Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Spike Wells was born Michael Wells in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Wells on the 16th of January 1946 and was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral Choir School. He became interested in jazz after coming across a recording by Dizzy Gillespie, which he found very exciting. He took up playing drums in his early teens and later had lessons from former Miles Davis drummer Philly Joe Jones, who lived in London from 1967 to 1969 He was also very influenced by another of Davis’s drummers, Tony Williams. At Oxford University, Wells put together a quartet with tenor player Pat Crumly and pianist Brian Priestley that played with visitors including saxophonists Bobby Wellins, Tony Coe and Joe Harriott, and blues singer Jimmy Witherspoon.
In 1968 Wells began a Ph.D. course in philosophy at London University, living in a house that was also home to bass player Ron Mathewson, alto sax player Ray Warleigh, trombonist Chris Pyne and pianist Mick Pyne. Mathewson was then playing in the quartet of tenor player Tubby Hayes and asked Wells if he would be interested in joining the group. He arranged an audition with Hayes and guitarist Louis Stewart, at which time Tubby asked if they wanted the job. Wells abandoned his Ph.D. and became a professional musician.
As well as playing with Hayes, in both his quartet and his big band, until the saxophonist’s death in 1973, he spent a year in Humphrey Lyttelton’s band, and also worked with many visiting soloists at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, including Stan Getz, Roland Kirk, Art Farmer, Johnny Griffin and James Moody.
Qualifying as a solicitor, Wells then practiced law for 22 years, eventually working as an in-house legal adviser for Lloyds Bank. He became a deacon in the Church of England at 49, took early retirement from the bank, and took a stipend to curate at St Peter’s Church, Brighton. With music as well as ministry important to him, he went on to decline the stipend and now works as both a priest and a drummer. A selected discography has him recording fifteen albums with one as a leader titled Reverence in 2006.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Barry Altschul was born on January 6, 1943 in New York City and having initially taught himself to play drums, studied with Charlie Persip during the 1960s. The free jazz and hard bop drummer first came to notice in the late 1960s when he performed with pianists Paul Bley and then he joined Chick Corea in 1969 with Dave Holland and Anthony Braxton to form the group Circle. At the time, he made use of a high-pitched Gretsch kit with add-on drums and percussion instruments.
By the 1970s, Altschul worked extensively with Anthony Braxton’s quartet featuring Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland, and George Lewis. Braxton, signed to Arista Records, was able to secure a large enough budget to tour with a collection of dozens of percussion instruments, strings, and winds. In addition to his participation in ensembles featuring avant-garde musicians, Altschul performed with Lee Konitz, Art Pepper and other straight-ahead jazz performers.
Barry recorded thirteen albums from 1967 to 2015 but by the mid-Eighties, he spent most of his time in Europe, not becoming visible until 2000, performing with Billy Bang and Joe Fonda billing themselves as The FAB Trio. He also performed with the Jon Irabagon Trio, Adam Lane, Roswell Rudd, Dave Liebman, Barre Phillips, Denis Levaillant, Andrew Hill, Sonny Criss, Hampton Hawes, Annette Peacock, Sam Rivers, Julius Hemphill, Lee Konitz and numerous others in both the avant-garde and straight-ahead genres. The free jazz and hard bop drummer continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jackie Williams was born on January 2, 1933 in Harlem, New York City, New York. Taking on the role of the sideman, he has played and recorded with Doc Cheatham for 18 years at Greenwich Village’s Sweet Basil. He played and recorded with Buck Clayton on a U.S. State Department tour of the Middle East and Africa.
Jackie’s list of performances and recordings is a who’s who not limited to Benny Golson, Bobby Hackett, Illinois Jacquet, Duke Ellington, Alberta Hunter, Buddy Tate, Junior Mance Quintet, The Cliff Smalls Septet, The Dan Barrett Octet, The Howard Alden / Dan Barrett Quintet, Warren Vaché Quartet, Warren Vaché, Jr. And His All-Stars, Earl Hines, Milt Hinton, Alberta Hunter, Illinois Jacquet, Jay McShann, Bobby Short, Buddy Tate and Teddy Wilson, as well as many others.
Drummer Jackie Williams is a recipient of Yale University’s Duke Ellington Fellowship Medal. He is the drummer for the Junior Mance Trio and though he has not recorded as a leader but has continued a prolific career, in part, as a member of the Floating Jazz Festival Trio.
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Three Wishes
Al Harewood responded to Pannonica’s question of three wishes by telling her:
- “I wish to be honest: to myself and to other people.”
- “I wish I could please others – as wel as myself – in my contributions to music.”
- “I wish God would help me to be a gentleman, and keep me truthful to myself, to others, and Him.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats – Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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Requisites
Jo Jones Trio is an album recorded by drummer Jo Jones who was joined by the Bryant brothers in New York City during March 1959. The LP was released by Everest Records and Raymond Scott was the producer on this session. On this album, the trio gives an indication of the varying kinds of approaches and material they can play.
Track Listing | 39:27
- Sweet Georgia Brown (Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard, Kenneth Casey)
- My Blue Heaven (Walter Donaldson, George A. Whiting)
- Jive at Five (Count Basie, Harry Edison)
- Greensleeves (Traditional)
- When Your Lover Has Gone (Einar Aaron Swan)
- Philadelphia Bound (Ray Bryant)
- Close Your Eyes (Bernice Petkere)
- I Got Rhythm – Part I (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)
- I Got Rhythm – Part II (Gershwin, Gershwin)
- Embraceable You (Gershwin, Gershwin)
- Bebop Irishman (Bryant)
- Little Susie (Bryant, Jo Jones, Tom Bryant)
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