Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ronald Wayne Laws was born on October 3, 1950 and raised in Houston, Texas. He is the fifth of eight children and started playing the saxophone at the age of 11. He went on to attend Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, for two years.
In 1971 he journeyed to Los Angeles, California to embark upon a musical career. He started performing with trumpeter Hugh Masekela and the following year joined Earth, Wind & Fire, where he played saxophone and flute on their album Last Days and Time. Eighteen months later he decided to become a solo artist. Laws released his debut album Pressure Sensitive on Blue Note Records in 1975.
His first two albums charted on Billboard and by his third album, Friends and Strangers in 1977 was certified gold. Ronnie produced and sang on his sister Debra’s 1981 album Very Special. He would go on to play saxophone through the Eighties on albums by Ramsey Lewis, Sister Sledge, Deniece Williams, Jeff Lorber, Alphonse Mouzon, and Howard Hewett. In the 1990s he recorded with Norman Brown and again with Earth, Wind & Fire.
Saxophonist, flutist and vocalist Ronnie Laws, who has also worked with Guru, Brian Culbertson, and the Crusaders, also influenced Boney James and Norman Brown, and continues to explore the boundaries of his talent.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Celia Malheiros was born on October 2, 1960 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and from early childhood she was immersed inthe world of Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian religion. She was introduced to the schools of samba, bossa nova, choro, baião, frevo and indigenous music, as well as Tropicália and political revolutionary movements.
By 18 she was completely supporting herself through music she composed, playing at festivals, theatrical productions, nightclubs, radio and TV shows. She scored films, taught music and led bands to perform her music.
Moving to the U.S. she settled in San Francisco, California where she performed and competed in street carnaval, winning numerous awards. Malheiros spent thirteen years as the music director, arranger and performer with the Brazilian All Star Big Band with Elza Soares, Emilinha Borba and Walter Wanderley. She went on to tour the U.S. opening for the likes of Tony Benett, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Santana and Ray Charles.
Touring internationally as a solo artist and leading her band tRIO, she has accepted commissions by the Wheaton College Choir and the Akat Dance Company. Celia lectures, holds clinics and master classes around the world. She has been a composer in residence at the OMI International Music Program in New York City and artist in residence twice at Massachusetts’ Wheaton College.
Ever vigilant about bringing awareness to the plight of the Amazon’s indigenous and forest, her latest album is also a one woman show. She has more than 50 musicians on each of her albums. Vocalist Celia Malheiros is writing her memoirs.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
William Stewart was born on October 1, 1957 in Glasgow, Scotland and started playing classical violin at the age of 10. After winning first prize in the Scottish Central Counties Music Festival in 1970, 1971, 1972 and first prize in the Glasgow Music Festival in 1973, he won the McFarlane scholarship to attend the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow at the age of fourteen.
While at the Academy he won the first prize in the Robert Highgate Scholarship for violin in 1975, and went on to play with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scotland, Scottish Opera, Scottish Baroque Ensemble, Virtuosi Scotland. At 19 Stewart toured Britain as leader of the Scottish Ballet Orchestra.
When he turned 21 William left Scotland to take a position as leader of the Passau State Opera Orchestra in Germany before joining the world famous Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Herr. Prof. Karl Munchinger. By twenty-six, as a member of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra Quartet, he had played in some of the most famous concert halls in the world, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City.
For a few years now Stewart has been working on his own compositions and music, blending influences from his traditional Scottish up-bringing, classical music, and love of Eastern-European fiddle music. After many solo concerts, and support for, among others, Nikki Sudden, and Hazel O’Conner at the “Left Bank”, he began playing with local groups like the Jazz Lads and Ellamental. He formed the Klazz with whom he played at the Derry Jazz Festival.
He has recorded with his own quintet “The Bill Stewart Quintet”, and with the gypsy-jazz trio “Gitane Swing”. Violinist William Stewart is now playing jazz, swing jazz, and composing his own works, blending influences from classical and Eastern-European violin music to create a sound that is truly unique.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Basia was born Barbara Stanisława Trzetrzelewska on September 30, 1954 in Jaworzno, Poland. Growing up in a musical household she enjoyed singing from an early age and had an extensive collection of vinyl records. Her mother played piano and gave her first music lessons.
She began singing professionally in various Polish bands in the late Sixties in a local band Astry. During her first year at Jagiellonian University, the manager of the popular Polish all-female band Alibabki asked her to join the group. She accepted, dropped out and toured with them in 1972 around Poland and abroad until 1974. She performed in Polish rock band Perfect.
Relocating to London, England with her partner in 1981 recorded demo tracks for various artists. It was there she met Danny White and his collaborator Mark Reilly. The trio performed as Bronze, but later changed the name to Matt Bianco and released their debut album Whose Side Are You On? that became a hit across Europe. This catapulted her rise to fame.
She signed on with Epic Records and enjoyed a successful international career between 1987 and 1995, particularly in the US where her first two albums Time and Tide and London Warsaw New York both sold more than a million copies. She released several successful albums throughout the 1990s and into the new century.
She took a lengthy hiatus due to personal tragedies, then made a comeback to regular recording and performing in the late 2000s. Vocalist Basia, currently releases her music through independent labels.
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JANE IRA BLOOM
Soaring, poetic, quick silver, spontaneous and instantly identifiable are words used to describe the soprano sound of saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom. She has been developing her singular voice on the soprano saxophone for over 45 years.
She is a pioneer in the use of live electronics and movement in jazz. Winner of the Guggenheim Fellowship for music composition, the Downbeat International Critics Poll & Jazz Journalists Association Award for soprano saxophone, the Mary Lou Williams Award for lifetime service to jazz and the Charlie Parker Fellowship for jazz innovation.
She is the first musician ever commissioned by the NASA Art Program and has an asteroid named in her honor by the International Astronomical Union (asteroid: 6083janeirabloom). Her critically acclaimed Cd “Early Americans” received a Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album and made numerous year end best lists.
Her duo release with bassist Mark Helias “Some Kind of Tomorrow” was featured on NPR’s Fresh Air and received 4 stars from Downbeat Magazine. Her critically acclaimed duo projects “Tues Days” with drummer Allison Miller and “See Our Way” with Helias and trio project with Helias and Bobby Previte “2.3.23” all appear on Bandcamp. Picturing the Invisible her latest project featuring duets w/ Allison Miller, Miya Masaoka, & Mark Helias was nominated for a Grammy for Best Immersive Sound Album. Bloom looks forward to the release of her most recent duet and trio recording with Bobby Previte, Mark Helias & Dominic Fallacaro on her Outline label.
Mark Helias bass, Dominic Fallacaro piano
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