Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Steve Davis was born on September 10, 1958 in Santa Barbara, California. With Shelly Manne as his godfather, he became interested in the drums at a young age. Following the advice of drum teacher Alan Dawson, he moved to New York City in the early 1980s to begin his career as a jazz drummer.
Once there Steve met jazz educator Jamey Aebersold, and by 1982 joined the Aebersold clinic faculty. Throughout the 1980s while studying privately with Joe Morello he worked in New York City, meeting pianist Lynne Arriale at a jam session soon after she moved to the city in 1991.
As an educator, Davis holds a faculty position at the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Summer Schools in the US and the Jazzwise Summer Schools in the UK. He has taught at Triton College, Webster University, Washington University, Berlin Conservatory of Music, Indiana University, and the University of South Florida.
He has recorded five albums as a leader, and eighteen as a sideman with Arriale, Aebersold, Joe Beck, Ali Ryerson, Manfredo Fest, Monika Herzig, Wolfgang Lackerschmid, and Walt Weiskopf. Drummer Steve Davis, who is a recording engineer, continues to perform and record as a musician.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Phillip Sanford Wilson was born on September 8, 1941 in St. Louis, Missouri and was a third-generation musician. His grandfather, Ira Kimball, was a riverboat percussionist on the Mississippi to New Orleans.
His recording debut was with Sam Lazar, noted for having one of the first interracial bands in the St. Louis area. After moving to Chicago, Illinois he became a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and performed with the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
He joined up with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1967 at a time when the band membership changed greatly, including an added horn section. He recorded three albums with the group. Wilson’s song Love March, written with Gene Dinwiddie, was performed at Woodstock and released in 1970 on the live album from the festival.
Wilson, along with Dinwiddie and fellow former Butterfield Band member Buzz Feiten, formed the jazz-rock band Full Moon in the early 1970s. They recorded a self-titled album which is considered one of the finest early examples of jazz fusion. He was part of the loft jazz scene in 1970s New York City, worked as a session musician for Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee and with Jimi Hendrix at the Cafe Au Go Go and Generation Club in 1968. They recorded with The Last Poets, Fontella Bass, Olu Dara, David Murray, Anthony Braxton, and Carla Bley. He worked extensively with Lester Bowie. In 1985, along with Bill Laswell co-produced the album Down by Law under the group name Deadline.
He recorded four albums as a leader and as a sideman recorded twenty-one albums with Hamiet Bluiett, Lester Bowie, Anthony Braxton, Paul Butterfield, Julius Hemphill, Sam Lazar, Frank Lowe, Roscoe Mitchell, and David Murray.
Drummer Phillip Wilson, while pursuing his musical career, was stalked and murdered in New York City on March 25, 1992. As a result of America’s Most Wanted television program, Marvin Slater was convicted for premeditated murder in 1997 and sentenced to 33 1/3 years in state prison. The reason for his murder has never been revealed.
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Conversations About Jazz & Other Distractions
Conversations About Jazz Features
The Composers on September 3
Hammonds House Digital invites you to join us for Conversations about Jazz & Other Distractions hosted by former jazz radio host and founder of Notorious Jazz, Carl Anthony. Every other Thursday, Carl takes audiences on a unique journey through the world of jazz music with artist talks, workshops, and listening sessions.
On September 3 Conversations about Jazz delves into the subject of influential jazz composers. Carl’s guests for this program will be saxophonist, composer and educator Tia Fuller; trumpeter, composer and leader of the Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra Russell Gunn; and drummer, educator and activist Jaimeo Brown. They will discuss their own music, composers that have influenced them, leadership, making albums and more. This program is for the jazz novice and jazz head alike. The event is FREE, but you must register. To register click HERE.
Saxophonist Tia Fuller is an accomplished solo artist who has recorded five full-length projects with her quartet. Her most recent album, Diamond Cut, received a Grammy nomination in the Best Instrumental Jazz category. She is recognized as well-respected collaborator who has recorded and toured with numerous high-profile artists. She performed as part of the I AM… Sasha Fierce and Beyoncé Experience World Tour on stages across the globe; served as assistant musical director for Esperanza Spaulding’s Radio Music Society tour; and recorded and toured with Dianne Reeves for her Grammy-winning Beautiful Life album. Currently, Fuller is a faculty member at Berklee College of Music.
Trumpeter, composer and band leader Russell Gunn grew up listening to rap and hip hop. At the age of sixteen his dedication to the art of jazz took shape, although hip-hop has remained an influence on his work. Gunn has performed with numerous musicians including Wynton Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, Roy Hargrove, James Moody, and R&B hitmaker Maxwell. In 1999 Gunn released his first solo project, Ethnomusicology Vol. 1, which earned him a Grammy nomination. SmokinGunn followed a year later and, in 2001, Ethnomusicology Vol. 2. Since that time, Gunn has released two more volumes in his Ethnomusicology series. In 2007 the trumpeter paid homage to fellow St. Louis, IL, native and trumpet icon Miles Davis with Russell Gunn Plays Miles. More recently Gunn released Pyramids (2019) and Get It How You Live (2020) with his Afro-Futurist Jazz Big Band, The Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra.
Jaimeo Brown (pronounced jah-mayo) began his drum career at age 16 with his father bassist Dartanyan Brown, mother pianist and woodwind specialist, Marcia Miget, and drum teacher, Sly Randolph. In the last 20 years, Brown has worked with musicians including Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, Q-Tip, Carl Craig, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Locke, David Murray, and others. He gained experience performing and educating audiences around the world as an ambassador for the US State Department. In addition to performing, Jaimeo contributed material for the Oscar and Grammy award winning documentary ’20 Feet from Stardom’ and PBS production of Ralph Ellison’s ‘King of the Bingo Game.’ As the Director of Transcending Arts Jaimeo is a passionate educator, working in community service in NJ and NY by giving lessons to kids through programs such as NJPAC and New City Kids.
Hammonds House Museum is generously supported by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Fulton County Arts and Culture, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, AT&T and WarnerMedia.
Hammonds House Museum’s mission is to celebrate and share the cultural diversity and important legacy of artists of African descent. The museum is the former residence of the late Dr. Otis Thrash Hammonds, a prominent Atlanta physician and a passionate arts patron. A 501(c)3 organization which opened in 1988, Hammonds House Museum boasts a permanent collection of more than 450 works including art by Romare Bearden, Robert S. Duncanson, Benny Andrews, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Hale Woodruff, Amalia Amaki, Radcliffe Bailey and Kojo Griffin. In addition to featuring art from their collection, the museum offers new exhibitions, artist talks, workshops, concerts, poetry readings, arts education programs, and other cultural events throughout the year.
Located in a beautiful Victorian home in Atlanta’s historic West End, Hammonds House Museum is a cultural treasure and a unique venue. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they continue to observe CDC guidelines, but look forward to welcoming in-person visitors soon! For more information about upcoming virtual events, and to see how you can support their mission, visit their website: hammondshouse.org.MEDIA: For more information, contact Karen Hatchett at Hatchett PR, karen@hatchettpr.com.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Mickey Roker was born Granville William Roker on September 3, 1932 in Miami, Florida into extreme poverty. After his mother died when he was ten, he was taken by his grandmother to live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his uncle Walter. He gave the young boy his first drum kit, communicated his love of jazz, and introduced him to the Philadelphia jazz scene, where drummer Philly Joe Jones became his idol.
In the early 1950s, he started gaining recognition as a sensitive yet hard-driving big-band drummer. Favored by Dizzy Gillespie, he was soon in demand for his supportive skills in both big-band and small-group settings. While in Philadelphia he played with Jimmy Oliver, Jimmy Heath, Jimmy Divine, King James, and Sam Reed before moving to New York in 1959. Once there his first gigs were with Gigi Gryce, Ray Bryant, Joe Williams, Junior Mance, Nancy Wilson, and the Duke Pearson big band. In 1992, he replaced Connie Kay in the Modern Jazz Quartet.
He recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Duke Pearson, Tommy Flanagan, Ella Fitzgerald, Zoot Sims, Horace Silver, Junior Mance, Sarah Vaughan, Milt Jackson, Herbie Hancock, Phil Woods, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Bucky Pizzarelli, Stanley Turrentine, Lee Morgan, Roy Ayers, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Hank Jones, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Locke, and numerousother jazz musicians.
Drummer Mickey Roker Roker, who remained active on the Philadelphia music scene well into the 21st century, passed away on May 22, 2017 at the age of 84.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Tony Crombie was born Anthony John Kronenberg on August 27, 1925 in Bishopsgate, London, England. He was a self-taught musician who began playing the drums at the age of fourteen. He was one of a group of young men from the East End of London who ultimately formed the co-operative Club Eleven, bringing modern jazz to Britain.
In 1947 traveling to New York City with his friend Ronnie Scott, he witnessed the playing of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, then took it back to the UK along with Scott, Johnny Dankworth, and Dennis Rose. 1948 saw Crombie touring Britain and Europe with Duke Ellington, who only brought Ray Nance and Kay Davis with him. Picking up a rhythm section in London, Ellington chose him on the recommendation of Lena Horne, with whom he had worked when she appeared at the Palladium.
Tony would go on to depart from jazz and set up a rock and roll band in 1956 he called The Rockets. Modelled after Bill Haley’s Comets and Freddie Bell & the Bellboys, he released several singles for Decca and Columbia record labels. By 1958 the Rockets had become a jazz group with Scott and Tubby Hayes. During the following year Crombie started Jazz Inc. with pianist Stan Tracey.
In 1960, he composed the score for the film The Tell-Tale Heart and established residency at a hotel in Monte Carlo. In May 1960 he toured the UK with Conway Twitty, Freddy Cannon, Johnny Preston, and Wee Willie Harris.
During the next thirty years he performed with Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Illinois Jacquet, Joe Pass, Mark Murphy and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. In the mid-1990s, after breaking his arm in a fall, he stopped playing the drums but continued composing until his death in 1999. Drummer, pianist, vibraphonist bandleader, and composer Tony Crombie, who was an energizing influence on the British jazz scene for over six decades, passed away on October 18, 1999 in Hampsead, London at the age of 74.
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