Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Stuff Combe was born Etienne Stephen Jean Gustave Combe in Bern, Switzerland on March 12, 1924 and initially pursued schooling in art during World War II, but ultimately decided on a career in music instead.
During the 1940s Combe played in Switzerland in the 1940s with Philippe Brun, Eddie Brunner, Ernst Hollerhagen, and Hazy Osterwald. In the 1950s he traveled extensively throughout Europe and played frequently with visiting American musicians. Near the end of the decade he recorded with Paul Kuhn and Fats Sadi. In 1957 he began playing with Kurt Edelhagen, an association that would continue into the mid-1960s.
Stuff formed his own large ensemble in Geneva, Switzerland in 1966, and the following year worked with the Radio Suisse Romande jazz band. He was Lucky Thompson’s drummer during Thompson’s 1969 Swiss tour. In the 1970s he worked with Francy Boland and Benny Bailey, and played in the western United States with Groupe Instrumental Romand.
Drummer Stuff Combe, who wrote a treatise on percussion improvisation, passed away on December 27, 1986 in Morges, Switzerland.
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Conversations About Jazz & Other Distractions
Conversations About Jazz Welcomes René Marie & VINX on March 11
On Thursday, March 11 at 7:30 pm (EST) Hammonds House Digital invites you to join us for Conversations About Jazz & Other Distractions with host Carl Anthony. His special guests will be world-renowned songwriters and vocalists René Marie and VINX. They will talk about their careers and sample some of their music. This free virtual program will stream on Hammonds House Museum’s Facebook and YouTube channels. Our tip jar will be open if you’d like to make a donation to support our programming. For more information about this and upcoming virtual events visit hammondshouse.org.
In a span of two decades, 11 recordings and countless stage performances, vocalist René Marie has cemented her reputation not only as a singer but also as a composer, arranger, theatrical performer,and teacher. Guided by powerful life lessons and rooted in jazz traditions laid down by Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, and other leading ladies, she borrows elements of folk, R&B and even classical and country to create a captivating hybrid style. René’s latest CD, Sound of Red, released by Motéma Music in 2017, is her first album of all-original material. Featuring clever songcraft and sensual vocal delivery, the CD has wowed critics and followers and won over new fans. Her work continues to be an exploration of bright and dark corners of the human experience, and an affirmation of the power of the human spirit. For more info: renemarie.com.
VINX is one of the most gifted improvisational vocalists performing today. With songs that range from jazz to funk, bossa nova to blues and back again, each audience takes a world tour with VINX as their private guide. Soaring vocals, intricate layered melodies and grooves, and his primal hand drum holding it all together, mark his signature style. Although he is often joined by a range of stunning musicians, his fine-tuned composition skills, mastery of vocal looping and razor-sharp instincts infuse his solo performances with the lushness of a full symphony orchestra. VINX has recorded and toured with some of the music industry’s greatest icons: Stevie Wonder, Sting, Herbie Hancock, Sheryl Crow, Branford Marsalis, Taj Mahal, Ricki Lee Jones, Darius Rucker, Cassandra Wilson, and Cher. His songwriting credits range from Tom Jones and Will Downing to The Lion King and Sprite™. Dreamsicle Arts & Entertainment Group is home to his production company, studios, and acclaimed workshop series. For more info: vinx.com.
Hammonds House Museum is generously supported by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Fulton County Arts and Culture, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, The National Performance Network, AT&T and WarnerMedia.
Hammonds House Museum’s mission is to celebrate and share the cultural diversity and important legacy of artists of African descent. The museum is the former residence of the late Dr. Otis Thrash Hammonds, a prominent Atlanta physician and a passionate arts patron. A 501(c)3 organization which opened in 1988, Hammonds House Museum boasts a permanent collection of more than 450 works including art by Romare Bearden, Robert S. Duncanson, Benny Andrews, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Hale Woodruff, Amalia Amaki, Radcliffe Bailey and Kojo Griffin. In addition to featuring art from their collection, the museum offers new exhibitions, artist talks, workshops, concerts, poetry readings, arts education programs, and other cultural events throughout the year.
Located in a beautiful Victorian home in Atlanta’s historic West End, Hammonds House Museum is a cultural treasure and a unique venue. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they continue to observe CDC guidelines, but look forward to welcoming in-person visitors soon! For more information about upcoming virtual events, and to see how you can support their mission and programming, visit their website: hammondshouse.org.
MEDIA: For more information, contact Karen Hatchett at Hatchett PR, karen@hatchettpr.com.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Norman Burns was born in London, England on March 11, 1920. Closely associated with the pianist George Shearing, together they worked the West End nightclub circuit in the mid 1940s, before Shearing made his fame and fortune in the USA.
Though he recorded with Alan Dean Beboppers and others in 1948, he never was a bop musician. He was a regular figure on the modern jazz scene and from 1951, he led a quintet whose format and repertoire were based on the successful George Shearing Quintet formula. From the time of their first gig they were an instant hit and for two and a half years the quintet toured the UK jazz venues with great success. They added vocalists Eileen Draper and Johnny Green in 1954 but the group disbanded in 1955.
Esquire decided to record the quintet in 1952 by which time a number of personnel changes had taken place. Victor Feldman, the highest profile jazz musician working with the group had left prior to the recordings. A later move to Australia, saw drummer Norman Burns residing for many years until he passed away in June 1994.
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Three Wishes
Speaking with Betty Carter, Baroness Pannonica inquired as to what she would wish for if given three and she responded by telling her:
- “Health. Without that you don’t have anything.”
- “To be recognized as an individual all the way.”
- “Happiness for my son.”
*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…
Victor Ash was born in East London, England on March 9, 1930, of Jewish ancestry and began playing professionally in 1951 when, with Tubby Hayes, he joined the band of Kenny Baker, with whom he played until 1953. Following this association, Ash played with Vic Lewis from 1953–56, then accompanied Hoagy Carmichael and Cab Calloway on their English tours.
Leading his own group, he became a favourite in the Melody Maker fan polls of the 1950s. Concurrently he had a radio program called Sunday Break, which discussed jazz and religion. In 1954, the Vic Ash Quartet recorded with US singer Maxine Sullivan in London. Ash toured the U.S. in 1957 and returned to play with Lewis in 1959. That same year his ensemble was the only one representing British jazz at the Newport Jazz Festival.
Ash remained a mainstay on the British jazz scene for decades, playing in small and large ensembles including the BBC Big Band. He accompanied Frank Sinatra on his tours in Europe and the Middle East, from 1970 until Sinatra’s death.
He released many albums for Pye, Nixa and MGM, mostly in the mainstream jazz tradition. Saxophonist and clarinetist Vic Ash, who co-authored his autobiography I Blew It My Way in 2006, passed away on October 24, 2014.
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