Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Emil Mangelsdorff was born April 11, 1925, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. In 1942 and 1943, he studied clarinet at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, Germany.
As a member of the Frankfurt Hot Club, his performance of jazz with Hans Otto Jung among others, led to his being imprisoned by the Gestapo. He was forced into the German army and was a Russian prisoner of war for four years. In 1949 he returned to Frankfurt and decided to become a professional jazz musician. Emil played in the combos of Joe Klimm and Jutta Hipp, and was also a member of the Frankfurt All Stars and the Jazz-Ensemble des Hessischen Rundfunks from 1958.
Since the 1960s he has directed his own quartet. In 1964 Mangelsdorff wrote an instruction manual for jazz saxophone. In 2006 he was awarded the Goethe-Plakette des Landes Hessen and in 2008 he received the Bundesverdienstkreuz.
Alto saxophonist Emil Mangelsdorff, who also played soprano saxophone, clarinet and flute, has retired from music at 96.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Monty Sunshine was born on April 9, 1928 in Stepney, London, England. Along with Lonnie Donegan, Jim Bray and Ron Bowden, he formed the back line of what was the embryo Chris Barber Band. First trumpet Ken Colyer and the original 1953 band took the Colyer name until he left. Pat Halcox took over the spot and the band formally adopted the Chris Barber Jazz Band as its title.
The band quickly made an international reputation following their inaugural tour of Denmark, before their professional debut in the United Kingdom. Sunshine stayed with the band for several years, until he left in 1960, to be replaced by Ian Wheeler. He formed his own band, staying true to the original six-man line up, whilst Barber expanded his band membership to seven, then eight and finally to eleven.
Sunshine returned to play a reunion concert with the original Chris Barber Band at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon in 1975. Well received, the band reformed for an international reunion tour in 1994 and he retired from music around 2001. His discography is extensive, and compact discs have been issued of recordings with Colyer and Barber, as well as with his own band.
Clarinetist Monty Sunshine, known for his clarinet solo on the track Petite Fleur, passed away on November 30, 2010 at the age of 82.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Pat La Barbera, born Pascel Emmanuel LaBarbera on April 7, 1944 in Mt. Morris, New York. He moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1974, and is a member of the faculty at Humber College.
La Barbera began working with Elvin Jones in 1975, touring Europe with him in 1979. While working with Buddy Rich, he also worked in groups led by Woody Herman and Louie Bellson.
Playing with Carlos Santana, Pat has played a major role in the development of a generation of Canadian saxophonists. In 2000, he won a Juno Award for Best Traditional Instrumental Jazz Album for Deep in a Dream.
Tenor, alto and soprano saxophonist, clarinetist, and flautist Pat LaBarbera, most notable for his work as a soloist in Buddy Rich bands from 1967 to 1973, continues to perform and educate.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Hank D’Amico was born on March 21, 1915 in Rochester, NY and was raised in Buffalo, New York. He began playing professionally with Paul Specht’s band in 1936. That same year, he joined Red Norvo.
1938 saw Hank begin his radio broadcasts with his own octet before returning briefly to Norvo’s group in 1939. He played with Bob Crosby’s orchestra in 1940 and 1941, then had his own big band for about a year. He had short stints in the bands of Les Brown, Benny Goodman and Norvo again before working for CBS in New York.
D’Amico found time to play with Miff Mole and Tommy Dorsey, and spent ten years as a staff musician for ABC, before playing with Jack Teagarden in 1954. From that point he mostly worked with small groups, infrequently forming his own band. He played at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York with The Morey Feld trio.
Clarinetist Hank D’Amico passed away on December 2, 1965.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Victor Ash was born in East London, England on March 9, 1930, of Jewish ancestry and began playing professionally in 1951 when, with Tubby Hayes, he joined the band of Kenny Baker, with whom he played until 1953. Following this association, Ash played with Vic Lewis from 1953–56, then accompanied Hoagy Carmichael and Cab Calloway on their English tours.
Leading his own group, he became a favourite in the Melody Maker fan polls of the 1950s. Concurrently he had a radio program called Sunday Break, which discussed jazz and religion. In 1954, the Vic Ash Quartet recorded with US singer Maxine Sullivan in London. Ash toured the U.S. in 1957 and returned to play with Lewis in 1959. That same year his ensemble was the only one representing British jazz at the Newport Jazz Festival.
Ash remained a mainstay on the British jazz scene for decades, playing in small and large ensembles including the BBC Big Band. He accompanied Frank Sinatra on his tours in Europe and the Middle East, from 1970 until Sinatra’s death.
He released many albums for Pye, Nixa and MGM, mostly in the mainstream jazz tradition. Saxophonist and clarinetist Vic Ash, who co-authored his autobiography I Blew It My Way in 2006, passed away on October 24, 2014.
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