Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Barney Jean Wilen was born on March 4, 1937 in Nice, France. His mother was French, his father was an American dentist turned inventor. He began performing in Nice nightclubs after receiving encouragement from Blaise Cendrars who was a friend of his mother.

His career was boosted in 1957 when he worked with Miles Davis on the soundtrack Ascenseur pour l’Échafaud. In 1959, Wilen wrote his two soundtracks Un Témoin Dans la Ville and Jazz sur scène with Kenny Clarke, and two years later composed the soundtrack for Roger Vadim’s film Les Liaisons Dangereuses working with Thelonious Monk. In the mid-to-late 1960s he became interested in rock, and recorded an album dedicated to Timothy Leary.

Returning to composing for French films in the 1980s and 1990s, touring Japan for the first time in 1990. He ventured into the world of punk rockers before returning to jazz in the early 1990s. Barney played with modern jazz musicians until his death in 1996.

In 1987, French comic book artist Jacques de Loustal and author Philippe Paringaux paid homage to Wilen in their “bande dessinée” Barney et la note bleue (Barney and the Blue Note).

Tenor and soprano saxophonist and jazz composer Barney Wilen, passed away from cancer in Paris, France on May 25, 1996.

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Conversations About Jazz & Other Distractions

Conversations About Jazz Presents 

Rubin & Dameron: A Perfect Match on February 25

On Thursday, February 25 at 7:30 pm (EST) Hammonds House Digital invites you to join us for Conversations About Jazz & Other Distractions with host Carl Anthony. Carl’s special guest will be jazz vocalist Vanessa Rubin and they will discuss her career, sample some of her favorite songs, and delve into her latest CD, This Dream is You: Vanessa Rubin Sings Tadd Dameron. This free virtual program will stream on Hammonds House  Museum’s Facebook and YouTube channels. For more information about this and upcoming virtual events visit hammondshouse.org.

Revered as both a torchbearer and a storyteller, jazz vocalist Vanessa Rubin possesses a voice hailed for crystalline clarity, warmth, and playful sass. The Cleveland native brings a wealth of diverse influences to her vocal performance from both the Trinidadian/Caribbean roots of her mother and traditional jazz by way of her Louisiana-born father. Additional influences include the melodic bell tone clarity of a young Nancy Wilson, the fire of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, the sweet sounds of trumpeter Blue Mitchell, and her love of the Motown Sound…especially girl groups like the Supremes.

Rubin’s passion for rich musical stories is evident throughout her eight albums. Highlights include the evocative “Voyager II” from the pen of Teri Thornton, “Inside a Silent Tear” written by Blossom Dearie, a waltz version of John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” lyricized by New York Voices, and an arrangement of “Superwoman” by Stevie Wonder, inspired by the Ahmad Jamal recording of “Poinciana.” Her current endeavors include highlighting and interpreting well known, obscure and new lyrical works of composer/arranger/pianist Tadd Dameron. “I hope to do for Tadd’s music what Carmen McRae did for Monk’s music,” Rubin explained. For more information visit: vanessarubin.com.

Tadd Dameron (1917-1965) was American jazz pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. The most influential arranger of the bebop era, he also wrote charts for swing and hard bop players. The bands he arranged for included those of Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Jimmie Lunceford, Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine, and Sarah Vaughan. In 1940-41 he was the piano player and arranger for the Kansas City band Harlan Leonard and his Rockets. He and lyricist Carl Sigman wrote “If You Could See Me Now” in 1946 for Sarah Vaughan and it became one of her first signature songs. Dameron wrote many arrangements for Gillespie’s big band, who gave the première of his large-scale orchestral piece Soulphony in Three Hearts at Carnegie Hall in 1948. Later in 1948, Dameron led his own group in New York, which included Fats Navarro. The following year Dameron performed at the Paris Jazz Festival with Miles Davis.

Hammonds House Museum is generously supported by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Fulton County Arts and Culture, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, The National Performance Network, AT&T and WarnerMedia.

Hammonds House Museum’s mission is to celebrate and share the cultural diversity and important legacy of artists of African descent. The museum is the former residence of the late Dr. Otis Thrash Hammonds, a prominent Atlanta physician and a passionate arts patron. A 501(c)3 organization which opened in 1988, Hammonds House Museum boasts a permanent collection of more than 450 works including art by Romare Bearden, Robert S. Duncanson, Benny Andrews, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Hale Woodruff, Amalia Amaki, Radcliffe Bailey and Kojo Griffin. In addition to featuring art from their collection, the museum offers new exhibitions, artist talks, workshops, concerts, poetry readings, arts education programs, and other cultural events throughout the year.

Located in a beautiful Victorian home in Atlanta’s historic West End, Hammonds House Museum is a cultural treasure and a unique venue. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they continue to observe CDC guidelines, but look forward to welcoming in-person visitors soon!  For more information about upcoming virtual events, and to see how you can support their mission and programming, visit their website: hammondshouse.org.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Buddy Morrow was born Muni Zudekoff on February 8, 1919 in New Haven, Connecticut. Receiving a scholarship at age 16, he studied trombone with Ernest Horatio Clarke at Juilliard from October to December 1936. During the next year he began playing trombone with Sharkey Bonano’s Sharks of Rhythm, an Eddie Condon group. He then worked with Eddy Duchin, Vincent Lopez, and Artie Shaw.

In 1938 Muni became known as Buddy Morrow when he joined the Tommy Dorsey band. The following year he performed with Paul Whiteman’s Concert Orchestra for their recording of Gershwin’s Concerto in F. In 1940, Morrow joined the Tony Pastor band, but this was only a short detour on his way to replacing Ray Conniff in the Bob Crosby band. Shortly after, he joined the U.S. Navy, during which he recorded with Billy Butterfield, leading a ten-piece band with three trombones, accompanying Red McKenzie singing four arrangements, including Sweet Lorraine and It’s the Talk of the Town.

After demobilization, Morrow joined Jimmy Dorsey’s band, then went into radio freelancing as a studio musician. He began conducting sessions, which introduced him to bandleading. RCA Victor sponsored him as director of his band in 1951. The band’s first hit, Night Train by Jimmy Forrest, was a hit in rhythm and blues.

Morrow was a member of The Tonight Show Band. His early 1950s records such as Rose, Rose, I Love You and Night Train appeared on the Billboard magazine charts. Night Train reached No. 12 in the U.K. Singles Chart in 1953. In 1959 and 1960 Morrow’s Orchestra released two albums of American television theme songs: Impact and Double Impact respectively.

In 2009 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Trombone Association. He led the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra from 1977 through 2010, when he appeared with the band for the final time. Over the course of his career he recorded 18 albums as a leader and 30 as a sideman. Trombonist, arranger, composer and bandleader Buddy Moorow, who was also known as Moe Zudekoff, passed away on September 27, 2010 in Maitland, Florida.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Ray Santisi was born on February 1, 1933 in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Jamaica Plain. He won an honors scholarship to attend Schillinger House and by the time he graduated it had been renamed Berklee School of Music, and later became Berklee College of Music..

He played as featured soloist with Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Mel Torme, Irene Kral, Herb Pomeroy and Natalie Cole to name a few. He performed with Buddy DeFranco, Joe Williams, Gabor Szabo, Milt Jackson, Zoot Sims & Al Cohn, Carole Sloane, Clark Terry and Bob Brookmeyer. As a leader he performed with his own ensemble, The Real Thing and in the 1960s performed with the Benny Golson Quartet.

As an educator, in 1957 Ray became a professor of piano and harmony at Berklee College of Music. His students include many notable jazz musicians, including Diana Krall, Makoto Ozone, Joe Zawinul, Keith Jarrett, Jane Ira Bloom, Jan Hammer, Alan Broadbent, Arif Mardin, Gary Burton, John Hicks, Danilo Perez and Hiromi. Fourteen of his students received Grammy awards.

He was awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in composition and performance. He taught at Stan Kenton’s summer jazz clinics throughout the United States, performed in Europe, Scandinavia, and Asia. He performed at the first Jazz Workshop, and in 2008 was nominated to IAJE Jazz Education Hall of Fame.

He authored two books, Berklee Jazz Piano, and his instructional book, Jazz Originals for Piano. His trio played the first Sunday of each month for eleven years at Ryles Jazz Club until the month of his death. Pianist, composer, arranger, and educator Ray Santisi passed away on October 28, 2014 in his hometown.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Charlie Holmes was born on January 27, 1910 near Boston, Massachusetts and began playing alto saxophone at age 16 and emulated the style of his childhood friend, Johnny Hodges.

Beginning his professional career a week later, after moving to New York City Charlie worked for a variety of groups, including Luis Russell in 1928. Between 1929 and 1930 he recorded with Red Allen. He would work with Russell again a few times and in 1932 joined the Mills Blue Rhythm Band. He was in John Kirby’s Sextet, Cootie Williams’ Orchestra, and Louis Armstrong’s band for much of the next two decades.

Leaving music in 1951, Holmes did not return for twenty years then worked in Clyde Bernhardt’s Harlem Blues & Jazz Band. He later played for the Swedish band Kustbandet. He never acted as a leader in any recording or group.

Alto saxophonist Charlie Holmes, best known for composing Sugar Hill Function, not only performed during the swing era but also played clarinet and oboe for the Boston Civic Symphony Orchestra, passed away on September 19, 1985 in Stoughton, Massachusetts.

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