Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jean-Charles Capon was born on July 29, 1936 in Vichy, France. A virtuoso on the cello, he began playing professionally at the beginning of the 60s before creating the Baroque Jazz Trio. His name was rapidly linked to different cult groups for whom he became the guest star for Confluence, Perception, and Speed Limit, but also with many more or less well-known free jazz musicians including David S. Ware with whom he recorded the impeccable duo From Silence To Music, as well as Philippe Maté, Michel Roques, André Jaume or Joe McPhee with Po Music.
Jef Gilson helped get his career under way (they recorded together as far back as 1968) before Pierre Barouh, owner of Saravah Records with whom Jean-Charles played alongside Brigitte Fontaine and Areski. He offered him the opportunity to record his first album: L’Univers-solitude.
Capon admired Duke Ellington, John Lewis and Gabriel Fauré, as can be heard on his later highly personal versions of Mood Indigo, Django and Après un rêve. As for Pierre Favre, he is not there just to make up the numbers: his timbral research and combinations of complex rhythms offer the French cellist wonderful interaction throughout this remarkable album which had finally been given a dignified rerelease.
The fluidity of the phrasing, timbral research, complex rhythmic combinations and rare sense of improvisation make this one of the best modern jazz recordings on the Saravah label in the 1970s.
Cellist Jean~Charles Capon transitioned on August 22, 2011 in the 10th Arrondissement, Paris, France.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Corky Corcoran was born Gene Patrick Corcoran on July 28, 1924 in Tacoma, Washington and was considered a child prodigy. He began performing in bands at the age of 16.
Corcoran first played professionally in 1940 with Sonny Dunham, then joined Harry James’s ensemble from 1941 to 1947. Leaving James for a short time, Corky led his own ensemble and worked briefly in Tommy Dorsey’s band before rejoining James in 1949. He continued to work with James until 1957, playing concurrently with his own ensembles. Returning to James in 1962, he stayed almost up to his death.
Tenor saxophonist Corky Corcoran transitioned on October 3, 1979 in his hometown.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Edward L. Wilkerson Jr. was born in Terre Haute, Indiana on July 27, 1953. Over the course of his career he has associated himself with medium-to large-scale projects and has been a major presence in Chicago, Illinois’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), teaching and serving a term as president.
The AACM collective has been a nurturing force for Wilkerson and has informed much of his work. He was an original member of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble formed by percussionist Kahil El’Zabar and remained with the group from 1976 until 1997. Though he recorded on three albums with the group he was becoming more involved in leading his own projects. His most ambitious project, Shadow Vignettes, was initiated in 1979 with 25 musicians and incorporated dance, poetry, and visual arts. The ensemble’s influences include the big band work of Muhal Richard Abrams, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Sun Ra.
Wilkerson’s best-documented octet as a leader is 8 Bold Souls, a series of concerts that led Wilkerson to establish the group as a working band. They have released four albums, 8 Bold Souls, Sideshow, Ant Farm, and Last Option. Their music is influenced by the small groups of Duke Ellington and Jimmie Lunceford, but leaves room for adventurous experimentation.
In addition to his work with the preceding groups he has played with the AACM Big Band, Roscoe Mitchell, Douglas Ewart, the Temptations, Chico Freeman, the late Geri Allen, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Muhal Richard Abrams, Aretha Franklin, and George Lewis.
Wilkerson has received grants from the Illinois Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, and the Community Arts Assistance Program, and has been cited in numerous music polls.
Saxophonist, clarinetist, pianist, composer, arranger and educator Ed Wilkerson Jr., who has recorded 14 albums and two soundtracks, continues to teach composition at the AACM School of Music and explore the realms of jazz from his base in Chicago.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alfred “Fred” Böhler was born July 26, 1912 in Zurich, Switzerland. He started on violin as a child but later switched to piano. He led his own ensemble starting in 1936, which featured Eddie Brunner and Hazy Osterwald, among others, as sidemen. This group made several tours of Switzerland during World War II and recorded copiously for Columbia Records.
In 1943, Böhler conducted an orchestral ensemble that played symphonic jazz. While he recorded most often on piano, he also used Hammond organ early in a jazz context. He would eventually play with Marcel Bianchi, Edith Piaf, Josephine Baker, and Pierre Cavall among others.
Pianist, Hammond organist and bandleader Fred Böhler transitioned on January 10, 1995 in Zumikon, Switzerland.
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Three Wishes
Jothan Callins was in good company with Baroness Pannonica and during their conversation she tossed the question of three wishes to him and he said:
- “I wish everyone would live together in peace and harmony.”
- “I wish I had met Clifford Brown in Person.”
- “I wish I could play and write more and more beautiful music.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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