Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Patitucci was born December 22, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York and began playing electric bass at ten, composing and performing at 12, playing the acoustic bass at 15 and a year later the piano. A family move to the West Coast allowed him to study classical music at San Francisco State and Long Beach State universities.
By 1980 John’s career moved him to Los Angeles where he began a successful career as a studio musician and jazz artist. His long list of credits include twelve albums as a leader and a sideman for the likes of B.B. King, Chick Corea, Joanne Brackeen, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie, George Benson, Natalie Cole, Queen Latifah, Sting, Stan Getz, Astrud and Joao Gilberto, Henry Mancini, Danilo Perez, Wynton Marsalis, McCoy Tyner and the list goes on and on.
In 1986 he was voted by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences as the Most Valuable Player on acoustic bass, he has won two Grammy Awards, he has reached number one on the Billboard Jazz charts and has won the reader’s polls: Best Jazz Bassist in Guitar Player Magazine’s and Best Jazz Bassist in Bass Player Magazine’s.
Patitucci has taught at music schools in several countries, was the Artistic Director of the Bass Collective, a school for bassists in New York City, is involved with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program and was appointed Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at City College of New York.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Mads Vinding, born December 7, 1948 in Copenhagen, Denmark, took up the basses as a child. By sixteen he was playing professionally becoming the house bassist at Copenhagen’s legendary Café Montmartre.
Along with the acoustic double bass, he has also refined his playing on the electric bass making him an outstanding artist and a sought-after soloist for his musical command and his maturity. Vinding has performed all over the world, produced several records and has been honored with numerous jazz awards such as the Ben Webster Prize, Palae Jazz Prize, Readers Polls and three Grammy Awards among others.
One of the “Aces of Basses” with more than 600 recordings to his credit as a sideman, Mads has performed or recorded with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Sonny Stitt, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, Dizzy Gillespie, Dollar Brand, Clark Terry, Chet Baker, Renee Rosnes, Stan Getz, Hank Jones, Gary Burton, Quincy Jones, Monty Alexander, Don Byas, Toots Thielemans, Ben Webster and Dexter Gordon, just to name a few in a long list of jazz luminaries. He continues to perform, record, tour and produce.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Samuel Jones was born on November 12, 1924 in Jacksonville, Florida. He started his career playing in local bands but by 1953 he was playing with Tiny Bradshaw. Moving to New York City in 1955 he joined up with the groups of Kenny Dorham, Cannonball Adderley, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk. But it would be with the Cannonball’s quintet from 1959 to 1966 that would establish his reputation.
Pairing up with stellar drummer Louis Hayes, the association proved to be a benchmark rhythm section for being “in the pocket”. Jones went on to replace Ray Brown in the Oscar Peterson Trio from 1966 to 1970. After this tenure he teamed up with Cedar Walton and Billy Higgins.
Known for playing the bass and cello with impeccable technique he could also swing and groove with the best of them. Sam fronted his own bands and left a reputable recorded legacy as a leader, recording solo projects during the early sixties and released some wonderful sides for Riverside, where he was able to stretch out on some of his cello oriented pieces.
From 1977 to 1981 Jones remained very active both as leader and sought after session player with two of his landmark recordings “Something New” and Something In Common” being produced during this period. He has played with Bobby Timmons, Tiny Bradshaw, Freddie Hubbard, Bill Evans and Illinois Jacquet as well as many others who revolved around the New York City jazz scene that was fertile ground for his career.
Sam Jones, double bassist, cellist and composer of the jazz standard, “Del Sasser”, passed away on December 15, 1981 at the age of 57.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Robert L. Hurst III was born on October 4, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan and began his early music studies playing the guitar before concentrating on the bass. In 1985 he began working with Out Of The Blue and adding such jazz luminaries and contemporaries as Tony Williams, Mulgrew Miller, Harry Connick Jr., Geri Allen, Russell Malone, Terence Blanchard, Pharaoh Sanders, Sting, Carl Allen and Steve Coleman among others to his roster.
From 1986 to 1991 Hurst played in Wynton Marsalis’s ensemble, played with Branford Marsalis in the early nineties, and debuted as a leader in 1993 recording “Robert Hurst Presents” that reached #13 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart. He has won four Emmy and five Grammy awards and directed, arranged and composed while a member of The Tonight Show Band.
He has scored original music for the films The Wood and Brown Sugar; performed music for Ocean’s 11, Ocean’s 12, Ocean’s 13, and on the Good Night, and Good Luck the soundtrack featuring Dianne Reeves, in which she won the Jazz Vocal Grammy in 2008. His recent recordings with Kenny Garrett and Diana Krall were each nominated for a 2007 Grammy.
No stranger to education Hurst has been involved with the Education of Jazz and Jazz History, receiving the Presidential Scholarship from President Ronald Reagan. He currently holds a position of Associate Professor teaching jazz bass at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and holds a seat with the Board of Directors for the John Coltrane Foundation.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Tony Dumas was born in Los Angeles, California on October 1, 1955. By the age of 14, he started playing bass first crafting his sound in his high school orchestra. After graduation he went on to study music at Pasadena City College.
Dumas’ first started playing professionally with organist Johnny Hammond Smith followed by a stint with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. To say he was sought after would be an understatement as his list of credentials as a sideman is impressive to say the least.
Tony has been privileged to have toured, played and recorded with such luminaries as Herbie Hancock, Carmen McCrae, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, Cedar Walton, Billy Higgins, Rufus Reid, Chick Corea, Eddie Gladden, George Cables and Art Pepper as well as The Manhattan Transfer, Joe Farrell, Etta James, Mariah Carey, Bill Cosby and the Playboy Jazz Festival Band, Patrice Rushen, Bob Berg, and the list goes on and on.
Bassist Tony Dumas continues to add to the legacy of jazz through his performing and recording.
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