Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gil Fuller was born Walter Gilbert on April 14, 1920 in Los Angeles, California. In the 1930s and 1940s, Fuller did extensive work writing and arranging for bandleaders such as Les Hite, Floyd Ray, Jimmie Lunceford, Billy Eckstine, and Tiny Bradshaw. He also worked with Benny Carter, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Machito, and Tito Puente.
Post World War II, he found himself increasingly in demand as a bebop arranger along with fellow modern arrangers Tadd Dameron, Gil Evans, and George Russell. Fuller’s work with Dizzy Gillespie was of particular note, yielding the tunes Manteca, Swedish Suite, Tin Tin Deo, and One Bass Hit. He is the composer of the jazz standard ballad I Waited For You, co-credited with Dizzy Gillespie.
Starting his own publishing company in 1957, he continued to work with some jazz musicians including Stan Kenton in 1955 and again during the 1960s. Gil also branched out into film music and pop with Ray Charles, among others. Arranger Gil Fuller passed away on May 26, 1994 in San Diego, California.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Eugene Thomas Puerling was born on March 31, 1929 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He created and led the vocal groups The Hi-Lo’s and The Singers Unlimited. He won a Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices in 1982 for his arrangement of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square as performed by The Manhattan Transfer. A Latin song he arranged for Singers Unlimited, “One More Time, Chuck Corea,” inspired by Chuck Mangione and Chick Corea, has been adapted and used by marching bands, drum and bugle corps and jazz ensembles.
His vocal arrangements and chord structures were classic and instantly recognizable. In addition to the afore-mentioned he contributed to Rosemary Clooney’s TV show. His vocal arranging ability and his ability to arrange musical backing by Frank Comstock’s band and several others were widely regarded. Puerling’s innovative use of vocal harmony influenced many groups and musicians, including Take 6, The King’s Singers, The Free Design, Brian Wilson, The Manhattan Transfer, Chanticleer, and the band Glad, the latter three also commissioned him to create original arrangements for them.
Vocalist and vocal arranger Gene Puerling, whose vocal arrangements collection is being housed at The University of North Texas College of Music and Music Library, passed away on March 25, 2008.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Lavere “Buster” Harding was born on March 19, 1917 to Benjamin and Ada Harding in North Buxton, Ontario, Canada. Raised in Cleveland, Ohio as a teenager he started on his own band.
In 1939 Buster went to work for the Teddy Wilson big band, and then in the early 1940s joined the Coleman Hawkins band. This was followed by his playing with Cab Calloway. He became a freelance arranger and worked with Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, and Count Basie, among others.
In 1949 he became the musical director for Billie Holiday recording sessions. In the early 1960s Harding played with Jonah Jones, though he was known primarily as an arranger and composer.
Pianist, composer and arranger Buster Harding, who never recorded as a leader, passed away on November 14, 1965, in New York City.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Robert Deane Kincaide was born on March 18, 1911 in Houston, Texas but raised in Decatur, Illinois. He began playing professionally and working as an arranger in the early 1930s, working with Wingy Manone in 1932, then took a job with Ben Pollack from 1933 to 1935.
He arranged for Benny Goodman on the side before joining Bob Crosby’s group in 1935. Deane went on to work with Woody Herman and Manone again and by the end of the decade he worked briefly with Tommy Dorsey. In the first half of the 1940s he worked with Joe Marsala, Glenn Miller, Ray Noble, and Muggsy Spanier.
Serving in the United States Navy during World War II, he played in a ship’s band on the USS Franklin. He joined Ray McKinley’s band in 1946, working with him until 1950. From the 1950s until the early 1980s Kincaide worked primarily as an arranger for television. Arranger and saxophonist Deane Kincaide passed away at the age of 91 in St. Cloud, Florida on August 14, 1992.
Share a dose of a Houston arranger to inspire inquisitive minds to learn about musicians whose legacy lends their genius to the jazz catalog…
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Conversations About Jazz & Other Distractions
Conversations About Jazz Presents
Rubin & Dameron: A Perfect Match on February 25
On Thursday, February 25 at 7:30 pm (EST) Hammonds House Digital invites you to join us for Conversations About Jazz & Other Distractions with host Carl Anthony. Carl’s special guest will be jazz vocalist Vanessa Rubin and they will discuss her career, sample some of her favorite songs, and delve into her latest CD, This Dream is You: Vanessa Rubin Sings Tadd Dameron. This free virtual program will stream on Hammonds House Museum’s Facebook and YouTube channels. For more information about this and upcoming virtual events visit hammondshouse.org.
Revered as both a torchbearer and a storyteller, jazz vocalist Vanessa Rubin possesses a voice hailed for crystalline clarity, warmth, and playful sass. The Cleveland native brings a wealth of diverse influences to her vocal performance from both the Trinidadian/Caribbean roots of her mother and traditional jazz by way of her Louisiana-born father. Additional influences include the melodic bell tone clarity of a young Nancy Wilson, the fire of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, the sweet sounds of trumpeter Blue Mitchell, and her love of the Motown Sound…especially girl groups like the Supremes.
Rubin’s passion for rich musical stories is evident throughout her eight albums. Highlights include the evocative “Voyager II” from the pen of Teri Thornton, “Inside a Silent Tear” written by Blossom Dearie, a waltz version of John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” lyricized by New York Voices, and an arrangement of “Superwoman” by Stevie Wonder, inspired by the Ahmad Jamal recording of “Poinciana.” Her current endeavors include highlighting and interpreting well known, obscure and new lyrical works of composer/arranger/pianist Tadd Dameron. “I hope to do for Tadd’s music what Carmen McRae did for Monk’s music,” Rubin explained. For more information visit: vanessarubin.com.
Tadd Dameron (1917-1965) was American jazz pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. The most influential arranger of the bebop era, he also wrote charts for swing and hard bop players. The bands he arranged for included those of Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Jimmie Lunceford, Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine, and Sarah Vaughan. In 1940-41 he was the piano player and arranger for the Kansas City band Harlan Leonard and his Rockets. He and lyricist Carl Sigman wrote “If You Could See Me Now” in 1946 for Sarah Vaughan and it became one of her first signature songs. Dameron wrote many arrangements for Gillespie’s big band, who gave the première of his large-scale orchestral piece Soulphony in Three Hearts at Carnegie Hall in 1948. Later in 1948, Dameron led his own group in New York, which included Fats Navarro. The following year Dameron performed at the Paris Jazz Festival with Miles Davis.
Hammonds House Museum is generously supported by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Fulton County Arts and Culture, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, The National Performance Network, AT&T and WarnerMedia.
Hammonds House Museum’s mission is to celebrate and share the cultural diversity and important legacy of artists of African descent. The museum is the former residence of the late Dr. Otis Thrash Hammonds, a prominent Atlanta physician and a passionate arts patron. A 501(c)3 organization which opened in 1988, Hammonds House Museum boasts a permanent collection of more than 450 works including art by Romare Bearden, Robert S. Duncanson, Benny Andrews, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Hale Woodruff, Amalia Amaki, Radcliffe Bailey and Kojo Griffin. In addition to featuring art from their collection, the museum offers new exhibitions, artist talks, workshops, concerts, poetry readings, arts education programs, and other cultural events throughout the year.
Located in a beautiful Victorian home in Atlanta’s historic West End, Hammonds House Museum is a cultural treasure and a unique venue. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they continue to observe CDC guidelines, but look forward to welcoming in-person visitors soon! For more information about upcoming virtual events, and to see how you can support their mission and programming, visit their website: hammondshouse.org.
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