Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Robert Graeme Barnard was born on November 24, 1933 in Melbourne, Australia and his parents had formed a dance band in the 1920s, his mother was the bandleader and pianist, his father on saxophone, drums and banjo. His older brother Len joined them on drums at age 11. He took trumpet lessons from age 11 and played clarinet in a local brass band before he joined the family band at 14 in 1947.
When his brother Len formed his own group, Len’s South City Stompers the next year he joined on trumpet and they made their first recording in 1949 on his 16th birthday. The following year they began a weekly radio broadcast as Len Barnard’s Dixieland Jazz Band. He played with the group until 1955 after being cheated of their takings and stranded in Tumut, Australia. Relocating to Sydney he performed with Ray Price Trio before returning to Melbourne.
In 1958 Barnard joined the Graeme Bell band for an Australian tour. He worked for Brashs from 1958 to 1962, while performing after business hours. He went back to Sydney in 1962 and as a member of Graeme Bell and His All-Stars appeared on Trad Pad, a TV special program.
He was nominated in 1996 at the ARIA Music Awards of 1996 for Best Jazz Album for Live at the Sydney Opera House, which was recorded with the Australian Jazz Allstars.
Trumpeter and cornetist Bob Barnard, who was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to music, particularly jazz, transitioned on May 7, 2022.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ethel Smith was born Ethel Goldsmith on November 22, 1902 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began performing from a fairly young age. Traveling widely, after studying both music and several languages at Carnegie Institute of Technology, she became proficient in Latin music while staying in South America.
Smith performed in several Hollywood films such as George White’s Scandals and Melody Time. Her appearance in these films brought notoriety to her colorful, elaborate costumes, especially her hats.
Her rendition of Tico Tico became her best-known hit. She performed it in the MGM film Bathing Beauty in 1944, after which her recording reached the U.S. pop charts that November, peaking at #14 and selling nearly two million copies worldwide. Her other well known hits were Down Yonder and Monkey on a String.
Smith was a guitarist as well as an organist, and in her later years occasionally played the guitar live for audiences, but all her recordings were on the organ. She recorded dozens of albums, mostly for Decca Records.
Organist Ethel Smith, who became widely known as associated with Latin music, transitioned on May 10, 1996, at age 93 in Palm Beach, Florida.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Sal Salvador was born Silvio Smiraglia on November 21, 1925 in Monson, Massachusetts and began his professional career in New York City, New York. He eventually moved to Stamford, Connecticut.
In addition to recordings with Stan Kenton and with his own groups, Salvador can be heard in the film Blackboard Jungle, during a scene in a bar where a recording on which he is featured is played on the jukebox. He is also featured playing with Sonny Stitt in the film, Jazz on a Summer’s Day, at the Newport Jazz Festival.
He taught guitar at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut as well as at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Connecticut. He wrote several instruction books for beginning to advanced guitarists.
Guitarist and educator Sal Salvador transitioned on September 22, 1999 following a fight with cancer at the age of 73.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Bianculli was born on November 20, 1956 in New York City, New York and grew up in Greenwich Village across from the Village Vanguard. A self taught pianist, he received much of his training playing the jazz circuit from New York to Washington D.C.
A versatile musician and composer, his original music is a unique blend of jazz, Latin, Brazilian, rhythm and blues, and world music. John’s song Bittersweet made the Contemporary Jazz Charts top-ten list. He composed the score for the film Lit’l Boy Grown.
Bianculli has held the piano seat in the rhythm section for both Steve Nelson and Jeanie Bryson for over 10 years. He has enjoyed residencies at the Hyatt Regency for 19 years, the New York Hilton for 2 years, as well as numerous clubs, concerts, festivals, television and radio performances.
As a sideman he has worked with Cassandra Wilson, Terence Blanchard, Regina Belle, Christy Baron, Charlie Rouse, Bobby Watson, James Spaulding, Jimmy Ponder, Bill Hardman and Earl May.
Pianist and composer John Bianculli continues to pursue his musical endeavors.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
André Persiany was born on November 19, 1927 in Paris, France. His father taught him violin and piano as a child, and by 1945, he had formed his own ensemble. He was a member of the Be Bop Minstrels with Hubert and Raymond Fol in 1947, then played with Michel Attenoux, Eddie Bernard, Bill Coleman, Buck Clayton, Raymond Fonsèque, Lionel Hampton, Guy Lafitte, Mezz Mezzrow, and Tony Proteau.
Relocating to New York City in the mid-1950s, saw him playing at Birdland and working extensively with Jonah Jones. In 1969 he returned to Paris and held a residency as the pianist at Le Furstenberg from 1970 to 1988. His associations in the 1970s included Cat Anderson, Milt Buckner, Eddie Chamblee, Arnett Cobb, Al Grey, Budd Johnson, and Charlie Shavers.
Pianist André Persiany, whose son Stéphane became a double-bassist, transitioned on January 2, 2004 in Paris.
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