Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ian Armit was born on April 11, 1929 in Kirckaldy, Fife, Scotland and little is known about his youth. Surfacing on the jazz scene in 1957 he was found performing with Sandy Brown and releasing the solo EP Jazz Club Piano for Decca Records.
In 1960 Ian began a two year stint with the Humphrey Lyttelton Band and went on to record with Al Fairweather, Cy Laurie, The Wally Fawkes-Sandy Brown Quintet and Wally Fawkes and The Troglodytes. He guested a few of Chris Barber appearances for BBC Radio in 1963. The following year he led his own quintet on the BBC Radio program “Three’s Company.
Tiring of jazz he turned his direction towards blues in late 1964 he joined Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, followed by Long John Baldry’s Hoochie Coochie Men and then became a member of The Steampacket. He recorded with Rod Stewart, toured with Savoy Brown and Fleetwood Mac. He remained with Baldry until 1972 when he joined Bob Wallis on a European tour.
Moving to Switzerland, Armit once again led a quartet and recorded Ian’s Boogie Woogie with the Old Rivertown jazz band in 1989. He would play with the Piccadilly Six, the Harlem Ramblers and other blues bands.
Pianist, composer and bandleader Ian Armit, who never returned to jazz, died after a short illness on February 19, 1992 in Zurich, Switzerland.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Roy Assaf was born on April 10, 1982 in Beersheba, Israel and studied at Tel Aviv Conservatory. Coming to America he continued his studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and then migrated to New York City and while earning his Master of Art at the Manhattan School of Music, he established his reputation as one of the most sought-after young pianists in the New York jazz scene.
After a meeting with legendary bassist and producer John Lee soon found Roy touring around the world and playing the most prestigious festivals, clubs, and concert halls with the Dizzy Gillespie All Stars, a band that included James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Paquito D’Rivera, Roy Hargrove, Lewis Nash, Randy Brecker, Antonio Hart, and other jazz masters.
Before long, Assaf was getting calls from some of the world’s most influential contemporary jazz bands that included the Slide Hampton Sextet, The Mingus Big Band, Steve Turre’s bands, Roberta Gambarini Quartet, David Sanborn Group, Claudio Roditi Quartet, and many others.
In 2012, he released his debut album, Respect, on Jazz Legacy Productions accompanied by bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Greg Hutchinson. The following year he formed a trio with Raviv Markovitz on bass and Jake Goldbas on drums and together they began to establish the unique voice of the Roy Assaf Trio.
Pianist and composer Roy Asssaf, who has released two albums and has won several awards including one from ASCAP, a Eubie Blake and two from DownBeat and others, continues to perform across the globe.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Theodore Gerald Roy, born April 9, 1905 in Du Quoin, Illinois began his musical career playing cornet before switching to piano. He first played in the Coon-Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra, and then with Jean Goldkette and Frankie Trumbauer early in his career.
While in Boston, Massachusetts in 1933 he played with Bobby Hackett and Pee Wee Russell, then led his own band around the state in 1934. Following this, he worked in various dance bands in New York City in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Serving in the Army from 1943 to 1945, Teddy went on to play with Max Kaminsky and the new version of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band with Eddie Edwards and Wild Bill Davison. From 1946 to 1959, he played mostly freelance in New York City and on Long Island, New York. Among those he played with were Russell, Kaminsky, Miff Mole, and Wingy Manone. He also did solo work in the 1950s.
Pianist Teddy Roy died on August 31, 1966 in New York City.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Morris Acevedo was born April 8, 1966 in Texas and started playing guitar in 6th grade. During his high school years he mostly played progressive Rock and Jazz Fusion in high school. After graduating he became a music major at North Texas State University and studied Jazz Performance and Music Education but a move to Boston, Massachusetts set his course to transfer to Berklee College of Music, earning a degree in Jazz Composition and Arranging. After earning his bachelor degree, he played full time in professional bands in Boston, and studied improvisation in New York City with Lee Konitz, Richie Bierach and Jerry Bergonzi before relocating to California in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In addition to his regular jazz and fusion group performances, he became smitten with teaching guitar and improvisation he taught for years in the Bay area. He currently holds the position of music director at Cardinal Newman High School. He has also held positions as the Jazz Guitar and Improvisation at the University of California at Berkeley’s Young Musician’s Program and guitar at his Berklee alma mater during summers.
He has performd with Joshua Redman, Jim Black, Ken Vandermark, the Either Orchestra, the Charlie Kolhase Quintet, organ Trio Be-3, Matt Wilson, Richie Cole’s Alto Madness Orchestra, Dam East, Scott Amendola, among others.
Guitarist and composer of new jazz and electronic ambient music Morris Acevedo, who has twice received a Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Service to Jazz, continues to perform, compose and educate.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Pete La Roca was born Peter Sims on April 7, 1938 in Harlem, New York to a pianist mother and a stepfather who played trumpet. He was introduced to jazz by his uncle Kenneth Bright, a major shareholder in Circle Records and the manager of rehearsal spaces above the Lafayette Theater. He studied percussion at the High School of Music and Art and at the City College of New York, where he played tympani in the CCNY Orchestra. He adopted the name La Roca early in his musical career, when he played timbales for six years in Latin bands.
During the 1970s, after a hiatus from jazz performance, he resumed using his original surname. When he returned to jazz in the late 1970s, he usually inserted La Roca into his name in quotation marks to help audiences familiar with his early work identify him. In 1957, Max Roach became aware of him while jamming at Birdland and recommended him to Sonny Rollins. On the afternoon set at the Village Vanguard he became part of the important record A Night at the Village Vanguard. In 1959 he recorded with Jackie McLean and in a quartet with Tony Scott, Bill Evans and Jimmy Garrison.
Between the end of the 1950s and 1968, he also played and/or recorded with Slide Hampton, the John Coltrane Quartet, Marian McPartland, Art Farmer, Freddie Hubbard, Mose Allison, and Charles Lloyd, among numerous others. During this period, he led his own group and worked as the house drummer at the Jazz Workshop in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 1968 he enrolled in law school and drove a New York City taxi cab to supplement his income. He returned to jazz part-time in 1979, and recorded one new album as a leader, Swing Time in 1997.
Drummer and attorney Pete La Roca died in New York of lung cancer at the age of 74 on November 20, 2012.
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