Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Kenny Baldock, was born on April 5, 1932 in the affluent district of Chiswick in London, England. Having studied both piano and bass, he continued on the instruments at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. By the early ’60s he began showing up on jazz bandstands as a bassist in the company of players such as Peter King and the John Dankworth Orchestra, with whom he continued to be associated into the mid Seventies.
In 1972 he joined pianist Oscar Peterson at the Montreux Jazz Festival, and his performance opened opportunities to collaborate with Freddy Randall’s all-star caravan, and many more engagements with Peterson.
Summer in Montreux presented recording circumstances with guitarist Barney Kessel and the following year Baldock was leading own band projects featuring some of Britain’s heavy hitters. He worked in the Ronnie Scott Quartet that led to backup stints at Scott’s club behind many visiting American jazz performers.
By the early 1980s, Kenny seemed most interested in intimacy and stuck to a small group, often using electric guitarists as sidemen. Throughout his career he performed with among others, the Bobby Wellins Quartet, Freddy Randall~DAve Shepherd Jazz All Stars, Gordon Beck + Two, and the Laurie Holloway Quartet.
Active as an educator, bassist Kenny Baldock, whose composition Kosen Rufu garnered him an Arts Council award in 1983, transitioned from cancer on March 22, 2010.
More Posts: bandleader,bass,history,instrumental,jazz,music
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
William Taylor Sr. was born Washington, D.C. on April 3, 1906 and began his musical education first on the tuba but later picked up the bass alongside it. After moving to New York City in 1924, at 18 he initially played with Elmer Snowden, then Willie Gant and Arthur Gibbs, followed by two stints with Charlie Johnson closing out the Twenties and reuniting in the early Thirties. He would go on to perform with Duke Ellington, McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, Fats Waller, and Fletcher Henderson.
He recorded with Jelly Roll Morton on three sessions in 1930. From 1935 to 1940, he again played with Ellington, and it is for this association that he is best remembered, often playing at times with bassists Hayes Alvis or Jimmie Blanton. During that time he recorded with Cootie Williams and Johnny Hodges.
The Forties saw him playing with Coleman Hawkins, Red Allen, Joe Sullivan, Raymond Scott, Cootie Williams, Barney Bigard, Benny Morton, and Cozy Cole. Later in the decade he freelanced in New York before moving back to D.C. in 1949.
Bassist Billy Taylor Sr., who led his own ensemble for Keynote Records in 1944, transitioned on September 2, 1986 in Fairfax, Virginia.
More Posts: bandleader,bass,history,instrumental,jazz,music
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Christopher Brubeck was born on March 19, 1952 in Los Angeles, California to pianist and composer Dave Brubeck. By the age of twenty he was joining his father and brothers Darius and Daniel in The New Brubeck Quartet.
Having toured for about 30 years in a group called Triple Play, he joined with guitarist Joel Brown and singer and harmonica virtuoso Peter Madcat Ruth, and swung jazz Louisiana style. He was a member of New Heavenly Blue, Chris also participated and recorded as a keyboardist/trombonist/guitarist in 1970’s Educated Homegrown.
In 1999, Chris and his brother Daniel joined with other musicians to form The Brubeck Brothers Quartet, having previously partnered with Andy LaVerne and released a 1972 album, The Brubeck-LaVerne Trio. He has performed with Mike DeMicco and Chuck Lamb.
In 2003, Chris played his first Concerto for Bass Trombone and Orchestra with the Czech national Symphony Orchestra in Prague, Czech Republic. A year later, he composed his own concerto titled, The Prague Concerto for Bass Trombone and Orchestra. Many of his classical compositions still contain strong hints of the jazz influence of his father.
Grammy nominated electric bassist, bass trombonist and pianist Chris Brubeck continues to pursue his musical explorations.
More Posts: bandleader,bass,history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano,trombone
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
Remaining hesitant to be in crowds of people without a mask, more and more people are unmasking while we are still in the pandemic. Legislators are speaking unmask rhetoric and otherwise responsible people are listening. This Jazz Voyager is listening to my conscience and protecting myself and those around me.
This week I have chosen another quartet recording by the New York Jazz Quartet, founded by pianist Roland Hanna. The first iteration of the group consisted of flautist Hubert Laws, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Billy Cobham. In 1974 the lineup changed to Frank Wess, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Ben Riley. Drummers Richie Pratt and Grady Tate also were enlisted to contribute their talents to the group at different times through the decade the band was together. The group recorded for the Inner City, Enja, Salvation and Sonet Records from 1972 to 1982
This album is the group’s fourth release, Blues For Sarka, recorded live on May 17, 1978 at The Domicile in Munich, West Germany. It was produced by Horst Weber and Matthias Winckelmann, recorded by Carlos Albrecht and released the same year on Enja Records. The cover photography was taken by Josef Werkmeister and the cover design was by Weber & Winckelmann
Track List | 45:11 All compositions by Roland Hanna except as indicated- All Blues (Miles Davis) ~ 15:29
- Rodney Round Robin ~ 5:44
- I’ll Tell You Tonite (George Mraz) ~ 7:14
- Blues for Sarka (George Mraz) ~ 7:11
- Smelly Jelly Belly ~ 9:33
- Frank Wess ~ flute, tenor saxophone
- Roland Hanna ~ piano
- George Mraz ~ bass
- Grady Tate ~ drums
More Posts: adventure,album,bass,club,drums,flute,genius,jazz,museum,music,piano,preserving,restaurant,saxophone,travel
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Robert Sherwood Haggart was born March 13, 1914 in New York City, New York. He became a member of the Bob Crosby Band in 1935 and composed and arranged Big Noise from Winnetka, My Inspiration, What’s New?, and South Rampart Street Parade. He remained with the band until its 1942 dissolution. He went on to work as a session musician, with much of his time spent at Decca Records.
He recorded with Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Ella Fitzgerald and his arrangements can be heard on Fitzgerald’s album Lullabies of Birdland. Haggart also starred in several commercials for L&M cigarettes on the radio program Gunsmoke.
He and Yank Lawson formed the Lawson~Haggart Band, and together led the World’s Greatest Jazz Band from 1968 until 1978. Over the next two decades he appeared at jazz festivals. Double bassist, composer and arranger Bob Haggart, who was associated with dixieland and swing, transitioned on December 2, 1998 in Venice, Florida.
More Posts: bandleader,bass,history,instrumental,jazz,music