Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Hector Rivera was born on January 26, 1933 in New York, New York. He had been playing for over a decade, beginning in the early 1950s when he joined the band of Elmo Garcia as a teenager. Making his recorded debut as a bandleader in 1957 when Garcia didn’t have enough material prepared, Mercury Records asked if he had any music. Wanting to record a solo album Mercury offered to record him as a solo artist, issuing his debut, Let’s Cha Cha Cha.

Over the next few years, Rivera would be known mostly as a sideman to bandleaders Joe Cuba, Pacheco, and vocalist Vincento Valdez. He made his biggest splash as a bandleader with the 1966 album At the Party, with a large band featuring several trumpet players and percussionists, as well as bassist Cachao.

Dividing his approach between instrumentals and vocals, he employed several singers, including David Coleman who is most heard on the At the Party album. The success of the title cut enabled Hector to cut several more albums, along with continuing to write and arrange. He would go on to participate in projects for Ray Barretto, Machito, and Tito Puente among others.

Pianist, arranger, composer, bandleader and producer Hector Rivera who was one of the more renowned performers of the Latin soul genre, died on January 8, 2006 in his hometown.

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JULIE DEXTER

TheBritish singer, songwriter and producer, whose music spans the categories of jazz, soul and reggae. Her band , J-Life, won the International Jazz Federation 16th European Jazz competition at Leverkusen, Germany, as well as the 1998 Perrier Award for Young Jazz Ensemble of the Year, with Dexter winning the Perrier Award for Young Jazz Vocalist of the Year. She counts among her influences Nancy Wilson and Bob Marley. Notable musicians with whom she has worked include Courtney Pine, Soweto Kinch, Jason Yarde, and others.

Tickets: $30.00 ~ $40.00

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Wellman Braud was born on January 25, 1891 in St. James Parish, Louisiana and settled in New Orleans, Louisiana. In his early teens he was playing the violin and the upright bass and leading a trio in venues in the Storyville District before 1910.

Moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1917 by 1923 he was performing in London, England with the Plantation Orchestra, doubling on bass and trombone. His next move was to New York City, where he played with Wilber Sweatman’s band before joining Duke Ellington.

Braud was the first to utilize the walking bass style that has been a mainstay in modern jazz. His vigorous melodic bass playing, alternately plucking, slapping, and bowing, was an important feature of the early Ellington Orchestra in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1936 he co-managed a short-lived Harlem club with Jimmie Noone, and recorded with the group Spirits of Rhythm from 1935 to 1937.

He would go on to play with the bands of Kaiser Marshall, Hot Lips Page, and Sidney Bechet and returned for a while to Ellington in 1944. In 1956 Wellman joined the Kid Ory Band and in the late 1950s, he joined the Barbara Dane Trio. Doing so he  turned down opportunities to return to Duke Ellington’s band and tour with Louis Armstrong.

Upright bassist Wellman Braud, who is a distant relative of the Marsalis brothers on their mother’s side, died on October 29, 1966 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 76.

Duke Ellington postumously paid tribute to Braud, with the composition Portrait of Wellman Braud on his 1970 album New Orleans Suite.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Peter Sidney Mulligan who was known by Mick, was born on January 24, 1928 in Harrow, Middlesex, England. He began playing trumpet while a student at Merchant Taylors’ School, Northwood and entered into the family wine company, but became an alcoholic and eventually was pushed out of the business by his relatives.

Forming his Magnolia Jazz Band in 1948, he met George Melly soon afterwards and they became close associates who performed together for many years. Mulligan’s orchestra included Roy Crimmins, Ian Christie, and Archie Semple that rivalled Humphrey Lyttelton’s band in popularity on the British trad jazz circuit.

While he booked excellent side men, Mick was not a top-flight musician and his own playing was often hampered by intoxication; their recording legacy is spotty because their releases were irregular and generally for small labels. He and Melly’s antics were drunken and scandalous outings, making them regular tabloid figures in the 1950s.

Breaking up his band in 1953 he reformed it a year and a half later, continuing with the new group into 1962 and was part of the biggest trad jazz event to be staged in Britain at Alexandra Palace. By the early 1960s, rock and roll had whittled the enthusiasm for trad jazz to nearly nothing and Mulligan disbanded the Magnolia Jazz Band. He went on to manage Melly, who was launching a solo career. He played occasionally into the 1970s, but mostly retired to run a grocery store. Later in life he became interested in horse racing, and owned or part-owned several race horses, including the prize-winning horse, Forever My Lord.

Trumpeter and bandleader Mick Mulligan, who was best known for his presence on the trad jazz scene, suffered a stroke at age 78 and died in Chichester, West Sussex, England on December 20, 2006.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Teddy Napoleon was born January 23, 1914 in New York City, New York. His first professional engagement was with Lee Castle in 1933, then played with Tommy Tompkins for several years before working as a freelance musician in New York.

In the 1940s he played in several big bands, including Johnny Messner and Bob Chester, before signing up with Gene Krupa in 1944. He worked with Krupa intermittently for the next fourteen years including on many of his big band releases in the 1940s, and in his trio settings with Charlie Ventura.

He also spent time working with Flip Phillips, Bill Harris, and Eddie Shu. Teddy moved to Florida in 1959 and led his own trio there, though he never recorded as a leader, however he did record a duo album with his younger brother Marty, also a pianist.

Swing jazz pianist Teddy Napoleon, who was the nephew of trumpeter Phil Napoleon, eventually returned north and died on July 5, 1964 in Elmhurst, New York.

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