Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Eric “Big Daddy” Dixon was born on March 28, 1930 in New York City, New York. Although he played bugle as a child,he switched to the tenor saxophone at the age of 12. Following a stint as a musician in the US Army from 1951 to 1953 he played in groups that sometimes included Mal Waldron, with whom he would later record.

In 1954, he played with Cootie Williams and the following year with Johnny Hodges. In 1956, he performed and recorded with Bennie Green and also took up the flute.

The late Fifties had him spending four years in the house band led by Reuben Phillips at the Apollo Theatre in New York. At the end of the decade he toured Europe and recorded with the Cooper Brothers.

He also worked with Paul Gonsalves, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Oliver Nelson, Quincy Jones, Jack McDuff, Joe Williams, Frank Foster, and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, but is probably best known for his tenure in Count Basie’s band, which lasted almost two decades. Dixon continued to play in the ghost band after Basie’s death.

Tenor saxophonist, flautist, composer, and arranger Eric Dixon, who has been credited on as many as 200 recordings, transitioned on October 19, 1989 in New York City.

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ANDERSON BROTHERS PLAY BENNY GOODMAN

Hailed as “virtuosos on clarinet and saxophone” by the New York Times, Peter & Will Anderson have performed concerts together since the age of 9. They’re Juilliard graduates, and have performed on Broadway, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, the New Orleans Jazz Festival, can be heard on the Grammy winning soundtrack to HBO’s Boardwalk Empire with Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, and received a Drama Desk Nomination for their Off-Broadway Production “Le Jazz Hot” in 2012. They can be seen and heard as saxophonists in the upcoming Martin Scorsese film, “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Aside from leading performances in over 45 U.S. States, Japan, Brazil, Canada, and the United Kingdom, they’ve lectured at over a dozen Universities across the country.

BAND MEMBERS:
Peter Anderson – Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet
Will Anderson – Alto Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute

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NESTOR TORRES | NOT SO QUIET STORM SOUND

Born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Nestor Torres moved to New York City, where he pursued Classical flute studies at Mannes School of Music, Jazz at Berklee College of Music, and Classical and Jazz at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. During that time he also learned to improvise in the ‘Charanga’ Cuban Dance Music genre, which helped shape and develop Torres’ unique melodic and danceable style. This rhythmic and mellifluous sound evolution remains apart in a class by itself with 4 Latin Grammy nominations, one Grammy nomination and one Latin Grammy Award. In addition to 18 solo recordings, Torres’ unique collaborations with diverse artists such as Gloria Estefan, Kenny Loggins, Dave Mathews, Paquito d’Rivera, Herbie Hancock, Arturo Sandoval, and Tito Puente; as well as performances with the Cleveland, Singapore, and New World Symphony Orchestras among many others, are testament to his remarkable versatility and artistry. 2017 brought two diverse album releases for Torres; the Latin Grammy Nominated – “Jazz Flute Traditions”, a spectacular tribute to his jazz flute mentors and influences, and “del Caribe, soy!”, a collection of classical compositions by Latin American composers, including the great Puerto Rican icon Rafael Hernandez, alongside contemporary works written for Torres by Tania Leon and Miguel del Aguila. This relentless exploration of musical possibilities without boundaries led to a recent concerto commission by Mariano Morales for a world premiere with Torres and The Lynn Philharmonic. In May 2021 Torres recorded his much-awaited second classical album. The album was produced under the direction of the highly recognized and multi-Grammy winning Russian/Polish (Uruguayan-born) classical composer and conductor Jose Serebrier. In January 2022 Torres released his most recent smooth jazz single, “Thank You Willie” with an album to follow in early fall of 2022. In addition to his achievements in the studio and on the stage, Torres is also the recipient of many awards, including two honorary doctorate degrees from Barry University and Carlos Albizu University, for his commitment to youth, education and cultural exchanges.

BAND MEMBERS
Jorge Sosa – Keyboards
Agustin Conti – Electric
Double Bass Rey Monroig – Drums
Edwin Bonilla – Percussion

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Three Wishes

Pannonica inquired what his three wishes would be if they could be granted and Frank Wess responded by telling her the following:

1. 1. “I don’t know. I don’t know. You’d think I was crazy if I told you. Well, I’d like to have a crazy pad with horses and some crazy dogs! And to play good music with a lot of people all of my life. And I’ll leave the third wish to the fairy godmother, because she’s been so nice.”

*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…

Eric Marienthal was born on December 19, 1957 in Sacramento, California but moved with his family to San Mateo, California when he was two years old. He was taught music while in school and picked up the saxophone in the fourth grade. His father bought him a $400 Selmer saxophone and enrolled him in Corona Del Mar High School. Throughout his education, he learned to play guitar, flute, clarinet and piano.

After graduating from high school he studied saxophone at the Berklee College of Music. By the time he left Berklee, Eric had achieved the highest proficiency rating given by the school. He began his professional career in 1980 with New Orleans trumpeter Al Hirt. Heading west he settled in Los Angeles, California and became a member of the Chick Corea Elektric Band. He recorded six albums with that band and two of them won Grammy Awards.

Marienthal has also written instructional books, including Comprehensive Jazz Studies & Exercises, The Ultimate Jazz Play Along, and The Music of Eric Marienthal. He has made instructional videos, Play Sax From Day One, Modern Sax and Tricks of the Trade. He occupies the lead alto chair of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, playing alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, and piccolo.

Grammy Award-nominated alto saxophonist Eric Marienthal continues to perform and record.

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