Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Rolland Pierce “Rollie” Culver was born on October 29, 1908 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. His first entry into professional entertainment was as a tap dancer, but after 1930 he concentrated on drumming.
He played in the territory band of Heinie Beau for most of the 1930s, then, in 1941, began playing with Red Nichols. He drummed behind Nichols for more than twenty years, working with him right up to Nichols’s death in 1965.
Other associations include work with Jack Delaney and Raymond Burke. He became a session musician for film soundtracks. Drummer Rollie Culver transitioned on December 8, 1984 in Culver City, California.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Cocuzzi was born in Camp Springs, Maryland on Andrews Air Force Base on October 26, 1964. Taking a very early interest in playing drums, immediately after graduating from high school, in 1982 he attended Montgomery Junior College in Rockville, Maryland as an applied percussion major. While there he also studied arranging with Bill Potts, who wrote for Buddy Rich and others.
Towards the end of the decade he had established himself, performing in and around the nation’s capital. During these years, in addition to playing drums, Cocuzzi also played piano and vibraphone, gradually advancing his skills on the latter instrument until it became the dominant force in his impressive arsenal.
The early 90s saw John appearing at numerous festivals across the country, as well as Belgium and the Netherlands. Throughout his career he has mainly led his own small groups and has also played piano with the swing, blues and jump band, Big Joe And The Dynaflows, led by Big Joe Maher.
He has worked and/or recorded with Howard Alden, Joe Ascione, Louie Bellson, Bobby Gordon, Chuck Hedges, Nat King Cole, Milt Hinton, Dick Hyman, Russell Malone, Ken Peplowski, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Houston Person, Eddie Locke, Barbara Morrison, Peter Appleyard, Russell Malone, Ed Polcer, Daryl Sherman, Warren and Allan Vaché, Johnny Varro, Bob Wilber and Snooky Young. A dynamic and swinging drummer, Cocuzzi is a fluently inventive improviser on piano. His vibraphone playing ably blends the urgent thrust he displays in his drumming with the fluid grace of his piano playing.
On radio, Cocuzzi recorded a session for NPR’s “Riverwalk: Live at The Landing” with the Jim Cullum Band. It was a tribute to Benny Goodman, The Swing Shift: Jazz on Late-Night Radio, and featured Allan Vaché on clarinet with Nicholas Payton on trumpet.
For 15 years, he was the music director for the 219 Restaurant’s Basin Street Lounge in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia. He was also music director for the Crystal City Jazz Celebration from 2003 to 2006.
Jazz, blues and swing vibraphonist, pianist and drummer John Cocuzzi, whose influences are Lionel Hampton and Red Norvo, continues to perform
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TYSHAWN SOREY TRIO
At 43, Tyshawn Sorey is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and professor of contemporary music. Sorey has received accolades for performances, recordings, and compositions ranging from improvised solo percussion to opera, with work in best-of lists for both classical and jazz music.
A Newark native, is among the most formidable denizens of the in-between zone. Here is an extraordinary talent who can see across the entire musical landscape.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
William Jones Jr. was born October 20, 1929 in New York City, New York and mainly taught himself to play the drums, and played left handed. He performed and recorded with pianist Thelonious Monk in 1953, making his debut on the album Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins. Two years later he appeared with Monk on The Tonight Show.
He went on to become a sideman for another recording in 1955 on pianist Elmo Hope’s Meditations and with Randy Weston on his The Modern Art of Jazz by Randy Weston in the following year. Jones also played with Kenny Dorham, J. J. Johnson, Charlie Parker, and Cecil Payne in the mid-1950s.
In 1955–56 Jones was part of Charles Mingus’ Jazz Workshop, and was the drummer in the bassist’s band that recorded Pithecanthropus Erectus, which helped develop a freer form of group improvisation. Willie was tenor saxophonist Lester Young’s drummer from late 1956 to early 1959. In 1961, he played on Sun Ra’s The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra.
He went into obscurity after this recording session and his date of death was taken from social security records.
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LEWIS NASH & THE NY ALL~STARS
11th Anniversary House Party
Paul Bollenback: Guitar | Dave Kikoski: Piano | Essiet Essiet: Bass | Lewis Nash: Drums
Join us for this spectacular private party for 60 guests featuring an intimate performance by Lewis Nash & The NY All-Stars, complimented by a panoramic birds-eye view of Phoenix. Includes hosted wine and hors d’ouevres.
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