Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bill Perkins was born on July 22, 1924 in San Francisco, California, grew up in Chile, moved to Santa Barbara and served in the military during World War II. While living in Santa Barbara after his discharge, he studied music and engineering at Cal-Tech at the University of California and a Westlake College.
Bill started out performing in the big bands of Woody Herman and Jerry Wald. He also worked for the Stan Kenton orchestra, a move that subsequently led to his entry into the cool jazz idiom. He became one of the coolest and a major influence in the cool school on the West Coast jazz scene.
Perk, as he was known, started recording as a leader in 1956 with John Lewis on Grand Encounter and sessions with Art Pepper, Bud Shank and Richie Kamuca, to name just a few. During the 60s he held had a dual career as a studio musician and recording engineer. From 1970-1992 he held a chair in The Tonight Show band and a member of the Bud Shank Sextet.
Though he played baritone, alto, soprano and flute he was best known for his tenor and most remembered for his baritone and tenor work with The Lighthouse All-Stars. Over the course of his career Bill Perkins recorded twenty-three albums as a leader and sideman up until the time of his death on August 9, 2003.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gerald Beckett was born in Beaumont, Texas on May 2nd and started playing alto saxophone at the age of 11. As a freshman at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas he switched to playing the flute and during his years at UNT, he played with various local bands.
It wasn’t until a move in 1985 to San Francisco that he began immersing himself in the jazz scene. He started listening to various flutists such as Eric Dolphy, Frank Wess, Herbie Mann, Hubert Laws, Dave Valentin and Paul Horn, among others. For the next 8 years Gerald studied flute at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and privately under Esther Landau.
He has performed in several venues in San Francisco and New York, either as a leader and sideman, showcasing the many facets of the instrument and its uniqueness to the jazz genre. He has self-produced three CD’s to national recognition and airplay, and has been a Grammy Ballot nominee.
As an educator Beckett has conducted Jazz Flute master classes in San Francisco and Paris. Flautist Gerald Beckett continues to perform, tour and record.
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