Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Paul Wertico was born January 5, 1953, in Chicago, Illinois. He began his professional career as a member of the Chicago based Simon & Bard Group. When Pat Metheny heard him play in 1983, he invited him and bassist Steve Rodby to join his band. During his time with Metheny, he played on ten albums and four videos, appeared on television, and toured around the world. He won seven Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Best Contemporary Jazz Performance, and Best Rock Instrumental Performance, as well as magazine polls, and several gold records.
Paul left Metheny in 2001 and formed the Paul Wertico Trio with John Moulder and Eric Hochberg. He collaborated with Larry Coryell, Kurt Elling, and Jeff Berlin. From 2000 to 2007, he was a member of SBB, the platinum-record-winning Polish progressive rock band. Wertico was a member of the Larry Coryell Power Trio until Coryell’s death in 2017.
He went on to create or gain membership in several groups Marbin, Paul Wertico’s Mid-East/Mid-West Alliance, Wertico Cain & Gray, and has won several awards. He has worked with Frank Catalano, Eddie Harris, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, Sam Rivers, Bob Mintzer, Terry Gibbs, Buddy DeFranco, Roscoe Mitchell, Evan Parker, Jay McShann, Herbie Mann, Randy Brecker, Jerry Goodman, Fareed Haque, Ramsey Lewis and the list goes on.
As an educator Paul has taught drums privately for 55 years, conducted clinics and masterclasses in addition to writing educational articles for Modern Drummer, DRUM!, Drums & Drumming, Drum Tracks, and DownBeat, and online for Musician.com. He is an Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University, and also headed the school’s Jazz & Contemporary Music Studies program for five years. He served on the faculty of the percussion and jazz-studies programs at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois for 16 years, and taught at the Bloom School of Jazz in Chicago for several years.
Drummer and percussionist Parl Wertico continues to perform, record and educate.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Al Belletto was born on January 3, 1928 and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated from Warren Easton Charter High School before entering Loyola University New Orleans studying music and then earning a master’s degree from Louisiana State University.
Belletto played with Sharkey Bonano, Louis Prima, Wingy Manone and the Dukes of Dixieland in the 1940s and 1950s. He went on to lead his own band and record several albums on Capitol Records from 1952. Along with his ensemble they became part of Woody Herman’s band for U. S. State Department tours of South America in 1958 and 1959.
In the Sixtiess, Al worked at the New Orleans Playboy Club fronting the house band and serving as Musical/Entertainment Director, booking nationally known acts into the venue.
Saxophonist and clarinetist Al Belletto, who recorded six albums as a leader, died on December 26, 2014 in Metairie, Louisiana.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Naomi Taylor was born January 2, 1967 in Nassau, Bahamas and was the last of four girls born to missionary parents. Absorbed in gospel and classical music before she was able to talk at the tender age of six, her musical talents surfaced when she and her sisters performed as an “a cappella” quartet. Her rich alto/tenor blend and her ability to harmonize at such a young age came as a pleasant surprise to many. She discovered that she was able to pick up just about any musical instrument for the first time and play away, even though she was never taught.
With her musical talents growing, Naomi spent countless hours listening to singing quartets, captivated by the close harmony and often adding her own creative synchronization to compliment a tune. Her early singing career encompassed performances with various local choirs and musical groups, including The Bahamas National Youth Choir, the Renaissance Singers and Bel Canto.
She developed her musical talent under the mentorship of Mr. Cleophas Adderley. Though very talented, she shied away from solo performances, opting for singing within the security of a line-up or choir. Taylor sought out private lessons from pianist and vocal coach Lee Callender. This serendipitous meeting, then catapulted her into the world of jazz by reconnecting with bassist and bandleader Adrian D’Aguilar.
In 2008 she released her first recording The Other Side of Love, a compilation of warm and beautiful jazz standards. The recording features pianist Lou Rainone, saxophonist Ralph Munnings, percussionist Neil Symonette, bassist Adrian D’Aguilar and composer/guitarist Fred Ferguson.
Today, vocalist Naomi Taylor’s committed to jazz has her performing with Lee Calendar or Jazz Etcetera at the Oyster Bar in Nassau.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Holly Cole was born November 25, 1963 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to a noted radio broadcasting father on the CBC Stereo network. Seeking a musical career, in 1983 she travelled to Toronto, Canada and three years later she founded a trio with bassist David Piltch and pianist Aaron Davis. It took two more years to get offered a record deal and in 1989 the Holly Cole Trio released an EP, Christmas Blues. The following year she released her debut album Girl Talk.
A succession of releases followed through the early 1990s covering r&b, blues, rock, country and show tunes with a jazz arrangement. In 1993 Holly’s hit single cover version of the Johnny Nash song I Can See Clearly Now earned a Juno Award nomination for Best Video and won a Juno Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, in 1994.
During the Nineties decade she appeared in film and television, releasing a track on the soundtrack of the Due South series. From 1993 to 1998 she recorded and released an album a year, took a break from recording, coming back in 2000 and recorded four more albums until 2007. In 2010, Cole contributed a track for the World Jazz For Haiti charity album.
In 2012 she got her original band back together again, added John Johnson on horns, guitarist Rob Piltch, Davide DiRenzo on drums and recorded a live album and dvd. She has been featured in several music specials which have rendered her multiple awards.
Vocalist Holly Cole, who has released 17 albums and received an honorary degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
James Robert Haslip was born December 31, 1951 in the Bronx, New York City to Puerto Rican immigrants. Spanish was his first language but he learned to speak English in kindergarten. Moving to Huntington, New York when he was four years old, by age seven he was playing drums then trumpet and tuba until landing on the bass at 15.
Surrounded in the home with music that included classic and orchestra jazz, Latin, and pop vocals, he and his peers also visited nightclubs and concert venues. Jimmy took music lessons and attended a private music school, but considers himself self-taught. He went to a local music shop with his father, purchased a right-handed bass though he is left-handed, and learned to play it upside down without restringing.
During his high school years Haslip formed his first band called Soul Mine with his classmates, playing soul music at school dances and parties. The early 1970s saw him playing with New York glam band Street Punk, then moved to Los Angeles, California in 1976, where he played with guitarists Tommy Bolin and Harvey Mande.
A founding member of the jazz fusion group Yellowjackets in 1977, a relationship that lasted until 2012, he has also worked with Jeff Lorber, Eric Marienthal, Bruce Hornsby, Rita Coolidge, Gino Vannelli, Kiss, Tommy Bolin, Allan Holdsworth, Marilyn Scott, Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, Donald Fagen, and Anita Baker.
Bassist Jimmy Haslip is currently taking a break from performance to concentrate on family and producing independent projects.
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