Daily Dose Of Jazz
Sid Phillips was born Isador Simon Phillips on June 14, 1907 in London, England into a Jewish family. He learned violin and piano as a child, and played reeds in his teens as a member of his brother’s European band. He got his start in the music business as a publisher and director for Edison Bell.
In 1930, Phillips began writing arrangements for Bert Ambrose, and joined Ambrose’s ensemble in 1933, remaining there until 1937. Towards the end of the decade he was playing in the United States on radio and freelancing in clubs.
During World War II, Sid served in the Royal Air Force, then put together his own quartet in 1946 and wrote several pieces for the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He led a Dixieland jazz band of his own formation from 1949, and his sidemen variously included George Shearing, Colin Bailey, Tommy Whittle, and Kenny Ball.
Phillips’s first recordings under his own name were made in 1928. In 1937 through 1938, a number of his recordings were issued in the United States, through a contract he signed with Irving Mills and issued on Mills’ Variety label, as well as Vocalion, Brunswick and Columbia labels, though most of his recordings were made in England.
Clarinetist, arranger and bandleader Sid Phillips, who continued to record as a leader well into the 1970s, passed away on May 23, 1973 at aged 65 in Chertsey, Surrey, England.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Robert C. Plater was born May 13, 1914 in Newark, New Jersey and began playing alto sax at age 12. He played locally in Newark with Donald Lambert and the Savoy Dictators in the 1930s. From 1940-42 he played with Tiny Bradshaw before spending 1942-45 serving in the U.S. military during World War II. After his discharge he worked briefly with Cootie Williams, then played intermittently with Lionel Hampton between 1946 and 1964, recording eleven albums with the band.
He also arranged with Hampton, as well as doing some freelance work on the side. In 1964 he took Frank Wess’s place in the Count Basie Orchestra, where he recorded thirty-nine albums and played until his death. His only recordings as a leader were four songs for Bullet Records in 1950.
He was the co-composer of Jersey Bounce, a popular dance number in the 1940s, recorded by various musicians including Glenn Miller and Ella Fitzgerald. Alto saxophonist Bobby Plater passed away on November 20, 1982 in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Billy Munn was born William on May 12, 1911 in Glasgow, Scotland. He studied at the Athenaeum School of Music before moving to London, England and joining the band of Jack Hylton from 1929 to 1936.
During the Thirties he played on recordings with Spike Hughes and Benny Carter. Following these engagements Billy then played with Sydney Lipton from 1936 to 1940, and concomitantly played with Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins on their tours of England, as well as with Wingy Manone in the United States.
He played with Stephane Grappelli in 1943 and George Chisholm in 1944, then led his own ensemble at the Orchid Room in Mayfair from 1945 to 1948. He co-founded the BBC program Jazz Club in the 1940s with producer Mark White and clarinettist Harry Parry.
From 1948 to 1949, Munn directed the Maurice Winnick Orchestra at Ciro’s club in London, England and subsequently led the house band at the Imperial Hotel in the seaside resort town of Torquay, England for three decades, from 1949 to 1979. He recorded several times with this group. After 1979 he played solo, mostly locally in Torquay.
Pianist and arranger Billy Munn passed away on May 2, 2000 in Ayrshire, Scotland, a few days shy of his 89th birthday.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Julian Clifton Matlock was born on April 27, 1907 in Paducah, Kentucky and raised in Nashville from the age of ten. He began playing clarinet when he was 12.
From 1929 to 1934, Matlock replaced Benny Goodman in the Ben Pollack band doing arrangements and performing on clarinet. He was one of the main arrangers for Bob Crosby’s band and joined Crosby’s group in 1935 as clarinettist, playing with both the main Crosby band and the smaller Bobcats group. However, he was often seconded to write full-time for the orchestra and the Bobcats. He stayed with Crosby until the band broke up in 1942.
After the dissolution of Crosby’s group, Matty worked in Los Angeles, California playing for recordings made by a variety of Dixieland groups. In 1955, he appeared in the film Pete Kelly’s Blues, playing clarinet for a band that is seen in a scene in a Kansas City speakeasy in 1927. He would go on to play with Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Heindorf, Ben Pollack and Beverly Jenkins.
Dixieland clarinettist, saxophonist and arranger Matty Matlock, who recorded three albums as a leader, passed away on June 14, 1978 in Los Angeles, California.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Rick Henderson was born on April 25, 1928 in Washington, D.C. and studied composition as a high schooler and played locally in the late 1940s. He served in the Army from 1951 to 1953, then joined Duke Ellington’s Orchestra after being recommended by Clark Terry.
He played with Ellington during his years on Capitol Records, doing arrangements in addition to his duties as a player. He also composed tunes such as Carney for the Ellington band. After leaving Ellington’s employ in 1956, Rick returned to D.C. where he led the Howard Theatre’s house band until 1964.
Following this he worked as an arranger and composer for jazz orchestras, military bands and school ensembles. Among those who used his charts, in addition to Ellington, were Count Basie, Illinois Jacquet, and Billy Taylor. Henderson continued to lead bands into the 1990s, including the University of Maryland Jazz Ensemble from 1977 to 1978.
Saxophonist and arranger Rick Henderson passed away from arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease on May 21, 2004.
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