Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Curtis Sylvester Lowe, Sr. was born on November 15, 1919 in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Oakland, California. He first learned to play soprano saxophone as a youth and studied briefly in Alabama before deciding to take up music full-time. Best known professionally as a tenor and baritone saxophonist, he played in traveling bands before the outbreak of World War II. Enlisting in the United States Navy in 1942, his unit band was full of noteworthy jazz musicians, including Vernon Alley, Wilbert Baranco, Buddy Collette, Jerome Richardson, Ernie Royal, and Marshall Royal.
In the 1950s Curtis worked extensively with Lionel Hampton and also played with Dave Brubeck, Little Esther, Johnny Otis, and Gerald Wilson. He led his own five-piece ensemble in 1952-1953. In 1958 he began a decade-long association with Earl Hines.
He was active locally in San Francisco, California and the Bay Area into the 1980s. Saxophonist Curtis Lowe Sr., who never recorded as a leader, transitioned at the age of 73 on October 29, 1993.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Masao Yagi was born on November 14, 1932 in Tokyo, Japan. He became devoted to American jazz very early in the wave of Japanese jazz enthusiasm, becoming a member of the Cozy Quartet in 1956 after Toshiko Akiyoshi’s departure. During his tenure in the quartet he played alongside Sadao Watanabe.
In 1959, at twenty-six, the pianist formed his own group featuring several Thelonious Monk tunes in their repertoire, culminating in his debut album, Masao Yagi Plays Thelonious Monk, recorded in the summer of 1960. Later in the decade he played with Charlie Mariano, Hidehiko Matsumoto, and Helen Merrill.
The 1970s saw Yagi leading his own ensembles. He was well-known as a composer and arranger, and wrote copiously for film soundtracks.
Pianist Masao Yagi transitioned on March 4, 1991.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Warren Bernhardt was born on November 13, 1938 in Wausau, Wisconsin. His early childhood exposure to piano was due to his pianist father and he learned some rudiments of keyboarding from his friends. At five his parents moved to New York City, where he began studying seriously under varied instructors. After his father’s death he suffered a period of depression and quit music opting to study chemistry and physics at the University of Chicago. However, exposure to blues and jazz influenced the rest of his career.
From 1961 to 1964 he worked in Paul Winter’s sextet, which led to his return to New York. He would go on to work with George Benson, Gerry Mulligan, Jeremy Steig among others. He developed a close relationship with the pianist Bill Evans, who served as his mentor. Bernhardt released several solo albums in the Seventies, and eventually became a member of the jazz fusion group Steps Ahead. In 1971, he provided the piano accompaniment on the Don McLean song Crossroads.
Warren has toured as the musical director with Steely Dan and can be heard on their Alive in America album. He has performed on Simon and Garfunkel’s Old Friends tour, on Art Garfunkel’s solo tours, and on the latter’s presentation Across America.
In 2009 he reunited with his 1973 band L’Image, featuring Mike Mainieri, David Spinozza, Tony Levin and Steve Gadd. They released the album L ‘Image 2.0. Pianist Warren Bernhardt transitioned on August 19, 2022 of natural causes.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
James Edward Pugh, born November 12, 1950 in Butler, Pennsylvania began playing the trombone around the age of ten. He attended the Eastman School of Music from 1968 to 1972, where he played in an ensemble under Chuck Mangione.
Pugh toured and recorded with the Woody Herman Band for four years from 1972 and briefly performed with Chick Corea in 1977. He then concentrated on studio session work for jazz and popular musicians. In 1984, he was co-leader for the album The Pugh–Taylor Project. He also composed for and played on the album X Over Trombone.
Trombonist and composer James Pugh continues to perform and record sessions for jazz, pop and Broadway soundtracks.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
David Theak was born on November 10, 1970 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and was raised in a house of impromptu parties. His childhood found him listening to his downstairs neighbor teaching piano every afternoon which led to lessons and a piano for Christmas. His bandmistress at Mona Vale PS introduced him to the saxophone but paid his dues on the baritone horn for a couple of years. After a brief stint at the Conservatorium High School, he returned to the local high school with some enthusiastic music teachers. They encouraged us to improvise and created opportunities for us to play in jazz and rock bands.
he following years saw David practicing, composing, gigging, releasing his own albums and organizing tours of Australia & Europe for his quartet, theak-tet, but with limited opportunities in the 90’s, he became involved with a musician led organization, the Jazzgroove Association, which received NSW and Federal government funding that allowed presentation of new music every week as well as create a record label and form an original creative jazz orchestra, The Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra.
He went on to become involved with SIMA, WAYJO and the formation of the Australian National Jazz Orchestra and ANJO Youth Big Band. David has been running a boutique international jazz festival for the past five years, is currently a Senior Lecturer in Jazz at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Artistic Director of the Australian National Jazz Orchestra, an advisory panel member of the Western Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra, President of the Sydney Improvised Music Association and Artistic Director of the Sydney Con Jazz Festival.
Jazz saxophonist, composer, bandleader, educator, festival director and jazz protagonist, David Theak, who continues to compose, perform and tour, is the artistic director of the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra and collaborates with a who’s who of international jazz musicians.
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