Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Robert Sage Wilber was born on March 15, 1928 in New York City. He became interested in jazz at the age of three when his father brought home a recording of Duke Ellington’s song Mood Indigo. In 1935, the family moved to the affluent suburb of Scarsdale, New York. At the age of thirteen he began formal clarinet study under his first teacher, Willard Briggs. He began listening to jazz from New Orleans, Kansas City, and Chicago by Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Eddie Condon, and Frank Teschemacher. He played jazz in high school and with his friends formed a hot club, listening and jamming to records and graduated from high school in 1945.

Set on becoming a musician he attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York in 1945. After one term however, Bob dropped out and moved back to New York City to hang out on 52 Street and in Greenwich Village. He formed the Wildcats, with pianist Dick Wellstood and trombonist Eddie Hubble and they became the first jazz group in New York to do what Lu Watters and Turk Murphy had been doing on the Coast. They played the music of the Hot Five, the Red Hot Peppers and the Creole Jazz Band. The group performed regularly at Jimmy Ryan’s club over the next two years and was recorded in 1947 by Ramp-art Records.

Wilber worked with some of the best traditional jazz musicians of the era, including Muggsy Spanier, Baby Dodds, Danny Barker, Bud Freeman, Pee Wee Russell, George Wettling, Jimmy McPartland, Wild Bill Davison, and James P. Johnson. Fascinated with Sidney Bechet, in 1944 at sixteen, he met Bechet through Mezz Mezzrow and became Bechet’s pupil. He began studying both clarinet and soprano saxophone under his tutelage and eventually lived with him for several months.

Bob recorded for Columbia Records, Commodore, and Circle with Bechet and with his own group in the late 1940s. 1948 saw him forming a trio and playing Dixieland at intermissions at the Savoy Café in Boston, Massachusetts. Eventually, he expanded the band to a sextet and gained a strong following in the city, leading to opportunities in New York City.

 Clarinet and soprano saxophonist Bob Wilber, who continued playing right up until 2017, transitioned on August 4, 2019 at age 91 in Chipping Campden, England.

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Three Wishes

The Baroness queried Nelson Boyd what would his three wishes would be and his response was:

1. “Well, the first one, I would like to have freedom – through money.”
2. “Then, I would like to make some people happy.”
3. “Then, I’d like to be true to God.”

*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Carri Coltrane was born Carrie Thompson in Phoenix, Arizona on March 14, 1953. Singing professionally since childhood, she was only nine when she joined Wallace & Ladmo, a children’s program that was founded by her father. The program aired in the Phoenix Area from 1954 to 1989 and she remained with the show until she reached adolescence and outgrew her role as a little girl singer.

She moved to Seattle, Washington in 1979 and went on to sing with various rock and pop bands as an adult, and did quite a few jingles for commercials along the way. While living in Seattle she met Eugene McDaniels who really encouraged her to explore straight-ahead jazz. Carri eventually became friends and partners with McDaniels and formed Numoon Publishing with him. They have put out several allbums on the Numoon label that included jazz, contemporary pop and Christmas music.

Carri released her self-titled debut album in 1980 under her birth name. It wasn’t until 1986 that she started going by Carri Coltrane as an homage to the tenor saxophonist. She moved to New England in 1987.

Vocalist Carri Coltrane, whose subtle waifish introspection continues to perform, record and publish her music.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Frank Teschemacher was born on March 13, 1906 in Kansas City, Missouri. A was a member of the Austin High School Gang, a group of young, white musicians from the Chicago, Illinois West Side, they all attended Austin High School during the early 1920s. They rose to prominence as pioneers of the Chicago Style in the 1920s, which was modeled on a faster version of New Orleans jazz.

Strongly influenced by cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, he was mainly self-taught on his instruments, clarinet and saxophone. Early on he also doubled on violin and banjo. He started playing the clarinet professionally in 1925. He began recording under his own name in 1928 and made what are believed to be his final recordings two years later, although there is now reason to believe (via sine wave recording research, aka Smith/Westbrook Method) that he appeared on unidentified recordings as late as 1932.

He first recorded with Red McKenzie and Eddie Condon’s Chicagoans in 1927 for Okeh Records. Two sessions produced Sugar, China Boy, Nobody’s Sweetheart and Liza. The players included Jimmy McPartland, Bud Freeman, and Jim Lanigan, as well as Chicagoans Eddie Condon, Gene Krupa and Joe Sullivan, led by Red McKenzie.

1928 saw him recording with two other Red McKenzie and Eddie Condon groups, the Chicago Rhythm Kings and the Jungle Kings. The same year he made his debut as a leader recording for Brunswick Records. The group recorded under the name Frank Teschmacher’s Chicagoans. Frank’s solo work laid the groundwork for a rich sound and creative approach that is credited with influencing a young Benny Goodman and a style of which Pee Wee Russell. He also made recordings on the saxophone and would later return to the violin during the Great Depression. Although well known in the world of jazz, he did not live to enjoy popular success in the swing era.

Clarinet and alto saxophonist Frank Teschemacher, who was killed in an automobile accident while being driven by Wild Bill Davison, transitioned on March 1, 1932 at the age of 25.

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Requisites

1957 ~ Red Rodney | By Eddie Carter

Red Rodney enters the spotlight to begin this morning’s discussion with 1957 (Signal S 1206), his second release as a leader. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and began playing the trumpet professionally at age fifteen, appearing in some of the best big bands during the Forties. Red later began playing Bebop after hearing Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. He played with Gillespie, Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, Ira Sullivan, and Claude Thornhill and was part of Parker’s quintet for two years. Ira Sullivan on tenor sax (A1 to A3, B2, B3) and trumpet (B1), Tommy Flanagan on piano, Oscar Pettiford on bass, ‘Philly’ Joe Jones (A1 to A3), and Elvin Jones (B1 to B3) on drums complete the ensemble. My copy is the 1997 Classic Records Stereo audiophile reissue sharing the original catalog number.

Star Eyes by Gene de Paul and Don Raye opens the album with Red taking the lead at a relaxing tempo in the melody and opening chorus. Ira gets his teeth into the second statement and swings comfortably, then Tommy strolls into the next reading with intuitive ease. Oscar has the last say and glows in a delightful performance before the quintet reassembles for the closing chorus and climax. Up next is a beautiful rendition of You Better Go Now by Robert Graham and Bickley Reichner. The rhythm section provides the perfect backdrop for Rodney’s elegantly tender opening chorus and lead solo. Sullivan follows with a sensuously warm statement, then Flanagan and Pettiford turn in two touching interpretations leading to a graceful ending.

The first side finale, Stella By Starlight by Victor Young and Ned Washington, begins with a brief introduction by Philly, leading to the quintet’s lively melody. Ira kicks off the solos with a spirited opening statement. Red makes his mark next with an aggressive interpretation. Tommy delivers the third reading with evident enjoyment, and Philly shines in a short solo ahead of the song’s conclusion. Side Two starts with Red Arrow, the first of two tunes by Red Rodney. Sullivan is featured on trumpet, and Elvin Jones takes over on drums. Rodney and Sullivan begin the melody briskly; then, Red opens with a vigorous first solo. Flanagan provides a brief break; then Ira gives a quick, pulse-raising reading. After Flanagan’s second break, the two trumpets share an invigorating exchange before a speedy closing chorus.

Red’s Box 2000 is a blues that Oscar introduces before the front line delivers the medium-tempo melody in unison. Ira launches into a well-constructed opening statement, and Red excels on the second interpretation; then Tommy and Oscar share a swinging conversation, and Jones engages in a short exchange with both horns ahead of the theme reprise and exit. The finale is Oscar Pettiford’s Ubas, dedicated to conga player Sabu Martinez. This song is festive from the opening chorus, and Sullivan kicks off the solos with a happy lead solo, and Rodney responds with a joyful spirit in the second statement. Flanagan has a jubilant moment next, and Elvin provides a bit of propulsive energy in the finale preceding the theme’s return and close.

Jules Colomby, the founder of Signal Records, supervised the initial session of 1957, and Rudy Van Gelder was the recording engineer. Bernie Grundman remastered this reissue, and the record was pressed on 180 grams of audiophile vinyl. The sound quality is superb, with a breathtaking soundstage that transports the musicians to the sweet spot in your listening room with stunning fidelity. Despite his struggles with drug addiction, Red recorded twenty-four albums as a leader and appeared on twelve releases as a sideman over a five-decade career. He died from lung cancer at age sixty-six on May 27, 1994. If you’ve not heard Red Rodney before and are a fan of jazz trumpet, I invite you to check out 1957 or its two reissues, Fiery (1973) and The Red Arrow (1972), on your next vinyl shopping trip. It’s an excellent album that’s a welcome introduction to his music and an addition to any jazz lover’s library!

~ Fiery (Savoy Records MG 12148), The Red Arrow (Onyx Records ORI 204) – Source: Discogs.com ~ Star Eyes, Stella By Starlight – Source: JazzStandards.com © 2023 by Edward Thomas Carter

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