Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joseph Christopher Columbus Morris was born on June 17, 1902 in Greeenville, North Carolina. He led his own band from the 1930s into the late 1940s, holding a residency at the Savoy Ballroom for a period. During the mid 1940s he began drumming behind Louis Jordan, remaining with him until 1952. In the mid-to-late 1950s, Columbo backed Wild Bill Davis’s organ combo, and he recorded with Duke Ellington in 1967.
He worked again as a leader in the 1970s, in addition to doing tours of Europe with Davis. While in France he played with Floyd Smith, Al Grey, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Buddy Tate, and Milt Buckner. He got his first professional gig playing with Fletcher Henderson in 1921. Between the 1920s and the 1960s, Columbo played at most of the city’s nightclubs, and led the Club Harlem Orchestra for 34 years until 1978, when the club shut its doors.
Columbo worked, recorded, and toured with prominent jazz artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. He did an album on the Strand label called Jazz: Re-Discovering Old Favorites by the Chris Columbo Quintette featuring organist Johnny “Hammond” Smith. He appeared in the 1945 film It Happened In Harlem, based on the Harlem nightclub Smalls Paradise and the 1947 film Look Out Sister.
Prior to suffering a stroke in 1993 which partially paralyzed, Columbo was the oldest working musician in Atlantic City. Chris’ band went on to perform at practically every Atlantic City casino hotel. At the time of his stroke, he was playing regularly at the Showboat.
Drummer Chris Columbo, who was a father figure to Sonny Payne, who was also known as Crazy Chris Columbo and sometimes credited as Joe Morris on record, died on August 20, 2002 in New Jersey. He was 100 years old.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alfred Viola was born on June 16, 1919 in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in an Italian family. He learned to play the guitar and mandolin as a teenager. Enlisting in the Army during World War II and played in an Army jazz band from 1942 to 1945.
He started a trio with pianist Page Cavanaugh and bassist Lloyd Pratt. The band appeared in several films, including Romance on the High Seas with Doris Day, and played a few dates in 1946 and 1947 with Frank Sinatra. Viola continued to work with Sinatra regularly, accompanying him on several hundred studio recordings and concert dates between 1956 and 1980.
Viola was a session musician in Los Angeles, California performing in films and television. His mandolin playing can be heard on the soundtrack of The Godfather. Other credits include West Side Story and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? He continued playing jazz as well, with Bobby Troup, Ray Anthony, Harry James, Buddy Collette, Stan Kenton, Gerald Wilson and Terry Gibbs.
He worked as a session musician on over 500 albums, including releases by Natalie Cole, Neil Diamond, Marvin Gaye, Julie London, Steve Lawrence, Linda Ronstadt, Jimmy Witherspoon, Helen Humes, June Christy, Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day, Nelson Riddle, and Joe Williams.
Viola and Cavanaugh reunited in the 1980s with Phil Mallory and continued to play regularly in Los Angeles until the late 1990s.
Guitarist Al Viola, recorded ten albums as a leader, died of cancer on February 21, 2007 at the age of 87 in Los Angeles.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Vince Wallace was born on June 15, 1939 in Port Townsend, Washington. At just two months shy of his second birthday his mother moved him to San Joaquin Valley, California. After spending a little time there, they ended up settling and growing up in the Bay area of Oakland, California.
His earliest recordings were on the Black Jack Wayne label in 1953 with Screamin Mel Dorsey and Chuck Wayne and the Heartbeats. These sessions were along with his original instrumental, Funky. He performed regularly at this time at the Country and Western halls and go go bars of Niles, California alongside Rose Maddox, Johnny Cash, and the Black Brothers.
As he developed, he became more sought after at all hours jazz joints where he sat in with Eric Dolphy, Paul Chambers, Charles Mingus, Pony Poindexter, Art Blakey and Smiley Winters. Jimbo’s Bop City in San Francisco was the best place around, where every night after 2 a.m. another legend of the jazz would come through the door.
In 1958 Vince moved to Southern California where he picked up work with Paul Bley and Marvin Rainwater. His Sunday jam session at The Cascades Club in Belmont Shores, helped the emergence of Kent Glenn, Mark Proctor, Gene Stone, and Warren Gale. By 1966 was back in the Bay Area working with alto saxophonist Norman Williams at the JukeBox in San Francisco. Through 1970 Wallace recorded three albums with Little John, a fusion rock band on Epic records.
Drawn back to southern California he experienced some of his widest recognition as his featured performances were reviewed favorably by Gerald Wilson.. This led to an eventual run at the Studio Cafe, and the release of two of Vince’s solo albums on Amp Records. Returning to San Francisco he led a Sunday night jam session through the Nineties, receiving the San Francisco Bay Guardian Award for Best Jam Session in 1995.
With a surge of interest in his music in the new millenium, he started working at the Bulldog Coffee Shop in Oakland and reuniting with Bishop Norman Williams, Prince Lasha, Jim Grantham, Steve Heckman, Fred Randolph, Chuck Thomposon, Chris Amberger, Terry Rodriguez, and John Gilmore, just to name a few. He began working on his memoirs, created a website, took a Friday residency at Cafe Van Kleef, appeared on KCSM 91.1 FM, and recorded a new album with Larry Vuckovich.
Tenor saxophonist Vince Wallace has reestablished himself as one of the most sought after saxophonists around and his music will undoubtably be spread throughout the world via his website www.vincewallace.com.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Louisa West was born in Thomasville, Georgia on June 14, 1979 and began playing flute at the age of ten. She went on to receive a Bachelor of Music Performance from the University of Georgia and while studying there she performed in numerous ensembles including an orchestra conducted by Sammy Nestico. She studied privately with classical flutists Angela Jones-Reus, William Bennett, Mary Karen Clardy, and Mimi Stillman, as well as jazz flutists Nestor Torres and Holly Hofmann.
A winner of numerous competitions, after graduating from college in 2001, she relocated to southern California where she has been performing in the musical genres of world music, jazz, Latin jazz, and classical music. Playing extensively in the U.S, Canada and Mexico, Louisa has appeared onstage with touring acts such as Persian pop star Shakila, flutist Nestor Torres, and Brazilian singer Diogo Nogueira.
West recently attended California Brazil Camp, where she delved into the history and music of Brazil through workshops and performances by Brazilian jazz artists. This experience inspired her 2010 debut release with Jimmy Patton titled Sambarina.
Flutist Louisa West continues to perform, tour and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Oscar Feldman was born on June 12, 1961 in Cordoba, Argentina listening to his father’s jazz collection. He attended Conservatorio Provincial de Musica and was soon part of the prominent music scene in his hometown, becoming a founding member of acclaimed band Los Musicos del Centro.
Beginning in 1979 when he was 19 Oscar accepted an invitation to join bandoneonist Hermeto Pascoal and Dino Saluzzi to join his group. Moving to Buenos Aires, Argentina his career took off and he became a sought after studio musician. He recorded more than 40 albums as a sideman and toured with Argentina’s most prominent artists. Winning the Outstanding Performance Award as the Best Soloist in Fusion in 1986, he went on to procure the Achievement Scholarship Award from Berklee College of Music and graduated cum laude in 1995 with a Major in Professional Music.
Realizing he could bridge two worlds he joined Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra conducted by Paquito D’ Rivera. Moving to New York City his reputation grew as a versatile musician, and worked with Al Di Meola, Eumir Deodato, Jeff Tain Watts, Avantango, Alex Acuna, Bebo Valdes and His All Star Latin Jazz Band. He toured and performed across the United States, Europe and Africa.
As a leader Feldman has led numerous tours Horacio Negro Hernandez, Alex Acuna, Dave Samuels, Otmaro Ruiz and Tom Kennedy. As an educator he is currently on the faculty at the New York Jazz Academy, has taught workshops and clinics at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. He leads his own music jam classes weekly in New York and has written an article for Down Beat Magazine.
By the end of the 1990’s he recorded his debut as a leader El Angel on the Songosaurus record label. For his sophmore ten track album Oscar e Familia was released in 2009 on Sunnyside, he put together a Pan-American cast of Mexican drummer Antonio Sanchez, Cuban pianist Manuel Valera, Puerto Rican bassist John Benitez and Curacao percussion master Pernell Saturnino.
Alto saxophonist and composer Oscar Feldman. known for his splendid tonalities and melodically outstanding charts, continues to transcend his musical horizons.
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