Daily Dose Of Jazz…

George James was born in Boggs, Oklahoma on December 7, 1906. His career didn’t begin until the late 1920s joining the bands of Charlie Creath and Johnny Neal. He moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1928, where he played with Jimmie Noone, Sammy Stewart, Ida Marples, Jabbo Smith, and Bert Hall.

In 1931 through the first quarter of 1932 he toured with Louis Armstrong, and at the end of the tour he remained in New York City. There he joined the Savoy Bearcats and later played with Charlie Turner’s Arcadians. By the middle of the decade Fats Waller assumed leadership of the Arcadians, and James played under him until 1937.

Finishing the decade playing in the Blackbirds Revue, early in the 1940s he worked with James P. Johnson, Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson, and Lucky Millinder, and led his own bandhttps://notoriousjazz.com/jazz-type/swing/daily-dose-of-jazz-3977↗ in 1943-44. Later in the decade James played with Claude Hopkins and Noble Sissle.

He was active both as a leader and a sideman into the 1970s, playing with Clyde Bernhardt and the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band in that decade. Saxophonist, clarinetist, and flautist George James died on January 30, 1995 in Columbus, Ohio.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Theodor Christian Frølich Bergh, better known as Totti Bergh was born December 5, 1935 in Oslo, Norway. He began playing clarinet, and started learning to play the saxophone in 1952. By the time he turned 21 in 1956, he became a professional musician, becoming a regular member of Kjell Karlsen Sextet for three years, in addition to collaborating sporadically with Rowland Greenberg and other musicians on the Norwegian jazz scene.

He joined the Norwegian America Ships house orchestra on the voyage to New York City. In 1960 Totti succeeded Harald Bergersen as tenor saxophonist in Karlsen’s new big band and in the summer of 1961 he met his future wife Laila Dalseth, who joined the band.

He would go on to play with the bands of Einar Schanke, Rowland Greenberg, Per Borthen and in Dalseth’s orchestra. During the Nineties he played tenor  and soprano saxophone with Christiania Jazzband and with Christiania 12.

Saxophonist Totti Bergh, who released several albums as a leader and whose music is reminiscent of Lester Young and Dexter Gordon, died January 4, 2012 in his home city.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz

George Robert Swope was born December 2, 1926 in Washington, D.C. By 1947 he was playing with Buddy Rich, recording with Jerry Wald, and followed with a two year stint with Chubby Jackson in 1948. He closed out the decade working with Gene Krupa in 1949-50, then with Elliot Lawrence in 1950-51.

He led his own trio in the D.C. area in the early Fifties, and also was a member of The Orchestra, the band which accompanied Charlie Parker in 1953 and Dizzy Gillespie in 1955. Spending time in New York City in the latter half of the decade, he played alongside Larry Sonn, Boyd Raeburn, Claude Thornhill, Jimmy Dorsey, and Louie Bellson.

In the 1960s he worked in Washington, D.C. often as a leader. On January 9, 1967 trombonist Rob Swope, the younger brother to trombonist Earl, died in his hometown.

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ROBERT HURST

A Detroit Native, Robert Hursts boasts a distinguished 30+ year career as a composer, bassist, educator, and entrepreneur. Renowned for his work with icons like Sir Paul McCartney, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Diana Krall, Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton, Ravi Coltrane, Kris Davis, and the legendary Pharaoh Sanders, Hurst’s talent shines on over 250 recordings, earning him seven GRAMMY® Awards and numerous RIAA® certifications. Notably, he was the inaugural bassist for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, garnering four EMMY® Awards from his performing, directing, acting, arranging, and composing on the NBC program. Hurst’s musical prowess extends to 30+ major motion picture scores for hits like The Wood, Good Night and Good Luck, and Ocean’s Eleven series.

Currently an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Michigan, Hurst received an NEA Grant for groundbreaking programming at The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. In 2024, he continues to shape the music landscape through curated performances, acclaimed releases, and global tours. Recognized in Detroit’s jazz legacy film, “The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit,” Hurst remains an integral figure in contemporary music and cultural movements.

JEFF “TAIN” WATTS:

Jeff “Tain” Watts is one of the most in demand jazz drummers in the world today. Jeff Watts majored in classical percussion at Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University, where he was primarily a timpanist, followed by enrollment at the Berklee School of Music, where he pursued jazz studies alongside such talented players as Branford Marsalis, Kevin Eubanks, Greg Osby, Aimee Mann, Steve Vai and Marvin “Smitty” Smith. Jeff joined the Wynton Marsalis Quartet in 1981 and proceeded to win three Grammy Awards with the ensemble. Watts left Wynton Marsalis in 1988. After working with George Benson, Harry Connick. Jr. and McCoy Tyner, he joined the Branford Marsalis Quartet in 1989. Jeff has worked in the film and television industry as both a musician on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and as an actor, Rhythm Jones in Spike Lee’s “Mo Better Blues”. Jeff joined Kenny Garrett’s band after returning to New York in 1995 after three years in LA on the Tonight Show. Watts also continued to record and tour with Branford Marsalis as well as Danilo Perez, Michael Brecker, Betty Carter, Kenny Kirkland, Courtney Pine, Geri Allen, Alice Coltrane, Greg Osby, Steve Coleman, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and Ravi Coltrane.

ORRIN EVANS:

During his kaleidoscopic quarter-century as a professional jazz musician, pianist Orrin Evans has become the model of a fiercely independent artist  who pushes the envelope in all directions. Never supported by a major label, Evans has ascended to top-of-the-pyramid stature on his instrument, as affirmed by his #1-ranking as “Rising Star Pianist” in the 2018  DownBeat Critics Poll. Grammy nominations for the Smoke Sessions albums The Intangible Between and Presence, by Evans’ raucous, risk-friendly Captain Black Big Band, stamp his bona fides as a bandleader and composer. In addition to CBBB, Evans’ multifarious leader and collaborative projects include the Eubanks Evans Experience (a duo with eminent guitarist Kevin Eubanks); the Brazilian unit Terreno Comum; Evans’ working trio with bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Mark Whitfield, Jr.; and Tar Baby (a collective trio of 20 years standing with bassist Eric Revis and drummer Nasheet Waits). One of Tar Baby’s two 2022 releases will be released on Evans’ imprint, Imani Records, which he founded in 2001 and relaunched in 2018.

The Band: Robert Hurst – Bass | Jeff “Tain” Watts – Drums | Orrin Evans – Piano

Tickets: $95.00 Dinner & Show

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