Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Mihály Tabányi was born on February 1, 1921 in Pilis, Hungary. He began his musical studies on the violin at the age of five , and then on the piano at the age of eight. From 1933, he studied accordion for seven years with Lajos Bobula, while attending the Academy of Music and graduating in organ and gordon due to no accordion department. He then became a church organist.
1940 saw Mihály winning first place in the first National Accordion Competition as a professional. Two years later he won the National Accordion King Competition and the Tango Accordion Olympics. He later made his first jazz recordings for the Radiola Electro Record label.
Before 1945, he mainly performed in trios and later with György Cziffra with whom he played in the Bristol Hall orchestra, before founding his own band called Pinocchio that included two guitarists, Elek Bacsik and Attila Zoller, with which he performed in many countries. After 1945, he expanded the trio to eight members. In 1946 he received a contract in Switzerland and two years later he founded his own accordion school. From 1949 he played with his band at the Emke Café for seven years before disbanding in 1956.
In 1950 he was awarded the title of the country’s most popular jazz musician. In 1957 he made the first Hungarian West Coast recording for the Qualiton label. From 1960 he spent years in West Germany and gave concerts in many European countries and made several large formation recordings. He worked with many singers that immortalized his playing on their records. In 2017, the National Accordionist Society established the Mihály Tabányi Award.
Accordionist Mihály Tabányi, who was an Emerton-award winner and the most popular accordionist of the Forties and Fifties, died on July 2, 2019 at the age of 98.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Anderson was born January 31, 1921 in Birmingham, Alabama. He studied at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and the Westlake College of Music.
He was a part of the West Coast jazz scene with Stan Kenton and others. He went on to work with Tiny Bradshaw, Jerry Fielding, Perez Prado, Earl Bostic, Charles Mingus, Buddy Collette, Curtis Counce, Britt Woodman, Count Basie, Chico Hamilton, J. W. Alexander, Dee Williams & The California Playboys, and Sam Cooke and many others.
During his career he performed with his own orchestra as well as many others like Georgie Auld And His Orchestra, Jack Costanzo & His Afro Cuban Band and Orchestra, Johnny Mandel Orchestra, and Russell Jacquet And His All Stars.
Trumpeter and composer John Anderson died in Birmingham on August 18, 1974.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Hank Marr was born January 30, 1927 in Columbus, Ohio. He and tenor saxophonist Rusty Bryant co-led a group that toured for several years, beginning in 1958. During the early 1960s Hank worked with guitarist Freddie King and recorded and worked with Wilbert Longmire for a couple of years starting in 1963.
The late 1960s saw Marr performing in a duo with guitarist Floyd Smith in Atlantic City, New Jersey and a duo album with Frank Foster. He had two minor U.S. hit singles, The Greasy Spoon which hit No. 101 in 1964 and Silver Spoon #134 in 1965.
He recorded eight albums as a leader, and 19 singles for Wingate, King and Federal record labels. Hammond B-3 organist Hank Marr died at age 77 on March 16, 2004.
Get a dose of the musicians and vocalists who were members of a global society integral in the making and preservation of jazz for over a hundred and twenty-five years…
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frank Assunto was born on January 29, 1932 in New Orleans, Louisiana into a musical family where the trumpeter had two sisters who played piano and woodwinds, and a trombonist brother. They all grew up studying with their father, banjoist Jacob “Papa Jac” Assunto.
He and his brother founded the group Dukes of Dixieland in 1949 and eventually became an institution in the city. Producer and bandleader Horace Heidt took them on tour, and when the group returned to New Orleans they practically took over the Famous Door club.
Dixieland revival peaking in popularity in the 1950s took the Assunto brothers group to national popularity. They toured clubs, released a string of albums and performed on television variety shows. Their first stereo jazz album, recorded in 1958, had one brother on the left channel, the other on the right.
His style was heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong, Bunny Berigan and Bobby Hackett. He also performed vocal duties with the group. Trumpeter Frank Assunto died on February 25, 1974.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Niels Hartvig Foss was born on January 28, 1916 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He began playing guitar and from 1933 to 1934 began performing with the Svend Asmussen Group. He went on to play bass with Asmussen and others.
From 1940 to 1948 Niels led and played trombone in orxhestras and bands he formed. In 1949 for the next two years he performed with Peter Rasmussen and in 1957 moved to Switzerland where he continued to play part-time.
Over the course of his career Foss was a member of All Danish Starband, Etly Lizette And Her Orchestra, Kai Ewans Og Hans Orkester, Kaj Timmermann’s Septet, The Kordt Sisters Med Swingtet, and The Swingin’ Birds. He recorded for Odeon, His Master’s Voice, Imperial record labels.
Bassist, trombonist and guitarist Niels Foss died on May 16, 2018.
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