Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Wilber Morris (November 27, 1937 in Los Angeles, California and followed in the footsteps of his older brother Butch into the music industry and jazz. He began playing frums as a child but switched to the double bass during his tour of duty in the Air Force from 1954 to 1962.

He played around San Francisco, California with Pharoah Sanders and Sonny Simmons but after his discharge he returned home and played with Arthur Blythe and Horace Tapscott. 1969 saw Wilber back in San Francisco for a short period but it wasn’t until he moved aross the country for New York City in 1978 that his career took off. His association with Billy Bang from 1979 to ‘83 rendered five albums and multiple touring dates. He then became a mainstay in David Murray’s octet well into the 1990s which produced seven albums.

He put together a trio of players under the name Wilber Force in 1981 and recorded his debut album as a leader, Collective Improvisations, and would go on to record six more as a leader or co-leader. His final recording came in 2019 titled Monks, which is a collective interpretation of Thelonious Monk compositions.

Morris founded the One World Ensemble in 1995, and participated in John Fischer’s one-off reunion of INTERface and performed well into the new millennium.

Wilber performed with Pharoah Sanders, Steve Habib, Sonny Simmons, Alan Silva, Joe McPhee, Horace Tapscott, Butch Morris, Arthur Blythe, Charles Gayle, William Parker, Charles Tyler, Dennis Charles, Roy Campbell, Avram Fefer, Alfred 23 Harth, Borah Bergman and Rashied Ali.

As a sideman recorded thirty-one albums with Marshall Allen, Billy Bang, Thomas Borgmann, Rob Brown, Bobby Few, Avram Fefer, Charles Gayle, Steve Habib, Frank Lowe, Makanda Ken McIntyre, David Murray, Kevin Norton. Positive Knowledge, Alan Silva and Steve Swell.

Double bass player and bandleader Wilber Morris died on August 8, 2002 in Livingston, New Jersey from a previos bout with cancer that returned.

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Jazz Poems

THE SYNCOPATED CAKEWALK

In it, I see Miss Hand and her Five Daughters

rubbing myback and the backs of my legs

Nat King Cole provides the music and the words

It’s 1949, Finished with them, I take off

on a river boat, down the Mississippi, looking for work.

On deck the got the Original Dixieland Jazz Band

doing “Big Butter and Egg Man.”

A guru haas the cabin next to mine and everybody

who visits him whimpers something terrible!

Stood on deck after dinner watching the clouds

form faces and arms. The Shadow went

by giggling to himself.

An Illinois Central ticket fell from his pocket.

Snake Hips picked it up, ran.

Texas Shuffle, who sat in with the Band last night,

this morning, dropped his fiddlecases

in the ocean and did the Lindy all the way

to the dinning room

I got off at Freak Lips Harbor.

Boy from Springfield said he’d talk like Satch for me

for a dime. I gave him a Bird,

and an introductory note to the Duke of Ellington.

Found my way to the Ida B. Wells Youth Center.

Girl named Ella said I’d have to wait to see Mister B.

Everybody else was out to lunch.

In the waiting room got into a conversation

with a horse thief from Jump Back. Told him:

My past life is a Saturday morning cartoon.

In it, I’m jumping Rock Island freight cars, skipping

Peoria with Leadbelly; running from the man,

trying to prove my innocence. Accused of being

too complex to handle.

Meanwhile, Zoot, Sassy, Getz, Prez, Cootie, everybody

gives me a hand.

Finally, Mister B comes in. Asks about my future.

All I can say is, I can do the Cow Cow Boogie

on the ocean and hold my own in a chase chorus

Fine, says Mister B, you start seven in the morning!

CLARENCE MAJOR

from Jazz Poems ~ Selected and Edited by Kevin Young

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Tom Archia was born Ernest Alvin Archia, Jr. on November 26, 1919 in Groveton, Texas, and moved with his family as a child to Rockdale and then Baytown, near Houston, Texas. He played saxophone in the Wheatley High School orchestra. Known during childhood as Sonny, but took the name Tom when he decided that neither his first or middle names were appropriate for a musician.

After graduating from Prairie View A&M University in 1939, he joined Milt Larkin’s band which included Eddie Vinson, Arnett Cobb, and Illinois Jacquet in the reed section and Cedric Haywood as pianist and arranger. 1942 saw Archia arrived in Chicago, Illinois with Larkin for a nine-month residency backing T-Bone Walker at the Rhumboogie Club.

The following year he joined the Roy Eldridge orchestra alongside Ike Quebec, Ted Sturgis, and Doc West that recorded in Chicago for the Brunswick label. He moved to the Rhumboogie Dream Band until mid 1944. Unfortunately he frequently disrupted band discipline and was fired by Marl Young who took over as bandleader.

In 1945 Tom went to Los Angeles, California and joined Howard McGhee’s combo, with Teddy Edwards, among others. Shortly afterwards, he was recording with the brothers Illinois and Russell Jacquet, as well as Helen Humes.

Returning to Chicago in 1946, Archia became a headliner at the Macomba Lounge, recorded extensively for Aristocrat Records during the late Forties, and recorded with Wynonie Harris and Hot Lips Page. He would go on to participate in tenor saxophone duels with Buster Bennett, Gene Ammons, Claude McLin, Hal Singer, Harold Ashby, Porter Kilbert and Lucius Washington.

By the Sixties he was struggling to find gigs and he retired to Houston in 1967, after being temporarily disabled by a broken jaw. After recovering, he played the Houston club circuit for the rest of his life. Tenor saxophonist Tom Archia died on January 16, 1977 at the age of 57.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Gus Bivona was born on November 25, 1915 in New London, Connecticut. He got his musical start under the close eye of his musician parents, his mother was a pianist, and his father was a guitarist. His first instrument was violin, but he switched to a combination of alto saxophone and clarinet at the age of 16.

He began his professional debut in the Spider Johnson Band, followed by performing around New England in Leo Scalzi’s Brunswick Orchestra. 1935 saw Gus begin a lengthy stint with the Jimmy Monaco Orchestra and worked with the Hudson-DeLange Orchestra, He went on to spend several months with Bunny Berigan in 1938. Through the end of the decade he worked with bandleaders Will Hudson and Teddy Powell.

 In 1940 he put his name on his first band but work as a sideman in more established bands appeared to be what he was after. He spent a period with Benny Goodman in 1940 through the spring of 1941 alongside Charlie Christian. Prior to joining the Naval Air Force Band, Bivona gigged with Jan Savitt and Les Brown & His Band of Renown. He went on to have a series of gigs with Tommy Dorsey and Bob Crosby post World War II.

Signing on with MGM In 1947 he performed numerous studio sessions and on freelance recordings into the 1950s. He connected with Steve Allen, the two would occasionally hit the concert trail, including a lengthy club residency at the Roundtable in New York City. Their collaboration rendered Music for Swingers: Gus Bivona Plays the Music of Steve Allen in 1958 followed by many other West Coast jazz recordings. They were in the company of top studio players and arrangers, such as Skip Martin, Henry Mancini and Pete Rugolo.

Clarinetist Gus Bivona, who also palys saxophone and flute, died on January 5, 1996 in Los Angeles, California.

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Requisites

Rifftide ~ Al Cohn | By Eddie Carter

Submitted for your approval this morning is an excellent album by Al Cohn. Rifftide (Timeless Records SJP 259) was recorded during the tenor saxophonist’s 1986 European tour. He’s joined on this date by three Danish musicians: Rein De Graaff on piano, Koos Serierse on bass, and Eric Ineke on drums. My copy is the 1987 Netherlands Stereo release. Side One opens with a popular song by Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash, Speak Low. The trio takes off with a lively introduction leading to the quartet’s theme. Al gets everybody in the mood with a spirited opening statement. Rein swings into action next with an energetic reading. Eric has a vigorous conversation with the saxophonist ahead of the theme’s restatement and fadeout.

Blue Monk by Thelonious Monk is a slow blues that was the pianist’s favorite and one of his most recorded songs, a testament to its enduring appeal. The foursome begins the melody gently, leading to Cohn’s gorgeous interpretation. De Graaff is equally graceful on the following solo, and then Serierse shows his tender side in a pretty presentation preceding the reprise and finale. The tempo for the quartet’s quick melody moves upward to begin the 1945 jazz standard, Hot House by Tadd Dameron. Al takes the lead and crafts an exciting solo. Rein meets the challenge with a fiery passion in the following interpretation. Al reappears for the closing chorus and leads the group to the finish line.

The Thing by Al Cooper starts the second side with the foursome’s medium melody. Cohn cruises comfortably into the opening interpretation. De Graaff follows with a silky smooth statement, and then Serierse provides the exclamation point until the closing chorus. We’ll Be Together Again by Carl T. Fischer, and Frankie Laine is a beautiful ballad from the forties, and the group begins with a gentle melody. The saxophonist opens his first of two solos with an intimate story. Rein caresses each note of the following solo with tranquil tenderness. Al returns for his second reading, complemented by the rhythm section’s hauntingly beautiful support before the song’s summation.

The album ends with the title tune Rifftide by Coleman Hawkins. It’s a pretty tune that the quartet opens at a slow tempo for the melody. Cohn’s opening solo is particularly stirring; De Graaff has the next spot and draws the listener into the second statement. Serierse has a short reflective moment closer, leading to the theme restatement and climax. Al’s career, which lasted nearly five decades, was marked by numerous achievements. He recorded thirty-five albums as a leader, including fourteen years co-leading a quintet with Zoot Sims. He was also a successful arranger for several big bands and worked on Broadway. Al Cohn passed away from liver cancer on February 15, 1988, at age sixty-two.

Wim Wigt produced Rifftide, and Max Bollerman, who owns and still operates Studio 44, was the man behind the dials of the recording. The album’s sound quality is stunning, with a stellar soundstage transporting the quartet to your listening room with crystal-clear fidelity. If you’re a fan of cool jazz and post-bop, I invite you to check out Rifftide by Al Cohn the next time you’re on a record-shopping trip. It’s a terrific album that’s sure to please even the most discriminating jazz fan, and I highly recommend it for a spot in your library!

~ Blue Monk, Speak Low, We’ll Be Together Again – Source: JazzStandards.com

~ Al Cohn – Source: Wikipedia.org

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