Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Cedric Wallace was born August 3, 1909 in Miami, Florida. Moving to New York City in the 1930s he played in a band led by Reggie Johnson at the Saratoga Club. Later in the decade he worked with Jimmie Lunceford before joining Fats Waller’s band from 1938-1942, the association for which he is best known. Wallace played with Waller at the peak of his popularity and plays on many of his biggest hits.
He would go on to record with Una Mae Carlisle, Maxine Sullivan, Champion Jack Dupree, Pat Flowers, Gene Sedric, and Dean Martin. During the Forties Cedric led his own ensemble in New York in the 1940s which featured Eddie Gibbs on bass for a time, and continued to perform into the 1970s.
Double-bassist Cedric Wallace passed away on August 19, 1985 in New York City.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Donald Neff Bagley was born on July 18, 1927 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He received formal training on the double bass, and studied in Los Angeles, California. He played in 1945 with Shorty Sherock and Wingy Manone, and in 1948 with Dick Pierce.
From 1950 to 1953, and sporadically thereafter, Bagley played with Stan Kenton and during his time with Kenton, A Study for Bass by Bill Russo and Bags by Bill Holman were written to feature his playing. Beginning in 1954, he fronted his own ensembles. Between 1950 and 1952, he worked extensively as a session musician with Nat King Cole, Maynard Ferguson, and Dexter Gordon. In the middle of the 1950s, he played in Europe with Zoot Sims, Lars Gullin, Frank Rosolino, and Åke Persson.
From 1956 to 1967, he returned to Kenton and worked with Les Brown. Toward the end of the 1950s he played with Jimmie Rowles, Shelly Manne, and Phil Woods. Don played with Pete Fountain, did a session with Ben Webster, and performed in Japan with Julie London. In the 1970s and 1980s, Bagley composed and arranged for film and television. Between 1976 and 1984, he worked with Burt Bacharach.
Double bassist Don Bagley, who recorded three albums under his own name, passed away on July 26, 2012 at the age of 85.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jean-François “J.F.” Jenny-Clark was born July 12, 1944 in Toulouse, France. Together with drummer Aldo Romano he provided the rhythm section for Don Cherry’s 1965 European quintet of 1965. During the Seventies he recorded with Steve Lacy, performed in concerts with Keith Jarrett (around 1970) and for Jasper van’t Hof’s Pork Pie group and played with Charlie Mariano.
As a member of Diego Massons ensemble Musique Vivante he was interpreting contemporary music compositions by John Cage, Luciano Berio, Mauricio Kagel, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, or Vinko Globokar.
Along with Albert Mangelsdorff he led the German-French Jazz Ensemble from 1984 to 1987. Since 1985 Jenny-Clark was mainly working in an acclaimed trio with German pianist Joachim Kühn and Swiss drummer Daniel Humair.
His recording as a leader was minimal but as a sideman he recorded over a hundred albums. Double bassist Jean-François Jenny-Clark, one of the most important bass players of European jazz, passed away on October 6, 1998 in Paris, France.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Clinton Joseph Houston was born on June 24, 1946 in New Orleans, Louisiana and spent his early childhood in Washington, D.C. before spending his adolescence in Queens, New York. At the age of 10, he began piano lessons and started playing jazz in his early teens after hearing Cannonball Adderley on the radio. After being turned down for a pianist role in his high school band, he switched to the double bass.
He began playing in bands outside of high school, with Lenny White, George Cables, Billy Cobham, Steve Grossman and Charles Sullivan, all of whom grew up in the same neighborhood. In his early years, he played in a band called the Jazz Samaritans, playing Latin-style music at local parties and drawing inspiration from Art Blakey. At the age of 19, Clint won a Jazz Interactions competition, leading to an encounter with Paul Chambers who encouraged him to pursue his music further.
After high school, he went to the Pratt Institute, then transferred to Queen’s College to study music before eventually obtaining a degree in Graphic Art from the Cooper Union. During his higher education, on weekends he played alongside Cables and White at Slugs’ matinées. This led to them playing extensively with better-known artists. A founding member of musical co-operative Free Life Communications, Clint performed alongside Dave Liebman, becoming more immersed in the loft jazz scene of 1970s New York.
By 1972, Houston was playing alongside Joanne Brackeen in Stan Getz’ band. Their collaborations continued playing in New York clubs recording on many of Brackeen’s early records. He went on to play with Roy Ayers, George Cables, Lenny White, Nina Simone, Roy Haynes, Sonny Greenwich, Don Thompson, Charles Tolliver, Woody Shaw, Pepper Adams, Slide Hampton, Frank Foster, and Roland Hanna. Bassist Clint Houston passed away on June 7, 2000.
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Three Wishes
Inquisitive as the Baroness was when she asked Eddie Jones what his three wishes were he told her:
- “I would wish for better health for my daughter. That is really my only wish.”
- “Well, maybe there is one other: more willpower.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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