Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Johnny Mince, born John Muenzenberger on July 8, 1912 in Chicago Heights, Illinois played with Joe Haymes from 1929 to 1934. He recorded with Red Norvo and Glenn Miller in 1935. Working with Ray Noble from 1935-37 and Bob Crosby in 1936 he went on to become a member of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in 1937.
Mince played with Dorsey through 1941 and was one of the participants in his Clambake Seven recordings before entering the military. After an extended stint to the end of World War II, he became a studio musician for several decades. He taught locally in New York City and played in small-time ensembles in the 1950s and 1960s.
1974 saw Johnny returning to play with the Dorsey Orchestra after Tommy’s death, then followed this engagement with the New Paul Whiteman Orchestra in 1976, Yank Lawson, Bob Haggart, and the World’s Greatest Jazz Band. As a member of the Great Eight, he toured Europe in 1983. He continued to play at jazz revival festivals until his retirement due to ill health.
He recorded as a leader only late in his life, for Monmouth Evergreen in 1979, Jazzology Records in 1980, and Fat Cat Jazz in 1982. Never receiving much recognition beyond that of his fellow musicians, he did not lead his own band. As an unknown musician, Tommy Dorsey invited him to become his partner in starting his first band but Johnny’s father talked him out of it due to risk. Clarinetist Johnny Mince passed away on December 23, 1994 in Boca Raton, Florida.
More Posts: clarinet,history,instrumental,jazz,music
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Charles Redland was born Carl Gustaf Mauritz Nilsson on July 7, 1911 in Södertälje, Sweden. The son of a musician, he learned several instruments when he was young.
In the 1930s he was a member of bands in which he played alto saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, and trombone. During that decade he also worked as a leader.
On clarinet, he recorded with Benny Carter in Sweden in 1936. He composed and arranged jazz and popular music. He also composed for more than 80 films, as well as for radio and television programs. Alto saxophonist, Charles Redland passed away on August 18, 1994 in Stockholm, Sweden.
More Posts: bandleader,clarinet,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone,trombone,trumpet
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Harlan Leonard was born on July 2, 1905 in Kansas City, Missouri. He started his career in the Territory Band of George E. Lee in 1923, then moved to Benny Moten in 1924 and joined Thamon Hayes ‘ Kansas City Rockets in 1931 with several other musicians from the band. Disbanded in 1934, they formed the basis of the new Moten Orchestra. After Moten’s death in 1935, Leonard founded his own group, bringing several Moten musicians which became Harlan Leonard and his Rockets, and soon was one of the most famous bands in Kansas City.
After Count Basie’s departure for new YorkCity, he and Jay McShann were the strongest rivals. When the first Leonard band fell apart in 1936, he then took over the musicians of the Jimmy Keith band in 1937/38. In 1938 the young Charlie Parker also belonged to the band for five weeks but was dismissed because of unreliability.
In Chicago, Illinois in 1940, the band along with singer Myra Taylor recorded sessions for Victor Records. Returning to Kansas City in 1941, they toured the Midwest, then went to New York City but were unsuccessful so they returned home. Early 1943 Leonard went on a West Coast tour, playing one-nighters and a year engagement in Los Angeles, California.
After the band’s disbandment, Leonard remained in the Los Angeles area, performing occasionally in local clubs until retiring from the music business and working for the Internal Revenue Service.
Clarinetist, saxophonist, and Swing bandleader Harlan Leonard, who was one of the leaders of Kansas City Jazz with Jay McShann, and one of the links between the swing and the subsequent bebop, passed away on November 10, 1983.
More Posts: bandleader,clarinet,history,instrumental,jazz,saxophone
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Rudy Rutherford was born Elmer H. Rutherford on June 18, 1924 in Huachuca City, Arizona. He began performing in the early 1940s with Lionel Hampton and Count Basie. Initially taking Jack Washington’s place in Basie’s orchestra as a baritone saxophonist, once Washington returned from military service, he switched to alto saxophone.
1947 saw Rudy moving to Teddy Buckner’s band, though he continued working with Basie into the early 1950s. He worked with Wilbur De Paris late in the 1950s and appeared with Chuck Berry at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958. He would record with Dicky Wells, Dinah Washington and Lurlean Hunter.
In the 1960s he worked with Buddy Tate and spent several years with Earl Hines in the mid-1970s. Saxophonist and clarinetist Rudy Rutherford, who worked with Illinois Jacquet in the 1980s and was active in performance until his death, passed away on March 31, 1995 in New York City.
More Posts: clarinet,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gene Sedric, born Eugene Hall Cedric on June 17, 1907 in St. Louis, Missouri into a family where his father played ragtime piano. He played with Charlie Creath in his hometown and then with Fate Marable, Dewey Jackson, Ed Allen, and Julian Arthur.
Joining Sam Wooding’s Orchestra in 1925 he toured Europe with him until 1931 when the unit dissolved. During his time in Europe he recorded with Alex Hyde. When he returned to New York City he played with Fletcher Henderson and Alex Hill, before joining Fats Waller’s Rhythm in 1934, where he remained to 1942. When Waller went on solo tours Sedric found work gigging alongside Mezz Mezzrow in 1937 and Don Redman from 1938 to 1939).
Sedric put together his own group in 1943, prior to playing with Phil Moore in 1944 and Hazel Scott in 1945. He put together another ensemble from 1946–51, playing in New York City. His later associations through the late 1940s into the early 60s include time with Pat Flowers, Bobby Hackett, Jimmy McPartland, Mezzrow again, Conrad Janis, and Dick Wellstood. He recorded sparingly as a leader in 1938, 1946, and with Mezzrow in 1953.
Clarinetist and tenor saxophonist Gene Sedric, who acquired the nickname “Honey Bear” in the 1930s because of his large camel hair coat, passed away on April 3, 1963 in New York City.
More Posts: bandleader,clarinet,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone