Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jimmy Rowles was born James G. Rowles on August 19, 1918 in Spokane, Washington and studied at Gonzaga College. After moving to Los Angeles in 1942, he joined Lester Young’s group and also worked with Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Les Brown, Tommy Dorsey, Tony Bennett and as a studio musician.
In the 1950s and 1960s, he frequently played behind Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee and in 1973, Rowles settled in New York City, where he performed and/or recorded with Zoot Sims and Stan Getz among others. He joined Ella Fitzgerald for nearly three years in 1981 succeeding Paul Smith as her accompanist first performing with her at the Mocambo nightclub in L.A.’s Hollywood district in late 1956. Jimmy appeared on several recording sessions with her in the 1960s and played on Fitzgerald’s final collaboration with Nelson Riddle, The Best Is Yet To Come in 1982.
In 1983, Jimmy worked with Diana Krall in Los Angeles, developing her playing abilities and encouraged her to add singing to her repertoire. He composed several jazz pieces, the best known being “The Peacocks”; accompanied jazz singer Jeri Brown in 1994 on the only album containing only his own compositions, A Timeless Place.
Pianist Jimmy Rowles, who released a number of albums under his own name and explored various idioms including swing and cool jazz, died from cardiovascular disease in Burbank, Los Angeles County, California, at the age of 78 on May 28, 1996.
More Posts: piano
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joseph Rudolph Jones was born on July 15, 1923 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. The name “Philly Joe” was used to avoid confusion with Jo Jones, the drummer from the Count Basie Orchestra, who became known as “Papa Jo Jones”. In 1947 he became the house drummer at New York’s Café Society, playing with the leading bebop players of the day. His most important influence among them was Tadd Dameron.
Jones toured and recorded with Miles Davis Quintet from 1955 to 1958 — a band that became known as “The Quintet”. Miles also acknowledged that Jones was his favorite drummer (in fact, in his autobiography, Davis admitted to asking other drummers to play that “Philly Joe lick”, with mixed results). He organized the Davis Quintet in 1955 so that he and Davis would not have difficulties finding competent local musicians to play with them.
From 1958 onwards he worked as a leader, but continued to work as a sideman with other musicians, including Bill Evans and Hank Mobley. Evans also openly admitted that Philly Joe was his all-time favorite drummer. For two years (1967-69) he taught at a specially organized school in Hampstead, London but was prevented from otherwise working in the UK by the Musicians’ Union. From 1981 he helped to found the group Dameronia, dedicated to the music of the composer Tadd Dameron, and led it until his death on August 30, 1985.
More Posts: drums
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Paul Smith also known as Paul T. Smith was born on April 17, 1922 in San Diego, California. After playing early on with Johnny Richards in 1941 and spending a couple of years in the military, the pianist played with Les Paul from 1946–1947 and Tommy Dorsey from 1947–1949, them moved to L.A. and became a studio musician.
Smith has recorded frequently as a leader both with his trios and as a soloist. As a sideman he worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Anita O’Day, Buddy DeFranco, Louis Bellson, Steve Allen, Sammy Davis Jr., Rosemary Clooney, Stan Kenton Mel Torme and Ella Fitzgerald, the later with whom he was her conductor and pianist from 1956 to 1978.
Throughout his career Smith has worked in television with Bing Crosby, Red Skelton, Dinah Shore, Nat King Cole, Carol Burnett and many more, has toured around the world and has authored a number of educational books and CDs, most of which focus on explaining his particular approach to jazz piano.
Often praised for his brilliant technique and lyrical playing, he has performed in various genres of jazz, most typically bebop but has delved into cool jazz, swing, and traditional pop. Pianist Paul Smith passed away of heart failure at the age 91 in Torrance, California on June 29, 2013.
More Posts: piano
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Rufus Reid was born on February 10, 1944 in Atlanta, Georgia but was raised in Sacramento, California where he played the trumpet through junior high and high school. Shortly after graduation he entered the Air Force and it was there that he became seriously interested in the bass.
Following his honorable discharge from the military, Reid moved to Seattle to begin studies with James Harnett of the symphony. Then continued at Northwestern University graduating with a music degree as a performance major on double bass.
His professional career began in Chicago playing with Sonny Stitt, James Moody, Milt Jackson, Curtis Fuller and Dizzy Gillespie, recording with Kenny Dorham, Dexter Gordon, Lee Konitz and Howard McGhee, and touring internationally with the Hutcherson-Land quintet, Freddie Hubbard, Nancy Wilson, Eddie Harris and Dexter Gordon in the ‘70s. Moving to New York in 1976 he began playing and recording with Thad Jones & Mel Lewis who are just the few colleagues among the hundreds of world’s greatest musicians.
A prolific bassist, Reid has spanned generations of jazz appearing on countless hard bop, bebop, swing and pop sessions with his restrained yet emphatic tone, time, harmonic sensibility and has made him one of the most sought after bassists in the industry. He has co-led a group with Akira Tana called TanaReid since the late eighties.
Rufus Reid began teaching at William Patterson College in 1979 and the bassist, educator and composer continues to record and perform around the world.
More Posts: bass
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Monty Rex Budwig was born on December 26, 1926 in Pender, Nebraska. He began playing bass during high school, gigged with Vido Musso in 1951 and continued in the military band while in the Air Force.
In 1954 he moved to Los Angeles and became a sought after bassist in the West Coast jazz scene. He played with Barney Kessel and The Red Norvo Trio when he arrived followed by stints with Zoot Sims and the Woody Herman Orchestra. Budwig soon became a studio fixture, recording and performing as a sideman on countless sessions with many notable jazz musicians such as Carmen McRae, Barney Kessel, Woody Herman, Red Norvo, Bob Cooper, Scott Hamilton, Bud Shank, Shelly Manne and the Lighthouse All Stars.
Best known for his melodic solos and his ability to swing a band, Monty was highly regarded for playing with Vince Guaraldi, but there has been some question as to whether or not he was the bassist heard on the Charlie Brown Christmas Album. He released one recording as a leader titled “Dig” on the Concord label that included his wife Arlette McCoy on electric piano. Double bassist Monty Budwig passed away on March 9, 1992.
More Posts: bass