The Jazz Voyager
With vocals in my spirit and a penchant for Ohio, this Jazz Voyager is staying out of the air and renting a car for a leisurely three and a half hour drive from Akron to Cincinnati, Not only will I experience a new venue but I get to see an old friend and Clevelander I haven’t seen in a while. This week the voyage takes me to Caffeè Vivace when one of my favorite vocalists, Vanessa Rubin, will take the stage.
If you’ve never heard this amazing interpreter of a song perform, you’re in for a treat. She will take you places your heart hasn’t been in a while, make you laugh with her playfulness on a lyric and will send you home remembering when love was new.
This coffee house by day turns into an intimate jazz lounge by night providing a space for Cincinnatians to gather, work, socialize and herald the musical art form of Jazz. Founded by Brent Gallaher and Vanessa Keeton, their goal is to bring a full-time jazz listening venue back to the Queen City. So the pair, coffee and jazz, have a symbiotic relationship that works well for the city’s residents and visitors to Walnut Hills. I’ll be hanging out for a couple of days to write and listen to the area’s finest local jazz musicians.
The venue is located 975 E McMillan Street 45206. You can get more information by visiting The Jazz Calendar at https://notoriousjazz.com/event/vanessa-rubin-6.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Born on September 21, 1927 Ward Lamar Swingle grew up in Mobile, Alabama and studied music, particularly jazz, from a very young age. He learned clarinet, oboe and the piano as a child and played in Mobile-area big bands before he was out of high school. He continued his music studies at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, graduating summa cum laude in 1950.
Moving to France in 1951 on a Fulbright scholarship, he studied piano with Walter Gieseking and worked as a rehearsal pianist for Les Ballets de Paris. He met a French-born violin student, Françoise Demorest, and got married in 1952. 1959 saw Swingle as a founding member of Les Double Six of Paris, which specialised in scat singing of jazz standards.
This concept of scatting to Johann Sebastian Bach was the foundation for The Swingle Singers, which became fully established by 1962. They released their albums Jazz Sebastian Bach and Bach’s Greatest Hits in 1963 and their early recordings won five Grammy Awards. Disbanding the original Swingle Singers in 1973 he moved to London, England and formed a new group, and expanded their repertoire to include classical and avant-garde works along with the scat and jazz vocal arrangements.
Returning to live in America in 1984 he remained musical advisor for his London-based group, but devoted most of his time to workshops, guest conducting and the dissemination of his printed arrangements through his publishing company, Swingle Music. He went on to conduct several chamber and philharmonic choirs, and conduct workshops and seminars at universities in Europe and North America.
In 1994 he moved back to France, where he continued his work in arranging, composing and guest conducting. He wrote an autobiography and treatise titled Swingle Singing, in which he defined ‘Swingle Singing’ techniques with illustrations from his arrangements and compositions.
Vocalist, pianist and arranger Ward Swingle, who was named Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Minister of Culture and Information, transitioned in Eastbourne, England, on January 19, 2015.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth was born on September 20, 1927 in Woodford, Essex, England. He grew up within a family of musicians and attended Selwyn Boys’ Junior School and later Sir George Monoux Grammar School. Prompted by hearing a Benny Goodman Quartet album at 16, before settling on the clarinet he took violin and piano lessons. Soon afterwards he was inspired by Charlie Parker and learned to play the alto saxophone.
Beginning his career on the British jazz scene after studying at London’s Royal Academy of Music and then national service in the Royal Air Force, during which he played alto sax and clarinet for RAF Music Services. By 1947 he was working on the Queen Mary in Bobby Kevin’s band, and in London with Les Ayling. Through the rest of the decade he performed with Tito Burns, with Charlie Parker at the Paris Jazz Festival, and a tour of Sweden with Sidney Bechet. In 1949, Johnny was voted Musician of the Year.
The Fifties saw him forming a small group, the Dankworth Seven, as a vehicle to showcase his writing as well as several young players, Jimmy Deuchar, Eddie Harvey, Don Rendell, Bill Le Sage, Eric Dawson, Tony Kinsey and Frank Holder. also sang and recorded with this ensemble. Forming his big band in ‘53 and Cleo Laine was now a regular voice on appearances and recordings.
The band came to the States and performed at Newport, Birdland had Louis Armstrong sit in for a set and shared several stages with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. In 1959, John became chair of the Stars Campaign for Inter-Racial Friendship, set up to combat the fascist White Defence League.
The following decades saw him working and recording with numerous American and British jazz musicians, began composing for film and television, and received commissions all while performing live and on the radio.
As an educator his enthusiasm for jazz education led him to run for many years the Allmusic summer schools at the Stables in Wavendon and from 1984 to ‘86 he was a professor of music at Gresham College in London, where he gave free public lectures.
He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music, was made a Knight Bachelor in the 2006 New Year’s Honours List, and was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE). In 2009 he fell ill and while he had to cancel several concerts he made one last appearance in December.
Saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, educator John Dankworth, who along with his wife Dame Cleo were one of a few couples to hold British titles, transitioned on February 6, 2010 at the age of 82, on the afternoon before a show celebrating the 40th anniversary of the foundation of The Stables.
Confer a dose of a Woodford saxophonist to those seeking a greater insight about the musicians around the world who are members of the pantheon of jazz…
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Three Wishes
Pannonica made an inquiry about three wishes when she was talking with Walter Miller and he responded with the following:
- “It should be very simple to answer. How do I start? Well, number one is freedom. I have never been actually able to accept the fact that I’ve ever been that way.”
- “Then, I’d like to be fully secured~towards my obligations to others, I mean. Neighbors, you know, sometimes you feel you have to run from them. You don’t have an answer for them. Though I usually have an answer.”
- “I wan to say that no one is really independent. Everyone is dependent on others. So I would think-how can I explain this? My life has been devoted to music. I don’t know. I’d like to further my studies. And yet most of the good people are naturally talented. There seems to be a conflict. You don’t know which way to start. It’s bad to be ignorant. I’d like to help the teenagers. They’re so fiery, so sensitive. You know? The kids, today? They don’t seem to be content, at all! I’d like to help them.”
*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…
Winston Clifford was born on September 19, 1965 in Islington, England and began playing drums as a child. He studied with former Tubby Hayes drummer Bill Eyden and Trevor Tomkins at the Guildhall School of Music. His playing is free from the usual restraints of stylistic expectations and a true reflection of listening and responding in the moment.
This training has led him to become one of the most in-demand drummers in Britain. He has performed or recorded with over five dozen luminary jazz musicians from both sides of the Atlantic. To name a few one must include Bheki Mseleku, Joanne Bracken, Stanley Turrentine, Benny Golson, James Williams, Chico Freeman, Phillip Catherine, John Abercrombie, Birelli Lagrene, Joe Lovano, Eddie Henderson, Archie Sheep, Carmen Lundy, Ronnie Laws, Freddie Hubbard, Art Farmer, Gary Bartz, Joey Calderazzo, Dave Valentin, Larry Coryell, Monty Alexander, Eddie Harris, Bobby Watson, Billy Childs, Houston Person, Courtney Pine, Julian Joseph, and the list goes on.
Post bop drummer Winston Clifford continues to perform and record.
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