Daily Dose Of Jazz…

John Lee was born June 28, 1952, in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the son of a minister and a social worker. Growing up in Greenwich, Connecticut, Amityville, New York, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania he began string bass lessons at 10 with Carolyn Lush. At Philadelphia’s Overbrook High School he met drummer Gerry Brown, who together studied at the Philadelphia Musical Academy for two years.

In 1971 Lee began performing with Carlos Garnett and Joe Henderson, and toured with Max Roach thru the spring of 1972 while still a student in Philadelphia. The same year he and Brown relocated to Europe with Den Haag, Holland as their base. Together they toured Europe and recorded in bands led by Chris Hinze, Charlie Mariano, Philip Catherine, Joachim Kühn, and Jasper Van’t Hof.

Moving to New York City in 1974, John played with Joe Henderson, Lonnie Liston Smith, and Norman Connors before joining The Eleventh House with Larry Coryell. The following year he and Gerry Brown signed a recording contract with Blue Note Records and formed a working band. In 1977 they moved over to Columbia Records and began producing records the same year.

From 1982 to 1984, Lee worked with McCoy Tyner, then became Dizzy Gillespie’s bassist, touring and recording with Dizzy’s Quintet, his Big Band, his Grammy winning United Nation Orchestra and the Back to the Future Band that Dizzy co-lead with Miriam Makeba until 1993 when Makeba died.

Lee has performed in over 100 countries around the world and has toured in the bands of Sonny Rollins, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Pharoah Sanders, Jackie McLean, Gary Bartz, Hank Jones, Walter Davis Jr., Wolfgang Lackerschmid, Alphonse Mouzon, Claudio Roditi, Jon Faddis, Slide Hampton, Roy Hargrove, and Roberta Gambarini, as well as Aretha Franklin and Gregory Hines.

He is a founding member of The Fantasy Band with Chuck Loeb, Marion Meadows, and Dave Samuels. In 1996, at the bequest of Dizzy’s wife Lorraine Gillespie and the Dizzy Gillespie Estate, he became the director and bassist of the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars as well as the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, and the Dizzy Gillespie Afro-Cuban Experience. They have recorded five albums and toured extensively around the world.

In 2009 he co-founded the jazz recording label JLP (Jazz Legacy Productions), with partner Lisa Broderick. As a producer he has produced over 60 albums and CDs, and as a recording engineer he has recorded and mixed over 100 albums and CDs.

Bassist John Lee, who is a Grammy winning record producer and audio engineer, continues to explore the boundaries of music.

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RICHIE GOODS & CHIEN CHIEN: CONNECTED

“CONNECTED” was formed in 2020. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Richie Goods and Chien Chien had frequent conversations about the Black Lives Matter movement and the unwarranted hate crimes against Asians. They decided to do a project that would unify people and invoke imagery of love and peace. As often happens, music was the catalyst that bridged the gap and resulted in a rare collaboration; a partnership that produced “The Path” Sep. 2020, “We Three Kings” Nov. 2020, and “Rain” Dec. 2021. They decided to cement their musical relationship by creating “CONNECTED”, their band featuring Miki Hayama on keys, Quintin Zoto-guitar and Allan Mednard-drums and of course Richie Goods-bass and Chien Chien-vibes. Together, Richie and Chien Chien are “CONNECTED”, creating an exciting, new, energetic listening experience and attracting new audiences everywhere. Look for their new release, “Richie Goods & Chien Chien – CONNECTED” due in January, 2023. RICHIE GOODS – NY bassist Richie Goods, one of the most versatile and accomplished bass players in the industry and the youngest person ever inducted into the Pittsburgh Jazz Hall of Fame, came to prominence while touring and recording with the late Mulgrew Miller and credits him for much of his success. Richie went on to make a name for himself through recording and touring with a variety of jazz and popular artists including Sting, The Headhunters, Louis Hayes Lenny White, Milt Jackson, Whitney Houston, Lisa Fischer, The Manhattan Transfer and Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys and Common and Chris Botti. He tours the US and internationally extensively, including notable performances at the Monterrey, Montreal, Mendocino, Atlanta, Detroit, San Jose, Rochester, and Jakarta Java Jazz Festivals as well as the Punta del Este International Jazz Festival. Richie, a native Pittsburgher, studied with such luminaries as Ron Carter and Ray Brown. He received critical acclaim for his multiple recordings, including his 2019 release “My Left Hand Man”, recorded with THE GOODS PROJECT, a self- produced tribute to his mentor Mulgrew Miller, which spent 36 weeks on the JazzWeek charts in 2020. CHIEN CHIEN – Chien Chien (Lu) is a vibraphonist, contemporary percussionist, and composer whose Taiwanese upbringing, classical music education, and passion for R&B grooves crystallize into a fresh and distinctive approach to contemporary jazz. Chien Chien’s fierce authenticity and jazz mastery shine bright on her September 2020 debut solo project, The Path, which spent 20 weeks on the Jazz Week Charts Top 20, earned Best Jazz Song in the Golden Indie Music Awards (GIMA)and three Golden Melody Award nominations, four GIMA nominations and led to her being named the “vibraphone rising star” in Downbeat Magazine’s 69th Annual Critics Poll. Her band has also played many prestigious festivals including the Clifford Brown and DC Jazz Festivals. She also toured extensively in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Chien Chien obtained a master’s degree in classical music and jazz. In 2017 she met jazz trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and was invited to join his esteemed quintet where she met and began collaborating with Richie Goods.

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CHUCK ISRAELS QUINTET

Chuck Israels, Bass

David Evans, Tenor Saxophone

James Powers, Trombone

Dan Gaynor, Piano

Todd Strait, Drums

New music and jazz standards in colorful new arrangements by Grammy winning bassist/composer/arranger Chuck Israels featuring detailed ensembles and creative solos.

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THE WILLAMETTE JAZZ TRIO

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Booker Collins was born on June 21, 1914 in Roswell, New Mexico. Emerging from the New Mexico Military Institute to play in Bat Brown’s Band, a territory band. By the mid-’30s he was keeping very good company playing with pianist Mary Lou Williams and Her Kansas City Seven, cutting sides with her when he was only 16. In 1934, his break came when he got into the band of Andy Kirk and His Clouds Of Joy, staying for the next decade and playing alongside Williams in the rhythm section. Kirk’s hiring replaced the tuba with the double bass.

Booker’s final job of note was with Chicago, Illinois guitarist and drummer Floyd Smith as part of his trio, a stint that lasted from 1946 until the early ’50s, when this great bass man finally laid his big instrument down in terms of full-time playing. He made a few appearances at festival occasions in the ensuing decades but was in Chicago’s recording studios in the late ’50s cutting sides for independent labels.

Returning to performing he joined a combo called the Shades of Rhythm to backup blues singer Mad Man Jones on the demanding Come Here. Collins’ involvement with this group of shifting personnel began in 1952 when he was part of a version that took the risk of cutting sides for the Chance label.

He also performed and recorded with Bert Johnson and the group Six Men And A Girl. Little is known about the death of double bassist Booker Collins who also played the valve trombonist and tuba. It appears he faded into obscurity.

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