Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Albert “Andy” Gibson was born on November 6, 1913 in Zanesville, Ohio. He played violin early on before settling on trumpet. He played professionally in many orchestras and though he did not solo, he worked more often as an arranger.
During the 1930s his associations include Lew Redman, Zack Whyte, McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, Blanche Calloway, Willie Bryant, and Lucky Millinder. He quit playing in 1937 to arrange and compose full-time, working with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Charlie Barnet, and Harry James. in the United States Army he led a big band while serving from 1942-45.
After his discharge, he continued working with Barnet but turned his focus primarily on R&B music. He was musical director for King Records from 1955–60 and recorded four songs as a leader in 1959 which were released by RCA Camden. He composed I Left My Baby popularized by Count Basie, The Great Lie, and The Hucklebuck.
Trumpeter, arranger, and composer Andy Gibson transitioned from a heart attack on February 11, 1961 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Terri England was born on October 24, 1956 in South Texas, England into a family of musicians, artists, and entrepreneurs. At six years of age she took an interest in playing guitar that would never wane, while also receiving extensive classical training on piano and cello. During formal education her immersion in both art and music proved to be valuable experiences strongly influencing her later development as an independent artist.
Her orchestral activities would teach her to create dynamic, musical arrangements that take the listener on a stimulating sonic journey. Her debut album, Tone Of The Tropics, is a mix of high energy tunes and melodies backed by samba, bossa nova and batucada rhythms from Brazil and booty-shakin’ Latin beats. Using a Brazilian guitar fingerstyle technique, England conveys a refreshing economy of expression that allows her music to breathe while flowing above rich harmonies and tight, syncopated rhythms.
Recording and mixing in her own studio, Terri blends bass, drums and percussion, as well as unexpected tempo changes on a few tunes. She releases her recordings through her publishing company, Inglaterra Música.
Guitarist, composer and arranger Terri England continues to produce original music by combining cool Brazilian and Latin rhythms, jazz highlights and classical orchestral arrangements.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jan Gunnar Hoff was born in Bodø, Norway on October 22, 1958. A graduate of the Teachers’ College in his hometown and Bergen, Norway, he pursued further education in the Jazz program at Trondheim Musikkonservatorium under Terje Bjørklund for three years starting in 1986. He trained in composition at Norges Musikkhøgskole in 2001.
He had his jazz debut with his own trio on Ad Lib Jazzklubb in 1976. Hoff’s background includes classical piano, progressive rock, pop and jazz. Over the course of his career Hoff has released 21 recordings as solo artist and co-leader, fifty-seven as a sideman, and has composed 250 works for different settings.
He has received several awards for his music including a US Grammy nomination for the album Quiet Winter Night. Hoff’s quartet album Fly North with Marilyn Mazur, Anders Jormin and Arve Henriksen was nominated for the Norwegian Grammy, Spellemannpris 2014. He received the highest distinction in Norwegian Jazz, the Buddy-award and became a Steinway Artist.
He is a professor at the University of Tromsø and the University of Agder. He co-founded The Groove Valley JazzCamp in Beiarn, Norway and was artistic director for TGV Jazz camp from 2005 to 2009. Hoff also initiated Bodø Jazz Open which was launched in 2011, where he was artistic leader and festival head until 2020.
Pianist, composer, arranger and professor Jan Hoff, who has worked with Pat Metheny, Mike Stern, Alex Acuña, Karin Krog, Maria João, Marilyn Mazur, Gary Novak and Arild Andersen among numerous others.
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Three Wishes
While in conversation with Melba Liston, girl talk turned to the granting of three wishes and she told Pannonica that she would wish for:
- “One thing I’m concerned about is the youth music program. Kids don’t have the opportunity they should have – kids with talent, I mean. There’s an awful lot of talking, but not enough doing. There should be a workshop, or a place where they’d have a chance to learn something besides rock “n’ roll. I would love to be able to do something about that.”
- “The other things are personal…. I wish I had lots of money.”
- “I wish I had equal opportunity according to energy, ability, and desire. And sex. Mainly sex.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
David Bee was born on October 17, 1903 in Brussels, Belgium. He was a multi-instrumentalist adept on clarinet, harp, piano, and alto and tenor saxophone. For a year in 1924 he played with the group Bistrouille ADO before co-founding an ensemble with Peter Packay called Red Beans. The group toured widely throughout western Europe.
After returning to Belgium, David joined Robert De Kers’s band, and also played in Paris, France at Chez Florencewith Benny Carter and Willie Lewis. He recorded with Gus Deloof in the early Forties and after World War II he played with Robert Bosmans and Chas Dolne later in the decade. He led his own bands and groups at various times in the 1950s and continued recording late into the decade and the 60s.
As a composer, Bee pennedr the tunes High Tension recorded by Luis Russell) and Obsession recorded by Ted Heath and Reg Owen.
Clarinetist, harpist, pianist, alto and tenor saxophonist, arranger and composer David Bee, also known as Ernest Craps, Ernie Sparks, and Manuel Travo, transitioned in 1992.
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