Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alicia Cunningham was born Alicia Rodriguez of Mexican heritage on October 5, 1946 in Los Angeles, California. A classically trained vocalist and pianist, she worked in the L.A. studios and as an educator at Loyola University in her early years.
Meeting her husband Don was fortuitous when he moved to Los Angeles in the early 70s. Their combination of his jazz-influenced energetic singing style and Alicia’s fluid, clear and lyrical sound, established a solid reputation. This would lead to a tour with Count Basie in Europe for five months at major events and jazz festivals in England and Switzerland.
She was an intricate and melodic harmonizer and arranger and paired with the Cunningham stage presentation, they offered enormous panache. They not only kept her hometown audiences satisfied but they traveled around the country and the world thrilling listeners in Europe, Canada, Singapore, Brazil, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea.
In 2012, they released their final album together titled Sao Paulo Lights that was recorded in Brazil. In the autumn of 2014, Alicia made her last performance in St. Louis when Don received a St. Louis Jazz Hall of Fame Award.
Vocalist Alicia Cunningham, who sang hard jazz, transitioned in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 23, 2014 at the age of 68 after battling cancer for a year.
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Three Wishes
When Pannonica approached J. R. Monterose with the question of three wishes if granted what would he ask for he told her:
- “Play, play, play.”
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Buddy Featherstonhaugh was born Rupert Edward Lee Featherstonhaugh on October 4, 1909 in Paris, France. After the family moved to England he studied in Sussex, and had his first professional gig with Pat O’Malley in 1927. He went on to play with Spike Hughes from 1930 to 1932, and toured England in Billy Mason’s band behind Louis Armstrong that same year and in 1933 recorded with a group called The Cosmopolitans. which included Fletcher Allen. In 1935 he recorded with Valaida Snow and two years later with Benny Carter.
During World War II, he led a Royal Air Force band which included in its ranks Vic Lewis, Don McAffer, and Jack Parnell. They went on to record as The BBC Radio Rhythm Club Sextet during 1943-45. After the war Buddy toured Iceland in 1946, and then left the jazz scene, taking up work as a car salesman.
1956 saw his return to playing and recording in a quintet with trumpeter Leon Calvert, Roy Sidewell, Kenny Wheeler, and Bobby Wellins. He also appeared with the band at Butlin’s Holiday Camps in the mid-1950s. He toured the Middle East in 1957, after which he retired.
Saxophonist and clarinetist Buddy Featherstonhaugh, who was an occasional racing car driver who won the 1934 Albi Grand Prix, transitioned on July 12, 1976.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Edgar “Puddinghead” Battle was born on October 3, 1907 into a musical family in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1921 while a student at Morris Brown University he started playing trumpet and formed his own band, the Dixie Serenaders. A few years later the group changed their name to Dixie Ramblers.
Battle played with Eddie Heywood Sr., and toured with the 101 Ranch Boys traveling show. During the 1920s he worked with Gene Coy, Andy Kirk, Blanche Calloway, Ira Coffey, and Willie Bryant. A move to New York City in the early Thirties saw him doing short stints with Benny Carter and Sam Wooding before joining George White’s ensemble on Broadway.
Over time, he began doing more work as a studio musician and arranger, writing charts for Cab Calloway, Paul Whiteman, Fats Waller, Earl Hines, Rudy Vallee, and Count Basie. During World War II, Edgar held a position as an electrician in a shipyard, while simultaneously running a big band with Shirley Clay.
In the 1950s, he founded Cosmopolitan Records and continued to play in big bands part-time through the 1960s. Among his numerous jazz compositions are the pieces Topsy, co-composed with Eddie Durham and Doggin’ Around with Herschel Evans.
Trumpeter, trombonist, saxophonist and pianist Edgar “Puddinghead” Battle, who was also a composer and arranger, transitioned in New York City on February 6, 1977, at the age of 69.
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Requisites
Something For Lester ~ Ray Brown | Carl Anthony
This week I am standing in for our regular Requisites host and writer Eddie Carter, who is on an anniversary vacation. He will return next Sunday with another prolific review of an album for your collection.
This week I have selected Something for Lester, an album by bassist Ray Brown that was recorded on June 22, 23 & 24 1977 at Contemporary’s Studio in Los Angeles, California. The session was recorded in the bop and cool jazz genres and was released on the Contemporary label the following year.
The producers on the sessions were John Koenig and Lester Koenig. The photograph was taken by Bret Lopez, the design was provided by George Kershaw, with liner notes by Leonard Feather and the recording and sound was performed by the Koenig brothers and Roy DuNann.
Of the seven compositions presented here by the trio, four are classics, two are by Cedar Walton and one was composed by Brown. The conversation between the players is easy and comfortable as they navigate through each song. If you enjoy small group sessions you’ll find these consummate musicians will deliver what you like.
Tracks | 41:10
- Ojos de Rojo (Cedar Walton) – 5:16
- Slippery – 7:27 (Ray Brown)
- Something in Common (Walton) – 4:50
- Love Walked In (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 5:25
- Georgia on My Mind (Hoagy Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell) – 7:11
- Little Girl Blue (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 6:17
- Sister Sadie (Horace Silver) – 4:54
- Ray Brown – bass
- Cedar Walton – piano
- Elvin Jones – drums
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