Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Karel Krautgartner was born on July 20, 1922 in Mikulov, Moravia into the family of a postmaster. He began studying clarinet on a private basis with Stanislav Krtička, and performed a demanding part of the Concertino by Leoš Janáček at the composer’s request at the festival of contemporary music in Frankfurt am Main, Germany in 1926. Acquiring the necessary skills of clarinet playing, and a fanatic passion for clarinet construction and components – reeds, mouthpieces, and barrels, which he later used his knowledge of wind instruments as a lecturer at German universities in Cologne and Düsseldorf.
In 1930 he began playing piano and by 1935 after moving to Brno, Czech Republic he became interested mainly in jazz radio broadcasts. 1936 saw Karel founding the student orchestra Quick band. In 1942, he signed his first professional contract as a saxophonist in the Gustav Brom orchestra in the hotel Passage in Brno. A year later he created Dixie Club and started to arrange in the Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller styles. From 1945 – 1955, the core of the Dixie Club moved to Prague and became a part of the Karel Vlach Orchestra.
He achieved a privileged position as the leader of the saxophone section and started to contribute with his own compositions. In 1956,along with Karel Velebný he put together the Karel Krautgartner Quintet, performed with the All Star Band, and with Studio 5. During the Sixties he became the head of the Dance Orchestra of Czechoslovakia Radio, renamed the Karel Krautgartner Orchestra. In 1968 he emigrated to Vienna, Austria and became the chief conductor of the 0RF Bigband. He eventually moved to Cologne, Germany. Clarinetist, saxophonist, arranger, composer, conductor and educator Karel Krautgartner passed away on September 20, 1982.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Rodrigo Amado was born in Lisbon, Portugal on July 15, 1964 and began studying the sax at the age of 17, briefly at the Hot Club Music School of Lisbon and with mentors Carlos Martins, Pedro Madaleno, and Jorge Reis.
With diverse musical interests, he explored improvisation in other genres, including his work with his various ensembles like the Lisbon Improvisation Players and the Motion Trio with Miguel Mira and Gabriel Ferrandini. He is an in~demand studio player on numerous recorded projects.
He started his own label Clean Feed in 2001, with brothers Pedro and Carlos Costa, before leaving the imprint in 2005 to start a second label, European Echoes. Also an accomplished professional photographer, Amado continues to be a bright light on the Portuguese and international improvisational jazz scene.
Saxophonist Rodrigo Amado continues to specialize in free-form, composition-in-the-moment jazz, and his various projects and trios have given him an international following.
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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…
Travis Sullivan was born in 1971 in New York City and founded his 18 piece genre bending jazz orchestra Björkestra in New York City in 2004. Led by the alto saxophonist, musical arrangements are by Sullivan, Kevin Schmidt, and Kelly Pratt. The Björkestra performs the music of eclectic musician Björk.
Since its debut at the Knitting Factory in New York City, the group has performed around the country. In 2007 Sullivan conducted his arrangements with the Sicilian Jazz Orchestra in Palermo, Sicily.
Members of the orchestra, that includes vocalist Becca Stevens, have performed with Arcade Fire, Dr. Dre, Charlie Hunter, Avishai Cohen, Ana Cohen, Jane Monheit, Clark Terry, Rachel Z, Phil Woods, The Spam All Stars, Maria Schneider, and the Saturday Night Live Band, as well as, with Donny McCaslin, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Ben Monder.
His project Altois: The Masters Of Alto Sax interprets the music of the most influential alto saxophonists of the bebop era. Alto saxophonist, pianist, composer and arranger Travis Sullivan continues to further his exploration of jazz.
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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. By the 1930s he was a member of bands in which he played alto saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, and trombone.
During that decade he doubled as a leader. On clarinet he recorded with Benny Carter in Sweden in 1936. He composed and arranged jazz and popular music, as well as more than eighty films, in addition for radio and television programs.
Saxophonist, composer and bandleader Charles Redland passed away on August 18, 1994 in Stockholm, Sweden.
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