Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Kenny Dennis was born May 27, 1930 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and began his musical career in the United States Army Band, playing drums in three bands from 1948-1952. After being discharged, he connected with junior high school mate, pianist Ray Bryant and became part of The Ray Bryant Trio along with Jimmy Rowser on bass. They became the house trio at the North Philadelphia Jazz Club, Blue Note where they played with Kai Winding, Chris Connor and Sonny Stitt among others.
Moving to New York City he worked with Miles Davis, Phineas Newborn, Jr., Billy Taylor, Erroll Garner, Charles Mingus, Johnny Griffin, Slide Hampton and Sonny Rollins. In 1957, Dennis performed in Sonny Rollins’s Trio with bassist Wendell Marshall at Carnegie Hall, a historic performance that was commemorated in 2007 with a 50th anniversary concert.
Dennis migrated to California, when Miles Davis recommended him to Lena Horne. There he recorded with Davis, Michel Legrand, Charlie Mingus, Gerald Wilson, poet Langston Hughes and Nancy Wilson, the latter he married and they had a son. He would also record with Oscar Brown Jr., Langston Hughes, Dodo Greene, Roy Ayers, Mal Waldron and Burt Bacharach.
Since 1997 drummer Kenny Dennis, who never recorded as a leader, has been an assistant director of the Lab Band at the award winning Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Von Ohlen was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on May 13, 1941. He began playing trombone in middle school, and continued playing through high school. Graduating from North Central High School in 1960, he briefly studied at North Texas State, but returned to Indianapolis shortly after.
From 1967 to 1968, Von Ohlen toured with Billy Maxted’s Manhattan Jazz Band. He also worked for Woody Herman in 1967 and 1969, then with Stan Kenton from 1970 to 1972.
John went on to lead the Blue Wisp Big Band in Cincinnati from 1980 to 2018 and his own groups under his name ranging from quartets to big bands. During this period of the 1980s and 1990s, he was a member of a big band led by pianist Steve Allee.
Drummer John Von Ohlen transitioned in Cincinnati, Ohio on October 3, 2018 at the age of 77.
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The Jazz Voyager
Houston is the next stop for this Jazz Voyager who will be in the audience for an evening of music, poetry and visuals this coming Friday, May 12th at the Cullen Theater. The venue, which opened in 1987, sits inside the Wortham Center Complex, seats 1100 and offers concessions, merchandise, bar and disabled access.
Native son Kendrick Scott returns home to wow those who have the temerity to attend this star-studded amalgamation of artists honoring what is now known as Sugar Land 95. Unearthed pays tribute to the tragic history behind the recent discovery of the remains of 95 Black people (94 men, 1 woman) in unmarked graves in Sugar Land, Texas. They were convict laborers, swept back into “slavery by another name” in the post-Civil War era, arrested for petty crimes like vagrancy and forced into back-breaking and often fatal labor in the sugar fields of Texas.
Joining composer and drummer Kendrick Scott are Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, poet, Poet Laureate Emeritus of Houston, visual artist Robert Hodge, the Harlem String Quartet featuring violinists Ilmar Gavilán, Melissa White, violist Jaime Amador, and cellist Felix Umansky, pianist Gerald Clayton, saxophonist Walter Smith III, and bassist Joe Sanders.
Located in the city’s theater district in the heart of downtown at 501 Texas Avenue, Texas 77002 and can reach the venue by phone at 713-524-5050. You can always get ticket information at boxoffice@dacamera.com.
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Three Wishes
The night Oliver Jackson gave up his three wishes he was caught off guard, however, to the Baroness he replied:
- That’s a hell of a question! Well, I think the first thing would be… It may sound corny, but, compatibility of all people in the world.”
- “Then I have got to go to my own self – to my health.”
- “And then I’d have to say spontaneous music! I think that’s be everything. I’d started to put some money in there – I never have enough of that – but a lot of people have money and still don’t have what they really want..”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Pete Edward Jacobs was born on May 7, 1899 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. He played in the Musical Aces, then joined the band of Claude Hopkins from 1926 to 1928. He left Hopkins to play with Charlie Skeete in 1928, then returned to play with Hopkins from 1928 until 1938.
During this ten-year tenure in Hopkins’s orchestra, Pete recorded extensively with the group on Brunswick Records, particularly during the period 1927 to 1932. Additionally, he appeared with the band in the short films Barbershop Blues and By Request.
He fell ill in 1938 and had to quit the group, and never returned to active performance. Drummer Pete Jacobs transitioned in 1952.
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