Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Michael DiPasqua was born May 4, 1953 born in Orlando, Florida into a highly musical family. He began his professional career very early, gigging as a drummer with a band co-led by Zoot Sims and Al Cohn while still in his mid-teens.
During the next few years DiPasqua played with Don Elliott and Gerry Mulligan, and also accompanied singers Jackie Cain and Roy Kral. Towards the end of the 70s, the drummer was for a number of years co-leader of Double Image, a vibraharp, marimba and bass quartet that toured internationally.
Michael then co-led Gallery and followed that with a spell in Later That Evening, a band led by Eberhard Weber, before joining Jan Garbarek. He was a consistently inventive percussionist with the ability to comfortably co-exist in a range of musical styles, from the modern end of the mainstream through jazz rock to the cutting edge of improvisational music.
He recorded three albums as a leader with his debut on the Inner City label in 1977. He went on to record as a sideman with Jan Garbarek for two albums, three with Eberhard Weber, and one each with Adelhard Roidinger and Robert Towner all for ECM. On a variety of other labels he recorded with Siegfried Fietz, Volker Kriegel, Marian McPartland, and Gerry Mulligan.
Beyond jazz, Michael was locally known for his role in helping to develop over 300 Subway Sandwich Shops in Central Florida, as well as co-founding PCMD Management Company, which owns and operates over 40 Subway franchises.
Cool jazz drummer and percussionist Michael DiPasqua lost his battle with cancer on August 29, 2016. He was 63.
More Posts: bandleader,drums,history,instrumental,jazz,music,percussion
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Matt Bauder was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan on May 3, 1976 and attended the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas and earned a bachelor of fine arts in jazz and contemporary improvisation at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
From 1999 to 2001 he lived in Chicago, Illinois where he was a part of the city’s modern jazz and improvised music scene. Matt attended graduate school at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut studying under Anthony Braxton and received a master’s degree in composition. He lived in Berlin, Germany for a year, then moved to New York City in 2005.
In 2003, Bauder released his debut album, Weary Already of the Way, on 482 Music. His sophomore album in 2007 was the first album from his long-form improvisational jazz trio Memorize the Sky, featuring Bauder on saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet and percussion, Zach Wallace on bass, vibraphone and percussion, and Aaron Siegel on drums and percussion. The band released two more albums in 2008 and 2010.
His next trio, Hearing Things, had the saxophonist leading JP Schlegelmilch on organ and Vinnie Sperrazza on drums. Never limiting himself to one genre, Bauder’s next venture formed the doo-wop jazz group White Blue Yellow & Clouds, covering songs by the Beach Boys, The Flaminogos and The Mystics.
His Brooklyn-based jazz quintet Day in Pictures released two albums on Clean Feed Records, in which heplayed tenor saxophone and composed the songs on both albums. Matt has since performed as part of the Arcade Fire’s touring lineup, played saxophone and clarinet on Will Butler’s debut album Policy, and has played in the Broadway production of Fela!
Ever busy, saxophonist Matt Bauder continues to perform, compose and collaborate on numerous projects across genres.
More Posts: bandleader,clarinet,drums,guitar,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone,vocal
DOUBLE N TRIO & NEGRONI’S TRIO
The Double N Trio is headed up by Noah Nipp, hence the double “n” in the groups name.
Negroni’s Trio is a jazz band that plays piano jazz, Latin jazz, hard bop, jazz instrument, and soul jazz. The band is made up of Jose Negroni on piano, Nomar Negroni on drums, and Josh Allen on bass. They have been active since 2002 and have released nine albums, including New Era, Esperanzas/Hopes, and Piano – Drums – Bass. Their songs include “Esperanzas”, “El Incomprendido”, and “Sunny”.
More Posts: adventure,bass,drums,genius,jazz,music,piano,preserving,travel
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Beaver Harris was born William Godvin Harris on April 20, 1936 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Coming from an athletic family, he played baseball as a teenager for the Kansas City Monarchs, which was part of the Negro American League, and was scouted by the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants.
After his Army service, Beaver began playing drums. Moving in 1963 to New York City and was encouraged to pursue a musical career by Max Roach. The city did him quite well as he worked and/or toured with Marion Brown, Dexter Gordon, Albert Ayler, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Clifford Jordan, Howard Johnson, Sheila Jordan, Lee Konitz, Thelonious Monk, Roswell Rudd, Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, Sonny Stitt, Clark Terry, Chet Baker, Doc Cheatham and Larry Coryell among other musicians.
Harris founded a world music band calling it the 360 Degree Music Experience. The band included Buster Williams, Hamiet Bluiett, Don Pullen, Jimmy Garrison, Ron Carter, Ricky Ford, and many others.
Drummer Beaver Harris, who worked extensively with Archie Shepp, died of prostate cancer in New York City at the age of 55 on December 22, 1991.
More Posts: bandleader,drums,history,instrumental,jazz,music
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jan Hammer was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia on April 17, 1948 to a mother who was a well-known Czech singer, and his doctor father who worked his way through school playing vibraphone and bass guitar. He began playing the piano at the age of four with formal instruction starting two years later. He aspired to follow his father into medicine until a family friend convinced him to develop his musical talents instead.
Forming a jazz trio in high school, he performed and recorded throughout Eastern Europe at the age of fourteen. Upon entrance to the Prague Academy of Musical Arts, he completed many compulsory classes including harmony, counterpoint, music history, and classical composition. He moved to the United States and resolved to become a citizen after receiving a scholarship at Berklee School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Upon completion of his studies, Jan spent a year touring with Sarah Vaughan, recorded with Elvin Jones and Jeremy Steig, then moved to New York City in 1971 and joined the original lineup of the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Though he previously recorded as a leader and sideman, his debut solo album, The First Seven Days, dropped in 1975. He formed the Jan Hammer Group in 1976 to support the album tour, which received good reviews from both jazz and rock critics. During the mid 70s to early 80s he recorded and played with Joni Mitchell, Billy Cobham, Santana, Tommy Bolin, Harvey Mason and Stanley Clarke.
Returning to solo work he recorded an album in 1978, formed a new band, known as Hammer, and wrote theme song for a British television series. He formed Schon & Hammer, played benefit concerts, and has received three Grammys and an Emmy nomination. By the Nineties and well into the new millennium, he continued to score and compose for film and television. In 2018 he released his first album of new material in over 10 years: Seasons – Part 1.
Keyboardist, drummer, composer, and record producer Jan Hammer continues to produce and perform.
More Posts: bandleader,composer,drums,history,instrumental,jazz,keyboard,music,producer,synthesizer