards ceremony the following year.
She has worked with pianist Steve Dobrogosz and the group ONCE with bassist Anders Jormin. She has appeared as guest soloist in small groups, big bands, and chamber and symphony orchestras.
Vocalist, composer and lyricist Jeanette Lindström continues to tour worldwide and explore the endless realms of jazz.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Johnny Alf was born Alfredo José da Silva on May 19, 1929 in Vila Isabel, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and began playing piano at age 9. His father died when he was 3 and was raised by his mother, who worked as a maid to raise him. He attended Colégio Pedro II, receiving support from his mother’s employers who had appreciation for music. He was enrolled at the IBEU, Instituto Brasil-Estados Unidos, and it was there that he received his first formal musical training, studying classical piano with instructor Geni Bálsamo.
Influenced by Nat King Cole and George Sheaing, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Brazilian born Dick Fame, he eventually gained membership into the Sinatra~Farney Fan Club, a performers collective. Alf’s membership allowed him regular access to a piano as well as a group of musically sympathetic peers with which to play and experiment. They would finally get the payless opportunity to play in a few well known venues.
By 1950 he was pursuing a professional musical career and received his first professional break in 1952 when he was hired as the pianist at the newly inaugurated Cantina do César, owned by the popular radio host César de Alencar. With free musical reign. Johnny would receive frequent visits from pianist João Donato, vocalist Dolores Duran, and guitarist/vocalist João Gilberto who would sit in on the way to their gigs.
He would begin to combine Samba-cançãoes and foxtrots with American jazz styles. He would go on to record his first two albums, however, the recordings garnered no more than a pittance of recognition for Alf at the time, but would later in the early Sixties be hailed as the progenitors of the Bossa Nova style.
He continued to find nightly work in the Rio clubs and work with musical companions João Gilberto, João Donato, and the young pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim, all following him from venue to venue provided they could afford the cover fee. By 1954 he was performing regularly at the Hotel Plaza nightclub. Due to its haunted reputation Johnny was able to play his own compositions plus hold early evening jam sessions and these improvisatory collaborations that the harmonic and rhythmic structures eventually blossomed into the style now known as Bossa Nova.
Moving to Sao Paulo in 1955 he became the house pianist at a new club, Baiúca and formed a short-lived duo with double-bassist Sabá. Unfortunately the group only established a moderate following before Baiúca was closed down for health-code violations. In 1961 he declined the invitation to play at Carnegie Hall’s historic Bossa Nova Festival because he didn’t like the connotation bossa nova brought with it. That decision sent him towards obscurity and very little was heard from Alf, although he infrequently produce albums throughout the 60s and early 70s. He would continue to collaborate, record and perform to earn a living and eventually landed a position at a local conservatory of music.
Pianist, vocalist, composer and educator Johnny Alf, who is widely considered the Father of Bossa Nova, transitioned from complications caused by prostate cancer on March 4, 2010 in Santo Andre, just outside São Paulo, Brazil. This was his home for the last fifty years of his life. He left no immediate survivors.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Nabuko Kiryu was born on May 18, 1968 in Tokyo, Japan and grew up in a musical family. Her mother and stepfather both are jazz pianists and a brother plays classical trumpet. The daughter of Toshiko Kiryu, a classically trained pianist who has performed at Carnegie Hall, she learned an appreciation for music early. However, her stepfather Kanji Ohta, was the one who inspired her movement toward jazz.
She started singing jazz in 1990 in Japan after graduating from Shobi Junior College of Music with a degree in composition. But her musical career began much earlier. Since her arrival in New York City in 1996, she has been performing in restaurants, cafes, and jazz clubs such as Blue Note, Lenox Lounge, and Showmans. She completed her B.A. in jazz vocal performance from City College of New York in 2001 and also graduated with her M.A. at Queens College in 2004.
Nabuko has performed with jazz giants such as Jimmy Heath, Grady Tate, Earl May, and Jimmy Lovelace, the last two of which appear on her latest What’s New Records release titled Singing Love. She studied with Sheila Jordan and has participated in the Barry Harris Jazz Vocal Ensemble.
Vocalist Nabuko Kiryu continues to perform and record as she explore the jazz idiom.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
On May 12, 1964 Audrey Silver was born and raised in New York City, New York. She graduated from Brown University, where she founded The Higher Keys, the school’s first a capella singing group. After stints working in marketing for CBS Masterworks (now Sony Classical) and Chesky Records, she returned to school and earned an MBA from Columbia University Business School.
Beginning her singing career in earnest in 1998, she teamed with Jon Raney, son of pianist Jimmy Raney and produced her first demo with the help of Ronnie Zito and Jay Leonhart. In the meantime, she honed her craft through private study with singers Sheila Jordan and Mark Murphy. Building a respected career performing around the city’s jazz clubs and music venues, she also performed at national festivals and venues around the country.
She released her debut album Here In My Arms in 2004 and has since released three more, the last being before the pandemic. Silver was a 2016 semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. As a songwriter, it was her four year old son that opened that door for her and the stories began to pour out.
Vocalist Audrey Silver credits Bill Evans, Annie Lennox and Arnold Schoenberg as influences as she continues to grow her catalogue of originals and performing around the world.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Milton Suggs was born on April 15th in Chicago, Illinois as a third generation musician. While growing up in Atlanta, Georgia he was continually exposed to music of varying styles, especially with his church choir at the age of seven. He recognized music as a gift from a young age; it was later that he would accept it as a calling. While in elementary and middle school, he gravitated toward the upright bass and later played the alto saxophone and drums, however, it was not until after high school that he committed to the pursuit of music as his life’s work.
Returning to Chicago, he began studying piano with the legendary Willie Pickens, while also honing his craft as a vocalist and performer. In 2012 Milton moved to New York City where he immediately took to performing throughout the city, branching out internationally as a performer and educator.
His voice and approach to music are a reflection not only of his direct lineage, but of the many great voices in Black American Music and culture from the past century and beyond. Firmly rooted in the blues Milton sports a rich baritone with the breadth and power reminiscent of Joe Williams, Donny Hathaway, and Nat King Cole.
Downbeat Magazine’s annual critc’s poll has been repeatedly voted a top 10 rising star male vocalist. Sugg’s fixture in jazz is cemented having worked with artists and bands such as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Orrin Evans, Wycliffe Gordon, Ulysses Owens, and Marquis Hill among others.
Vocalist Milton Suggs has produced four albums to date and is continually developing new projects with new ensembles.
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