Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Mwata Bowden was born on October 11, 1947 in Memphis, Tennessee. He is part of a group known as 8 Bold Souls and frequently engages in collaborations with Tatsu Aoki. He helped establish the Miyumi Project which was a blend of music with different ethnic backgrounds, highlighting contributions from Japanese taiko drumming in the framework of jazz music.
As part of his regular repertoire, Bowden plays a range of saxophones and clarinets, including the E-flat clarinet, B-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, contra-alto clarinet, and contrabass clarinet, as well as flute, zamada, and didgeridoo.
As an instructor in improvisational jazz at the University of Chicago teaches young aspiring musicians in the Chicago area. Saxophonist, clarinetist and flutist Mwata Bowden, who is a part of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, continues to perform.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ronald Wayne Laws was born on October 3, 1950 and raised in Houston, Texas. He is the fifth of eight children and started playing the saxophone at the age of 11. He went on to attend Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, for two years.
In 1971 he journeyed to Los Angeles, California to embark upon a musical career. He started performing with trumpeter Hugh Masekela and the following year joined Earth, Wind & Fire, where he played saxophone and flute on their album Last Days and Time. Eighteen months later he decided to become a solo artist. Laws released his debut album Pressure Sensitive on Blue Note Records in 1975.
His first two albums charted on Billboard and by his third album, Friends and Strangers in 1977 was certified gold. Ronnie produced and sang on his sister Debra’s 1981 album Very Special. He would go on to play saxophone through the Eighties on albums by Ramsey Lewis, Sister Sledge, Deniece Williams, Jeff Lorber, Alphonse Mouzon, and Howard Hewett. In the 1990s he recorded with Norman Brown and again with Earth, Wind & Fire.
Saxophonist, flutist and vocalist Ronnie Laws, who has also worked with Guru, Brian Culbertson, and the Crusaders, also influenced Boney James and Norman Brown, and continues to explore the boundaries of his talent.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joe Rigby was born on September 3, 1940 in Harlem, New York and grew up in the Sugar Hill neighborhood where his neighbors included Johnny Hodges, Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, and Kenny Burrell. He started playing piano when he was six and began playing flute and clarinet in high school. His focus eventually switched to the saxophone after hearing John Coltrane and Charlie Parker.
Graduating from the College of Staten Island he earned a bachelor’s degree in Music and a minor in Music Education. Rigby would go on to study privately with Joe Allard, Garvin Bushell, and Anders Paulsson. He taught instrumental music with the New York City Board of Education from 1989 until he retired in 2004, and was named New York’s Music Teacher of the Year in 1996.
Performing on alto, soprano, baritone and sopranino saxophone, Joe began performing professionally with Milton Graves, Johnny Copeland, and Steve Reid, with whom he led the Master Brotherhood. In the late 1970s, he formed and led his own group, Dynasty.
Establishing his Homeboy record label, he released a record with trumpeter Ted Daniel, and the album Music as a solo artist in 2009. The same year he recorded on French label Improvising Beings, releasing For Harriet with a quartet which included bagpiper player Calum MacCrimmon.
Tenor, alto, baritone, soprano and sopranino saxophonist Joe Rigby, who also plays flute and piccolo, died on July 16, 2019 at the age of 78.
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The Jazz Voyager
Hanging out in the Big Apple is one of my favorite summertime things to do because it’s one of the best places to walk. The sights and sounds are amazing from the Vilage to Park Avenue, Rockefeller Plaza to Central Park Carousel and Zoo. Uptown to Harlem is the last destination, a quick fashion update, a good meal and then to where this jazz voyager will be in the Minton’s Playhouse audience this evening.
Established in 1938 by saxophonist Henry Minton, the venue stands as a pivotal shrine in the history of jazz, renowned as the birthplace of Bebop. Over the ensuing decades, it served as the epicenter for a revolutionary shift in jazz, laying the foundations for modern jazz.
Vocalist Vanisha Gould is being hosted at this venerable establishment for one night only. Anticipation is what this voyager is eagerly awaiting in hopes that she will be grooving to the sounds of the next generation of jazz musicians, as well as transporting us back to the golden age of jazz.
The venue is located at 206 West 118th Street, New York City, NY 10026. For more information visit https://www.mintonsnyc.com.
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The Jazz Voyager
From the City by the Bay to the Big Apple to Greenwich Village that is home to some of the best jazz clubs in the city. And this week the Jazz Voyager is heading to this part of the city that never sleeps to catch a set at the Blue Note. The intimate 250 seat venue has been hosting the biggest names in jazz since its humble beginnings in 1981.
Alto saxophonist Gary Bartz, NEA Jazz Master and professor of saxophone and jazz performance at Oberlin Conservatory takes off a few days from teaching to hit the stage this week for four nights, Thursday through Sunday. Since the 1960s he has held tenure with Max Roach, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, and Miles Davis. What he will bring to this engagement is something this Jazz Voyager is anticipating.
The venue is located at 131 W 3rd St, New York, NY 10012. For more information visit https://www.bluenotejazz.com/nyc.
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