Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frederick Katz was born on February 25, 1919 in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York City and was classically trained. He studied under Pablo Casals and performed with several symphony orchestras. He was a child prodigy on both the cello and piano and performed in public as a teenager and was drawn to the music of Manhattan nightclubs and to folk music. During World War II he conducted concerts and wrote musical revues for the U.S. Seventh Army. He was a member of the National Symphony Orchestra.
Katz was a member of drummer Chico Hamilton’s quintet, one of the most important West Coast jazz groups of the 1950s. His arco cello defined the chamber jazz focus of Chico Hamilton’s Quintet and the group quickly gained popularity. The Chico Hamilton Quintet, including Katz, appeared in the film noir The Sweet Smell of Success in 1957, starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, where Katz was described in passing as the Quintet’s primary composer. Katz and Hamilton wrote a score for the film which was ultimately rejected in favor of one by Elmer Bernstein.
As a leader Fred recorded several albums, wrote and conducted the arrangements for singer Carmen McRae’s 1958 album Carmen For Cool Ones, and recorded with Dorothy Ashby, Pete Rugolo, Ken Nordine and Paul Horn. He scored nineteen films and television shows including A Bucket of Blood, The Wasp Woman, Creature from the Haunted Sea and The Little Shop of Horrors. Later in his career, Katz became a professor of ethnic music in the Anthropology Department at California State University, Fullerton and California State University, Northridge, where he taught world music, anthropology and religion for over 30 years. One of his students was John Densmore, drummer of The Doors.
Cellist and composer Fred Katz, who was one of the earliest jazz musicians to establish the cello as a viable improvising solo instrument, passed away on September 7, 2013, in Santa Monica, California.
Three Wishes
Calo Scott had one simple answer to the Baroness de Koenigswarter question of three wishes:
- “To realize myself.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats – Complied and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
More Posts: baroness,cello,history,instrumental,jazz,musician,pannonica,three,wishes
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
David Nathaniel Baker Jr. was born on December 21, 1931 in Indianapolis, Indiana and took up the trombone attending Crispus Attucks High School. He went on to matriculate through Indiana University, earning his Bachelor and Master degrees in Music, having studied with J. J. Johnson, János Starker, and George Russell.
His first teaching position was at Lincoln University in Jefferson, Missouri in 1955, a historic black institution, but Baker had to resign his position under threats of violence after he had eloped to Chicago, Illinois to marry white opera singer Eugenia (“Jeanne”) Marie Jones. Thriving in the Indianapolis jazz scene of the time, he was as a mentor of sorts to Indianapolis-born trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. Forced to abandon the trombone due to a jaw injury that left him unable to play, he subsequently learned to play cello.
The shift to cello largely ended his performing career but began his life as a composer and pedagogue. Among the first and most important people to begin to codify the then largely aural tradition of jazz he wrote several seminal books on jazz, including Jazz Improvisation in 1988. Baker taught in the Jazz Studies Department at Indiana University and made the school a highly regarded destination for students of jazz. His students included Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Peter Erskine, Jim Beard, Chris Botti, Jeff Hamilton, and Jamey Aebersold.
Baker’s compositions range from Third Stream to traditional to symphonic works. He composed some 2000 compositions, has been commissioned by over 500 individuals and ensembles, nominated for a Pulitzer and a Grammy award, honored three times by Down Beat magazine, and was the third inductee to their jazz Education Hall of Fame, as well as several other jazz awards.
Trombonist, cellist, composer and pedagogue David Baker, who performed with his second wife Lida, a flautist, since the Nineties and has more than 65 recordings, 70 books, and 400 articles to his credit, passed away on March 26, 2016, at age 84 at his Bloomington, Indiana home.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Lars Danielsson was born on September 5, 1958 in Smålandsstenar, Sweden and was educated at the music conservatory in Gothenburg and studied double bass, electric bass and cello. In 1985, he formed a quartet with saxophonist Dave Liebman, pianist Bobo Stenson and drummer Jon Christensen, producing several albums. He also worked with big bands.
He played and recorded with, among others, John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette, Mike Stern, Billy Hart, Charles Lloyd, Terri Lyne Carrington, Leszek Możdżer, Joey Calderazzo, Gino Vannelli and Dave Kikoski.
Since 1980, he has released eight solo albums with the Lars Danielssons Quartet. In these albums, Alex Acuña, John Abercrombie, Bill Evans, Kenny Wheeler, Rick Margitza and Niels Lan Doky were featured.
As a producer he has been responsible for productions with Cæcilie Norby and the Danish radio orchestra among others. Bassist, cellist, composer and record producer Lars Danielsson continues to compose, record, perform and tour.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Isla Eckinger was born on May 6, 1939 in Dornach, Switzerland and played cello as a child, moving to the trombone during his teenage years. After studying trombone at the Conservatory in Basel, he taught himself to play the bass.
As a professional musician Isla made his debut playing with Oscar and Miriam Klein. In the 1960s, he accompanied on tour with Ben Webster, Buck Clayton, Don Byas and Johnny Griffin.
After a move to Munich, Eckinger began working with Mal Waldron, Joe Haider and Philly Joe Jones. From 1970 to 1976 he became an educator, teaching at the Swiss Jazz School while working with Haider, Peter Giger and Heinz Bigler in Group Four for Jazz.
With a new quartet with Waldron, Steve Lacy and Manfred Schoof, Eckinger toured Japan in 1975, and Italy with Chet Baker the following year. By the end of the 1970s he belonged to Wolfgang Engstfeld’s quartet, then worked with Klaus Weiss, Fritz Pauer and also with Dizzy Gillespie.
Mid-1980 saw Isla in Los Angeles, California recording with Chuck Manning. He played with Roman Schwaller and Jimmy Cobb as well as with Charly Antolini, Andy Scherrer and Paul Haag. Double bassist, vibraphonist and trombonist Isla Eckinger transitioned on April 8, 2021.
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