Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Billy Strayhorn was born William Thomas Strayhorn on November 29, 1915 in Dayton, Ohio but the family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania shortly after his birth. Protecting him from his father’s drunken sprees his mother sent him to live with his grandparents in North Carolina, which is here he first became interested in music. He learned to play hymns on the piano and listening to records on her Victrola.
By high school he was back in Pittsburgh and began his music career studying classical music, writing a school musical, forming a trio that played daily on the radio and composing Life Is Lonely (renamed Lush Life), My little Brown Book and Something To Live For while still in his teens.
When the harsh reality of a black man making it in the white classical world shattered his 19-year-old ambitions, Strayhorn turned to the music of Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson and was guided into jazz. In 1938 he met Ellington, impressed him with an arrangement of a Duke piece, went to New York and collaborated with Ellington for the next quarter century. He composed Take The “A” Train, Chelsea Bridge, Day Dream, Such Sweet Thunder and A Drum I A Woman among others and the landmark score to the film Anatomy Of A Murder.
Billy was openly gay, participated in many civil rights causes, was a committed friend to Dr. Martin Luther King, influenced and help propel the singing career of Lena Horne, embarked on a solo career and continued to compose and arrange for Ellington.
Billy Strayhorn, composer, pianist and arranger whose compositions are known for the bittersweet sentiment and classically infused designs that set him apart from Duke succumbed to esophageal cancer on May 31, 1967. His final song “Blood Count”, composed while in the hospital, was the first track on Ellington’s memorial album for Strayhorn, …And His Mother Called Him Bill. The final track is a solo version of Lotus Blossom performed by Duke for his friend while the band was packing up.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ethel Llewellyn Ennis was born November 28, 1932 in Baltimore, Maryland and began performing on the piano in high school, but her natural vocal abilities soon eclipsed those as a pianist.
Embarking on a solo career Ethel recorded a number of songs for Atlantic Records before her 1955 debut of “Lullabies for Losers” on Jubilee Records. Two years later she moved to Capitol Records releasing “A Change of Scenery” followed by “Have You Forgotten”.
Ennis took a six-year hiatus from recording while she toured Europe with Benny Goodman. By the early Sixties she was back in the studio recording another four albums for RCA Records but unfortunately was dissatisfied with the creative direction and artist management left for a second recording hiatus of eight years. During this time she recorded the title song for the 1967 film Mad Monster Party and in 1973 the “10 Sides of Ethel Ennis” emerged on record store shelves.
That same year Ennis was invited to sing at the re-inauguration of Richard Nixon and her unusual a cappella rendition of the national anthem shocked some, but inspired many others. Ethel returned to Baltimore, rarely performing outside the area over the next several decades. 1980 saw her return to the studio releasing a live album, but it would be fourteen years later before her self-titled album came out, followed by the 1998 release of “If Women Ruled The World” was released on Savoy Jazz and a 2005 live recording of her performance at Montpelier was released to critical acclaim. Jazz vocalist Ethel Ennis passed away from a stroke on February 17, 2019, in her hometown. She was 86.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Etta Jones was born on November 25, 1928 in Aiken, South Carolina and was raised in Harlem, New York City. While in her teens she joined Buddy Johnson’s band and embarked on a nationwide tour. Her first recordings in 1944 Salty Papa Blues and Long, Long Journey were produced by Leonard Feather and backed by Barney Bigard, and George Auld. She would go on to perform with the Earl Hines Sextet from 1949 to ’52.
Over the course of her career Etta worked with Oliver Nelson, Kenny Burrell, Milt Jackson, Cedar Walton, Frank Wess, Roy Haynes, Gene Ammons and Houston Person, whom she met in one of Johnny Hammond’s bands. Jones’ thirty-year relationship with Person helped to ensure a long and prolific career with h Her best-known recordings were Grammy nominated “Don’t Go To Strangers” in 1960, “Save Your Love For Me” in 1981 and “My Buddy” in 1999.
She recorded for Prestige, Muse and HighNote record labels and secured her a loyal and devoted following. In 2008 her album Don’t Go To Strangers was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Vocalist Etta Jones passes away from cancer on October 16, 2001 at age 72 in Mount Vernon, New York.
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Hollywood On 52nd Street
Charade is a sad, lonely Parisian waltz composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer for the 1963 film of the same name starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. Now a classic song getting perpetual jazz encores song and is the theme to this romantic comedy, thriller, mystery film. The supporting cast included Walter Matthau, James Coburn, George Kennedy, Dominique Minot, Ned Glass and Jacques Marin.
The Story: When husband Charles is murdered leaving town, Regina “Reggie” Lampert (Hepburn) is tasked by the CIA administrator Matthau) to deliver the $250,000 in gold that five men stole from the U.S. that was to be delivered to the French Resistance and that her husband double-crossed and took for himself. Insistent that she knows where it is even though she may not know it. In walks Peter Joshua (Grant) to help her move into her apartment and the hunt for the money begins. Reggie falls for Peter, names constantly change, there’s murder and chases through the streets of Paris. They realize the money is in a priceless stamp and this lead up to the discovery of the identity of Carson Dyle and who the government agent is.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Clairdee was born on November 19th in Tucson, Arizona but was raised in Denver, Colorado. She grew up harmonizing and dancing with her sisters and brothers in a show biz minded family, taking to improvising naturally. She formed a four-part vocal group in high school, but it wasn’t until after college that she focused on jazz.
She listened and learned from pioneering jazz vocalists such as Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughan and Betty Carter but it was veteran Hammond B3 organist William “Big Daddy” Sailes who took her under his wing and taught her a repertoire of standards and how to develop arrangements to suit her voice.
Moving to the Bay Area in 1986, Clairdee performed various styles of music over the next decade but by the mid 90s settled into jazz working with Eddie Henderson, John Handy, Roland Hanna and Allen Farnham.
Influenced by Shirley Horn, Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams, Johnny Hartman, Billy Eckstine and Nat King Cole she developed a style that made each song she interprets hers, allowing her to stir an emotion. As an educator she conducts master classes around the country and continues to perform and record.
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