Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alan Dawson was born on July 14, 1929 in Marietta, Pennsylvania and raised in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he played with the Army Dance Band while stationed at Fort Dix from 1951 to 1953. During his service, Dawson explored the post-bop era by performing with pianist Sabby Lewis. After being discharged from the army, Dawson toured Europe with Lionel Hampton.
In early 1960, he resided in Boston, Massachusetts for a regular engagement with bassist John Neves and pianist Leroy Flander. He was an early teacher of drummers Tony Williams, Joseph Smyth, Terri Lyne Carrington, Julian Vaughn, Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Smith, Kenwood Dennard, Gerry Hemingway, Jeff Sipe, Billy Kilson, Joe Farnsworth, Bob Gullotti, and many others.
Dawson began teaching at Berklee College of Music in 1957. He suffered a ruptured disc in 1975 which led to him halting his touring schedule, to leave Berklee and limit his teaching to his home in Lexington, Massachusetts.
While teaching, Dawson also maintained a prolific performing and recording career. He was the house drummer for Lennie’s on the Turnpike in Peabody, Massachusetts, from 1963 through 1970. Throughout the 1960s he recorded almost exclusively with saxophonist Booker Ervin on Prestige Records. In 1968, he replaced Joe Morello in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and continued until 1972. His performance credits also included stints with Bill Evans, Sonny Rollins, Jaki Byard, Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon, Lee Konitz, Quincy Jones, Charles Mingus, and Tal Farlow.
Drummer Alan Dawson died of leukemia on February 23, 1996. He was 66.
KENNY WASHINGTON
Kenny Washington has thrilled audiences across the globe with his soulful interpretations, seemingly limitless range, and inventive scatting. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington appeared in 2013 with Wynton Marsalis and The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra to perform Blood On The Fields, alongside vocalists Gregory Porter and Paula West.
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PETER ERSKINE & BOB MINTZER
Speaking about the musical marriage of drummer Peter Erskine, pianist Alan Pasqua and bassist Darek Oles, journalist Jim Worsley from All About Jazz said, “The trio could be considered the perfect melting pot of creativity, complexity, and rhythm, pollinated with spontaneous interplay and intelligent conversation.” That’s quite a summary of these top-tier jazzmen who, after playing together for decades, find themselves at the top of their game. Their Live In Italy recording, which garnered a Grammy nomination in 2022, is evidence of their primacy.
What makes the meeting of minds extra special now is the addition of saxophonist Bob Mintzer, acclaimed composer, arranger, and founding member of the Yellowjackets. A long-time associate to all, Mintzer elevates the group’s collective mastery in a new project, The McIntosh Sessions, a direct-to-tape recording representing the partnership between hi-end audio giants McIntosh Laboratory and Sterling Sound. At the heart of this captured performance is a vibrant intimacy that speaks volumes about the singular power of jazz and pure, reproduced sound.
Erskine and company revealed this immediacy in the studio. But, in fact, they bring it to the stage each time they play.
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MINGUS DYNASTY
Mingus Dynasty was the first band Sue Mingus organized after Charles Mingus’ death in 1979, collaborating with his own sidemen to honor his life and work. Although Mingus was an iconic and trailblazing bassist, he always said he was first and foremost a composer, and he left behind over 300 composition that deserved to be played. So a band carrying on his music became a natural, if unanticipated, mission. Today, four decades later, the powerful legacy of Mingus Music ignites bandstands as new generations of musicians express their individual voices and musical personalities, and celebrate and explore this rich and varied musical legacy.
Please arrive 30 minutes before the show your attending. Call for ticket information.
Philip Harper | Trumpet
Mark Gross | Alto Saxophone
Abraham Burton | Tenor Saxophone
Robin Eubanks | Trombone
Miki Yamanaka | Piano
Barry Stephenson | Bass
Donald Edwards | Drums
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KELLY GREEN TRIO
Kelly Green (piano/voice), Evan Hyde (drums) & Luca Soul (bass) have played as a trio extensively all over NYC and the tri-state-area. They perform uniquely stylized arrangements of songs from the Great American Songbook and the Jazz canon as well as Miss Green’s original compositions.
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