Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Irving “Mouse” Randolph was born in St. Louis, Missouri on January 22, 1909 and started off playing on riverboats with Fate Marable’s ensemble. Following this he played in numerous territory bands, including those of Walt Farrington, Willie Austin, Art Sims, Norman Mason, Floyd Campbell, Alphonse Trent, and J. Frank Terry.
From 1931 to 1933 he was in Kansas City, Missouri playing in Andy Kirk’s Twelve Clouds of Joy, and then played briefly with Fletcher Henderson and Benny Carter in 1934. 1935 to 1939 saw Mouse playing in Cab Calloway’s orchestra, then departed to play with the Ella Fitzgerald Orchestra under the direction of Chick Webb for three years ending in 1942.
By 1943 he was playing with Don Redman and from 1944 to 1947 he did a stint with Edmond Hall. Randolph continued to play into the Seventies, including with the Chick Morrison Orchestra. He never recorded as a bandleader, though he recorded copiously with Henderson, Carter, and Calloway.
Trumpeter Mouse Randolph, who was prominent during the swing era, transitioned on December 12, 1997 in New York City, just six weeks shy of his 89th birthday.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bob Whitlock was born on January 21, 1931 in Roosevelt, Utah and began playing bass as a teenager. After relocating to Los Angeles, California was active as a session musician from the early 1950s. He was heard working with Gerry Mulligan, Art Pepper, Chet Baker, Stan Getz, Buddy DeFranco, Joe Albany, Jack Sheldon, Warne Marsh, and numerous others.
Late in the Fifties decade Bob led his own small group while attending the University of California. He went on to work in France in the early 1960s, playing with Zoot Sims, Vi Redd, Curtis Amy, Peggy Lee and Victor Feldman. Towards the end of the Sixties he worked with Joe Pass and extensively with George Shearing. In the 1970s he worked with Albany once again.
Between 1957 and 1972 he recorded fourteen albums as a sideman, never as a leader. Double-bassist Bob Whitlock transitioned on June 20, 2015 in Long Beach, California
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Charles Louis Domanico, better known professionally as Chuck Domanico, was born on January 20, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois. Settling in Los Angeles, California in the mid-1960s, for nearly forty years, he was a central jazz figure in Hollywood who contributed to many movies and TV programs.
Domanico worked with Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Carmen McRae, Joni Mitchell, Taj Mahal, Diane Schuur, Natalie Cole, and The Manhattan Transfer. He participated in instrumental jazz performances by Chet Baker, Henry Mancini, Shelly Manne, Oliver Nelson, John Klemmer, Roger Kellaway, Barney Kessel, and Art Pepper.
His bass can be heard in themes for television shows like M*A*S*H, Cheers and Frasier, and he contributed to the soundtracks of more than two thousand films.
Double bassist and bass guitarist Chuck Domanico, who played on the West Coast jazz scene, transitioned from lung cancer on October 17, 2002 at the age of 58.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Albert “Abbie” Brunies was born on January 19, 1900 in New Orleans, Louisiana into a famous musical family, which counted among its members George Brunies and Merritt Brunies.
He was the leader of the Halfway House Orchestra from 1919 to about 1927, playing at the Halfway House Club in New Orleans. This ensemble recorded for Okeh Records in 1925. Among the musicians who played in this group were New Orleans Rhythm Kings members Charlie Cordella, Mickey Marcour, Leon Rappolo, Sidney Arodin, Bill Eastwood, Joe Loyacano and Leo Adde.
He played in New Orleans into the mid-1940s, after which time he moved to Biloxi, Mississippi. There he played with Merritt in the Brunie Brothers Dixieland Jazz Band. Unfortunately, this ensemble recorded sparsely. Cornetist Abbie Brunies transitioned on October 2, 1978.
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Three Wishes
What Reggie Workman told Nica his three wishes would be were the following:
- “Complete health, which includes peace of mind.”
- “Everlasting happiness with my wife and family.”
- “That the art of jazz will find its rightful place all over the world, which will be a sign of man’s disregarding things that have kept people unhappy.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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