Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Barry Miles was born Barry Miles Silverlight on March 28, 1947 in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in North Plainfield, New Jersey. In 1956 he joined the musicians union at age nine as a child prodigy on drums, piano and vibraphone appearing with Miles Davis and John Coltrane among other talents of the day. He appeared live and on television shows including To Tell the Truth, Dick Van Dyke’s variety show, and The Andy Williams Show.
In 1961 at age fourteen he made his solo artist debut recording, “Miles of Genius”, as drummer and composer with sidemen Al Hall and Duke Jordan. Miles continued to perform with his own band in the early 1960s in which he composed the material that enabled up and coming talents such as Woody Shaw, Eddie Gómez and Robin Kenyatta to display their talents.
While a student at Princeton University he concentrated on his piano playing, recording a live album in 1966 entitled Barry Miles Presents His Syncretic Compositions. He followed in 1969 with the eponymously titled album, Barry Miles, incorporating electric instruments.
The Seventies saw him recruiting his brother Terry Silverlight on drums along with guitarists Pat Martino and John Abercrombie to record his White Heat album, which is regarded as one of the pioneering fusion jazz recordings. For the next decade, Miles recorded several albums in which he developed the principle of fusing styles together in jazz.
In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Barry went on to work as Roberta Flack’s musical director for a stint that lasted fifteen years. During that time he composed, produced and recorded songs that Flack recorded in the film Bustin’ Loose, and on her album Oasis. He established a long-lasting relationship with Al Di Meola as his performing, recording and co-producing keyboardist.
He wrote the instruction book, “Twelve Themes With Improvisations”, and is currently out of print. In 2013, he released Home and Away, Volume One, his first album as a leader in 27 years. Pianist, record producer and author Barry Miles continues to perform, record and produce.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Vinny Golia was born March 1, 1946 in the Bronx, New York City. As a composer he fuses the rich heritage of jazz, contemporary classical music and world music. As a bandleader, he has presented his music in Europe, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. His ensembles vary in size and instrumentation.
He founded the jazz record label Nine Winds in 1977 and has won numerous awards as a composer. In 1982 he created the ongoing 50-piece Vinny Golia Large Ensemble to perform his compositions for chamber orchestra and jazz ensembles.
A multi-woodwind performer, Vinny’s recordings have been consistently picked by critics and readers of music journals for their yearly “ten best” lists on JazzTimes, Cadence Magazine, DownBeat, LA Weekly, Jazziz and the Jazz Journalists Association honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Golia has been a featured performer with Anthony Braxton, Henry Grimes, Joëlle Léandre, Wadada Leo Smith, Horace Tapscott, John Zorn, Tim Berne, George E. Lewis, the Rova Saxophone Quartet, Patti Smith, Eugene Chadbourne, John Bergamo, George Gruntz, Lydia Lunch, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra among numerous others.
Most recently, Golia has performed and toured with his sextet which features some of the new voices in the Los Angeles free-improv scene. Saxophonist and composer Vinny Golia, who also plays flute, English horn, clarinet, bassoon, tárogató, continues to expand and discover new avenues of exploration in his music.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Trilok Gurtu was born October 30, 1951 to Hindu Brahmin parents in Mumbai, India. His mother was a famous classical vocalist who encouraged him to learn to play the tabla. He attended Don Bosco High School in Mumbai and he received formal training in percussion from Shah Abdul Karim.
Gurtu began playing a western drum kit in the 1970s, and developed an interest in jazz. Not understanding overdubbing he learned multiple parts which most musicians would have never attempted. In the 1970s, he played with Charlie Mariano, John Tchicai, Terje Rypdal, and Don Cherry.
In 1977 he recorded Apo-Calypso, an album by the German ethnic fusion band Embryo. His mother also sang on that record, and later joined him on his first solo CD, Usfret. The 1980s saw Trilok playing with Swiss drummer Charly Antolini and with John McLaughlin in McLaughlin’s trio. He joined Oregon and played on three of their records. In the early 1990s, he resumed his career as a solo artist and a bandleader.
By the end of the decade he was a member of Tabla Beat Science, collaborated with the Arkè String Quartet in 2007, and in 2012 with the electronic folk duo Hari & Sukhmani. He has worked with Terje Rypdal, Gary Moore, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinul, Michel Bisceglia, Bill Laswell, Maria João & Mário Laginha, Stefano Bollani and Robert Miles.
Drummer, percussionist, tabla player and composer Trilok Gurtu continues to compose, perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Richard Bona was born Bona Penda Nya Yuma Elolo on October 28, 1967 in Minta, Cameroon. His family of musicians enabled him to start learning music from a young age. His grandfather was a griot and percussionist, as his mother was a singer. When he was four years old he started playing the balafon. At five he began performing at his village church, however, not being wealthy, he made many of his own instruments, flutes and guitars.
He began learning to play the guitar at the age of 11, and in 1980 at 13 he assembled his first ensemble for a French jazz club in Douala, Cameroon. The owner befriended him and helped him discover jazz starting with Jaco Pastorius, which inspired Bona to switch his focus to the electric bass.
Emigrating to Germany at the age of 22 he studied music in Düsseldorf, soon relocating to France, where he furthered his studies in music. While in France, he regularly played in various jazz clubs, sometimes with players such as Manu Dibango, Salif Keita, Jacques Higelin and Didier Lockwood.
He left France and established himself in New York City, playing bass guitar with Joe Zawinul, Larry Coryell, Michael and Randy Brecker, Mike Stern, George Benson, Branford Marsalis, Chaka Khan, Bobby McFerrin, and Steve Gadd, among others. In 1998, Bona was the Musical Director on Harry Belafonte’s European Tour.
His debut solo album, Scenes from My Life, was released in 1999. He has also been prominently featured in Jaco Pastorius Big Band albums. As an educator he held a professorship of jazz music at New York University. For five years beginning in 2015 he owned with restaurateur Laurent d’Antonio, the jazz club Club Bonafide in the city.
Bass guitarist, guitarist, percussionist and vocalist Richard Bona continues to compose, record and perform.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Chris Karan was born Chrisostomos Karanikis on October 14, 1939 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In the early 1960s he played in the Three Out Trio with Mike Nock and Freddy Logan in Sydney, Australia.
A move to London, England in 1962 saw him becaming the drummer in the Dudley Moore Trio. He toured and recorded with Moore for many years, including appearances on the TV series Not Only But Also and the soundtrack of the 1967 movie Bedazzled. Their association continued until Moore’s last major public appearance at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2001.
Karan has worked with Michel Legrand, Lalo Schifrin, Charles Aznavour, the Swingle Singers, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Stanley Myers, Basil Kirchin, Tony Hatch, Jackie Trent, Jerry Goldsmith, Jerry Fielding, Pat Williams, André Previn, Richard Rodney Bennett, Barry Tuckwell, Carl Davis, Henry Mancini, the Beatles, the Seekers, Katie Melua and Roy Budd.
He toured with John Dankworth and Cleo Laine, the Bee Gees, Caterina Valente, Dusty Springfield, Lulu and the Yardbirds. He was a member of the Harry Stoneham group, which provided the musical backing for the Michael Parkinson shows on BBC-TV.
As a member of Roy Budd’s band, the Roy Love Trio, he performed on the Get Carter 1971 film soundtrack. He plays the tabla on some albums, having studied the instrument under the Indian musician Alla Rakha. He has recorded with Dudley Moore, Ronnie Scott, Teresa Brewer, Ian Carr, Ray Ellington, Stephane Grappelli, Cleo Laine, Oliver Nelson, among numerous others.
Drummer and percussionist Chris Karan, who at 84 years of age has recorded 84 albums as a sideman, continues to perform.
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