Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Linda Ciofalo was born on August 28, 1972 in New York City, New York. She began singing from a very early age, first appearing in public at the age of nine. The music at this time in her life was traditional church music but later, after deciding upon a career as a singer, she studied at the Juilliard School of Music.
Encouraged by educator Howlett Smith to explore jazz, Linda studied at jazz workshops, learning from singers such as Sheila Jordan and Mark Murphy. She also performed with Murphy, as well as pianist Barry Harris.
In the mid-80s her professional career was launched when she was chosen from three hundred applicants to sing with a big band. Although her chosen field is jazz, Ciofalo has also sung with reggae and rock bands, and has performed in the musical theatre. Her performances take her from small clubs to festivals, and is mainly centred on the East Coast states.
Vocalist Linda Ciofalo, who is also an accomplished songwriter, sings a wide-ranging repertoire, incorporating sultry ballads and raunchy blues songs.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Tony Crombie was born Anthony John Kronenberg on August 27, 1925 in Bishopsgate, London, England. He was a self-taught musician who began playing the drums at the age of fourteen. He was one of a group of young men from the East End of London who ultimately formed the co-operative Club Eleven, bringing modern jazz to Britain.
In 1947 traveling to New York City with his friend Ronnie Scott, he witnessed the playing of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, then took it back to the UK along with Scott, Johnny Dankworth, and Dennis Rose. 1948 saw Crombie touring Britain and Europe with Duke Ellington, who only brought Ray Nance and Kay Davis with him. Picking up a rhythm section in London, Ellington chose him on the recommendation of Lena Horne, with whom he had worked when she appeared at the Palladium.
Tony would go on to depart from jazz and set up a rock and roll band in 1956 he called The Rockets. Modelled after Bill Haley’s Comets and Freddie Bell & the Bellboys, he released several singles for Decca and Columbia record labels. By 1958 the Rockets had become a jazz group with Scott and Tubby Hayes. During the following year Crombie started Jazz Inc. with pianist Stan Tracey.
In 1960, he composed the score for the film The Tell-Tale Heart and established residency at a hotel in Monte Carlo. In May 1960 he toured the UK with Conway Twitty, Freddy Cannon, Johnny Preston, and Wee Willie Harris.
During the next thirty years he performed with Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Illinois Jacquet, Joe Pass, Mark Murphy and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. In the mid-1990s, after breaking his arm in a fall, he stopped playing the drums but continued composing until his death in 1999. Drummer, pianist, vibraphonist bandleader, and composer Tony Crombie, who was an energizing influence on the British jazz scene for over six decades, passed away on October 18, 1999 in Hampsead, London at the age of 74.
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Three Wishes
The Baroness asked Donald Byrd what his three wishes would be and he replied:
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“Health.”
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“Education.”
- “Long life.”
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*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…
Charles Fambrough was born on August 25, 1950 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He originally studied classical piano but switched to bass when he was 13. In 1968, he began playing with local pit bands for musicals and after some freelancing in 1970, he joined Grover Washington, Jr.’s band, staying with him until 1974.
Moving on he worked with Airto from 1975 to 1977), followed by McCoy Tyner for two years in 1978 and then on to be a part of the Jazz Messengers under Art Blakey from 1980 to 1982. Leaving the Messengers Charles freelanced as a sideman and led three CTI recordings with Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Kenny Kirkland, Jerry Gonzalez, Steve Turre, Donald Harrison, Kenny Garrett, Abdullah Ibrahim, Grover Washington, Jr., Jeff “Tain” Watts, Stephen Scott, Billy Drummond, Bobby Broom, and Steve Berrios.
As a sideman, he worked and recorded sixteen albums with Kei Akagi, Craig Handy, Eric Mintel, and Roland Kirk among others. Reportedly been suffering from a number of serious ailments including end-stage renal disease and congestive heart failure, and benefit concerts had been held over the preceding several years in the Philadelphia area to help the bassist and his family defray the costs of his mounting medical bills.
Bassist, composer, and bandleader Charles Fambrough passed away at the age of 60 of a heart attack at his home in Allentown, Pennsylvania on January 1, 2011.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Fritz “Freddie” Brocksieper was born in Istanbul, Turkey on August 24, 1912, the son of a Greek-speaking Jewish woman and a German engineer, who was able to get through National-Socialism as an essential swing musician. His playing style on the drums was influenced above all by Gene Krupa and by 1930, he was playing professionally in Germany working in Nuremberg and Berlin throughout the decade. During World War II he played with the Golden Seven, Benny De Weille, Willy Berking, and the radio orchestra of Lutz Templin.
He recorded with his own ensembles, both large and small, in the later 1940s, and performed for American GIs in Stuttgart, Munich, and Berlin. An essential swing musician, Freddie was considered a leading figure of early European big-band jazz. With his bands, he made it to the front page of Stars and Stripes. Beginning in 1957 Bavarian radio regularly broadcast live concerts from his studio in Munich.
He continued performing in the 1960s and 1970s and was awarded a Deutscher Schallplattenpreis in 1980. From 1964 he played mainly in trios, and often with American soloists in Europe. Drummer Freddie Brocksieper passed away on January 17, 1990.
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