Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alphonse “Al” Goyens was born October 1, 1920 in Wetteren, Belgium. He took piano lessons as a child but abandoned them at the age of twelve. In 1936, he bought a trumpet and began playing music again, teaching himself and playing with amateur bands. Completing a degree in industrial engineering, he was interned in Germany at the outbreak of the war and had to stop playing. Starting again he played too intensely, which paralyzed his lips, but overcame this situation through careful practice.
His return from captivity saw him a member of orchestras led by Henri Van Bemst and Jean Omer, making his first recordings with the latter. He then joined the orchestra of Léo Souris who played for the American army in Germany. Returning to Belgium, Al joined other musicians to form the Orchestre régulier du Cosmopolite , which gave him the opportunity to perform with major names of the jazz scene who were guests in Brussels.
In 1949 he and his orchestra again toured for the US Army, performing in Germany, the Azores, and the USA. Goyens led his orchestra for nearly a decade from 1949 featuring Jacques Pelzer, Bobby Jaspar, Francy Boland, Jean Warland, Freddy Rottier, and occasionally Don Byas and Kenny Clarke.
Once again he went on to work for the US Armed Forces and later with an international orchestra in Spain and the United States. Al later arranged and played in the Brussels Big Band. His favorite trumpeters were Clifford Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, and Clark Terry but his playing was more reminiscent of Harry Edison.
Trumpeter, arranger and orchestra leader Al Goyen played flugelhorn, and bugle, who never recorded as a leader, appreciated the sound of the muted trumpet, died on January 30/31, 2008 in Forest/Vorst, Belgium.
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DIEGO RIVERA QUARTET
A world-class musician, composer, arranger and educator, Diego Rivera has entertained audiences for over 20 years. He currently serves as the Director of Jazz Studies at the Butler School of Music, University of Texas at Austin.
The Ann Arbor, Michigan native was born into a Mexican-American family and his heritage has shaped his musical voice and creative endeavors. He attended Michigan State University where he studied with Andrew Speight, Branford Marsalis, Ron Blake and Rodney Whitaker.
He has toured with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, performed concerts with Grammy winning vocalist Kurt Elling, Juno winning vocalist, Sophie Milman and The Rodney Whitaker Quintet. He is a member of several big bands and has performed with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Christian McBride, Wycliffe Gordon, PRISM Saxophone Quartet, the Gerald Wilson Big Band and the Lincoln Center Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra.
The Band:
Diego Rivera: Saxophone
Xavier Davis: Piano
Rodney Whitaker: Bass
Michael Reed: Drums
Cover: $25.00
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joseph C Mudele was born on September 30, 1920 and grew up in Downham, South East London. He left school at the age of 14 and began singing and playing in local bands. He began playing double bass at the age of 17 after buying an upright bass in a junk shop. After having served in the war in the Royal Air Force, he studied for a while with principal double bassist James Merritt with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
His professional playing career took off in 1947 with clarinetist Carl Barriteau, accordionist Tito Burns and the Jimmy Macaffer Band. He toured with Hoagy Carmichael during the autumn of 1948, and played with Charlie Parker and drummer Max Roach at the 1949 International Jazz Festival in Paris.
In 1948 Mudele became a founder member of Club Eleven, a Soho nightclub open between 1948 and 1950 which played a significant role in the emergence of the bebop jazz movement in Britain. After the club was closed he became a founder member of the John Dankworth Seven, while also continuing to play with others during the Fifties. During this period Mudele also played for Sophie Tucker, Judy Garland and Billy Eckstine.
Joe supplemented his club performances with extensive radio, television and recording studio work outside of jazz from the 1960s onwards. In later life Mudele lived in Bromley, played weekly at the Bexley Jazz Club in Kent, and took over management duties after owner Les Simons died in 2004. In 2010 he recorded For All We Know with pianist Robin Aspland and drummer Geoff Gascoyne.
Double bassist Joe Mudele, who was sometimes known as Joe Muddel or Muddell and was one of the Club Eleven Collective, died at age 93 on March 7, 2014.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Chris Bauer was born on September 29, 1960 and raised in Long Island, New York and was surrounded by his father’s harmonica trio. He started playing at age nine and began appearing with his father’s trio by thirteen. At sixteen he placed third in a worldwide harmonica competition and in 1987 placed fourth in a field of 27 at the International Harmonica Federation competition, both times finishing as the highest placed American harmonica player.
Chris has gone on to perform at many New York City and New Jersey venues and was the harmonica in the play Big River. He was a regular contributing writer to The Harmonica Educator magazine on jazz topics and continues to work on recording projects that exemplify jazz harmonica. He also performs both in jazz trio or quartet settings, as a soloist utilizing custom backgrounds that provide the sound of a jazz ensemble, or can sit in with rock, blues, or jazz bands.
Playing harmonica for over fourty years, his performance and recording experiences are diverse including jazz gigs, harmonica trios, church worship bands, and production library tracks. He performs and gives harmonica technique seminars at numerous festivals around the country. His album In A Yuletide Groove has been featured on jazz radio station playlists.
Residing in Weatogue Connecticut, harmonica player Chris Bauer continues to perform popular jazz standards with a repertoire from upbeat bop tunes and cool Latin numbers to soulful ballads.
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PHIL DEGREG TRIO
The Phil DeGreg Trio will highlight the music of Bill Evans, widely considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. Evans’ use of harmony and his inventive and impressionistic interpretation of the jazz repertoire has few peers. His introspective lyricism and subtle Western classical flourishes have echoes in a legion of fellow keyboard players. Phil DeGreg is a Cincinnati-based pianist who has made his mark in the jazz world over the past four decades as a recording artist, composer, and pedagogue. He has toured with The Woody Herman Orchestra and performed with Randy Brecker, Ira Sullivan, Claudio Roditi, J.J. Johnson, Harry Allen, Conrad Herwig, and many others.
He has released 12 albums as a leader. As an educator, Phil retired after 27 years as a Professor of Jazz Studies at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. He continues to teach private students and master classes locally and worldwide and has taught with Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops for 36 years. If the total amount of beverages purchased by the party does not meet the minimum, a $15 drink/food minimum is charged per person in the party, per set.
The Band: Phil DeGreg — piano | Aaron Jacobs — bass | John Taylor — drums
Tickets: $15.00
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