Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bill Jennings was born September 12, 1919 in Indianapolis, Indiana and started out with his twin brother, Albert, in a trio called The Three Spades. He would later work with Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, Wild Bill Davis Trio, Jack McDuff, Willis “Gator” Jackson, Bill Doggett, Louis Armstrong, Chris Powell And His Five Blue Flames, Hot Lips Page and others.
Recording as both a leader and a sideman, Bill has influenced numerous musicians in the genres of jazz, soul, R&B, and blues guitar. B.B. King often mentioned Jennings as one of his biggest influences. He recorded with such artists as Leo Parker, King Curtis, Ella Fitzgerald, Jerry Daniels of the Inkspots, Kenny Burrell, Betty Roche and Stuff Smith.
His unique ability to play in many styles included swing, bop, jump blues, R&B, and pop. Jennings played on Fever by Little Willie John, which made the Billboard R&B chart in the U.S. and peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100.
A left-handed player, Bill played guitar upside down, with the high strings at the top, which gave him a different approach to phrasing and bending the strings. Later in his career, he lost a finger on his fretting hand and began playing bass guitar.
Guitarist and composer Bill Jennings, who was described as “The Architect Of Soul Jazz”, transitioned at Veterans Hospital in Indianapolis on November 29, 1978 at the age of 59.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Claude Barthélemy was born on August 22, 1956 in St. Denis, France and started playing guitar when he was fourteen years old. He began playing professionally with Michel Portal’s Ensemble Unit in 1978 and worked with Aldo Romano, Stu Martin, and Gérard Marais.
In the early 1980s he assembled a trio with Jacques Mahieux and Jean-Luc Ponthieux. Additionally he worked with Jean-Marc Padovani and Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique. By the mid-1980s he concentrated on composition, writing for mixed ensembles. Several of his pieces incorporated video and dance.
Barthélemy co-founded the group Zhivaro in 1987 and from 1989 to 1991 was the director of Orchestre National de Jazz. The 1990s saw him leading the octet La Nouvelle-Orleans, the quartet Monsieur Claude, and accompanying Elise Caron and Sylvie Cobo.
Guitarist Claude Barthélemy continues to perform as a director and leader of various ensemble configurations
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
James Elbert Raney was born on August 20, 1927 in Louisville, Kentucky.In 1946, he worked his first paying gig as the guitarist with the Max Miller Quartet at Elmer’s in Chicago, Illinois. He was also a member of the Artie Shaw Orchestra and collaborated with Woody Herman for nine months in 1948. He also collaborated and recorded with Buddy DeFranco, Al Haig and later on with Bob Brookmeyer.
In 1967, alcoholism and other professional difficulties led him to leave New York City and return to his native Louisville. Raney lived with Ménière’s disease for thirty years, a degenerative condition that led to near deafness in both ears, although this did not stop him from playing.
In 1954 and 1955, he won the DownBeat Critics’ Poll for guitar. Guitarist Jimmy Raney, one of the most gifted and influential post war jazz guitarists in the world, transitioned from heart failure in Louisville on May 10, 1995.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Edward Durham was born on August 19, 1906 in San Marcos, Texas to Joseph Durham, Sr., and Luella Rabb Durham. From an early age he performed with his family in the Durham Brothers Band. At the age of eighteen, he began traveling and playing in regional bands.
From 1929 Eddie started experimenting to enhance the sound of his guitar using resonators and megaphones. In 1935 he was the first to record an electrically amplified guitar with Jimmie Lunceford in Hittin’ the Bottle that was recorded in New York for Decca.
In 1938, Durham wrote I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire with Bennie Benjamin, Sol Marcus, and Eddie Seiler. During the 1940s he created Eddie Durham’s All-Star Girl Orchestra, an all black female swing band that toured the United States and Canada.
That same year Eddie recorded single string electric guitar solos with the Kansas City Five or Six, which were both smallish groups that included members of Count Basie’s rhythm section along with the tenor saxophone playing of Lester Young. The orchestras of Bennie Moten, Jimmie Lunceford, Count Basie and Glenn Miller took great benefit from his composing and arranging skill.
Guitarist, trombonist, composer and arranger Eddie Durham, who was one of the pioneers of the electric guitar in jazz, transitioned on March 6, 1987.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
It is up to you to protect yourself, your family, your friends against the Covid variants.
This week’s selection is taking us Up the Street, ‘Round the Corner, Down the Block to listen to a 1974 album by guitarist Kenny Burrell. He recorded tracks 2 & 4 in January 1974 at the Village Recorders in Los Angeles, California and tracks 1, 3, 5 & 6 at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California in February. It was released later that same year on the Fantasy Records label.
There were two recording supervisors: Orrin Keepnews on tracks 2, 4, and Sam Russell on tracks 1, 3, 5, 6. The recording engineer was Bob Brown on tracks 2, 4, and Eddie Harris on tracks 1, 3, 5, 6. The remix engineer duties were also performed by Eddie Harris. The lacquer cut was by David Turner. The photography and design was done by Tony Lane,
Track List | 37:44 All compositions by Kenny Burrell except as indicated
- Up the Street, ‘Round the Corner, Down the Block (Onaje Allan Gumbs) ~ 7:18
- Afro Blue (Mongo Santamaría) ~ 5:40
- Sausalito Nights ~ 7:15
- Juice (Gumbs) ~ 5:40
- A Little Walking Music ~ 3:18
- Soulero (Richard Evans) ~ 9:13
- Kenny Burrell ~ guitar, whistling (track 5)
- Jerome Richardson ~ flute, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
- Richard Wyands ~ piano, electric piano
- Andy Simpkins ~ bass
- Lenny McBrowne ~ drums
- Mayuto Correa ~ percussion
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