Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Vernon Alley was born on May 26, 1915 in Winnemucca, Nevada and played football in high school and college. His brother Eddie was a drummer and they played together often. He played with Wes People in 1937 and with the interracial Saunders King band until the end of the decade. He briefly led his own band in 1940.
Around 1940, while in Lionel Hampton’s band, Alley switched from double bass to electric upright bass, one of the first musicians to do so. In 1942 he moved to Count Basie’s ensemble, where he played only for a few months and appeared in the film Reveille with Beverly.
Enlisting in the Navy as a musician in 1942, after training at Camp Robert Smalls, he was assigned as part of a 45-piece regimental band to the Navy’s PreFlight School located at St. Mary’s College, in Moraga, California. Others who served in this band included Ernie and Marshal Royal, Jackie Kelso, Wilbert Baranco, Earl Watkins, and Buddy Collette.
After returning to civilian life, Alley put together an ensemble in San Francisco, California. He continued to play there and was an active member on local radio and in civic arts into the 1990s. Bassist Vernon Alley passed away on October 3, 2004 having become the most distinguished jazz musician in San Francisco history.
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Three Wishes
When Henry Grimes was asked what he would wish for if he had three wishes by Pannonica, he told her:
- “Health. If I had the health, I could do anything else.”
- “The second would be money. Not a large sum of money, but just a constant flow of money to keep me in comfort the rest of my life.”
- “Everlasting peace and everlasting good will amongst everyone. So there’ll be no wars, and no excuse to drop that H~bomb, and all that sh*t. So I’ll live in peace, and spend all that money in peace.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
David Izenzon was born on May 17, 1932 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Graduating from the Carnegie Institute of Technology, he later received a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music.
Izenzon began playing double bass at the age of twenty-four and played in his hometown before moving to New York City in 1961. There he played with Paul Bley, Archie Shepp, Sonny Rollins, and Bill Dixon, but he is best known for his association with Ornette Coleman, which began in October 1961. He played in Coleman’s 1962 Town Hall concert and played with him frequently from 1965 to 1968, often in a trio format with Charles Moffett.
During this time Izenzon also recorded with Harold McNair and Yoko Ono. He taught music history at Bronx Community College from 1968 to 1971 and played with Perry Robinson and Paul Motian, but reduced his time in music in 1972 when his son became ill. In 1973 Izenzon received a Ph.D. in psychotherapy from Northwestern University. The following year, he co-founded Potsmokers Anonymous with his wife, Pearl.
In 1975 he composed a jazz opera titled How Music Can Save The World, dedicated to those who helped his son recover. From 1977 he worked again with Coleman and Motian up until his death. Double bassist David Izenzon passed away on October 8, 1979 of a heart attack, arriving dead on arrival at Bellevue Hospital in New York City.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Michael Moore was born May 16, 1945 in Glen Este, Ohio and started on bass at age fifteen, at Withrow High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He performed in ensembles and the Presentation Orchestra in George G. “Smittie” Smith’s Withrow Minstrels and played with his father in Cincinnati nightclubs.
Attending the Cincinnati College Conservatory, he played with Cal Collins and Woody Evans locally. He toured Africa and Europe with Woody Herman in 1966, and recorded with Dusko Goykovich while in Belgrade.
The 1970s saw Michael working with Marian McPartland, Freddie Hubbard, Jim Hall, Jimmy Raney, Bill Evans, Benny Goodman, Jake Hanna, Warren Vache, Herb Ellis, Zoot Sims, Ruby Braff, George Barnes, Chet Baker, and Lee Konitz. In 1978, he auditioned for and was hired by Bill Evans after longtime bassist Eddie Gómez had left the group and Evans was in transition with drummer Philly Joe Jones.
Leaving after five months due to dissatisfaction with the group, late in the decade he began working with Gene Bertoncini, with whom he would play into the 1990s. In the 1980s he worked with Sims again and with Kenny Barron and Michael Urbaniak. A member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet from 2001 until Brubeck’s death in 2012. Bassist Michael Moore continues to pursue his musical career.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bonnie Wetzel was born Bonnie Jean Addleman on May 15, 1926 in Vancouver, Washington. She learned violin as a child, and was an autodidact on bass. She played with Ada Leonard in an all-female ensemble, and soon after worked in a trio with Marian Grange.
Marrying trumpeter Ray Wetzel in 1949, the pair worked in the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in 1951. She went on to play in Beryl Booker’s trio with Elaine Leighton in 1953, touring Europe in 1953-54 and recorded for Discovery Records.
She also played with Herb Ellis, Charlie Shavers, Roy Eldridge, and Don Byas. Later in the 1950s she freelanced in New York City. Double bassist Bonnie Wetzel passed away on February 12, 1965 at the age of 38.
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