Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joe Licari was born on January 10, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York and studied with Bob Wilber. His influences were Benny Goodman, Frank Teschemacher, Pee Wee Russell, Johnny Dodds, Sidney Bechet, and Jimmie Noone, using some of their ideas to find his own voice.
Known as an especially “hot” player with an exuberant and always emotive attack, Licari has worked along side of Roy Eldridge, Wild Bill Davison, Conrad Janis, Big Chief Russell Moore, Connie Kay, Bob Haggart, Vic Dickenson, Pee Wee Erwin, Doc Cheatham and the vocalist Julie Wilson. He’s also appeared in films, on television and radio shows and in clubs, sometimes standing in for Woody Allen.
As a leader, he recorded three albums and dozens as a sideman working as a featured player on albums by The Red Onion Jazz Band, Julie Wilson, Big Chief Russell Moore, Herb Gardner, Dick Voigt’s Big Apple Jazz Band, Jim Lowe, Dorothy Loudon, and Betty Comora. As a member of the Grove Street Stompers, they were a prominent fixture for decades on Monday nights at Arthur’s Tavern in Greenwich Village.
Clarinetist Joe Licari continues to record and perform at various clubs around New York City with The Speakeasy Jazz Babies, The Smith Street Society Jazz Band, Swing 39, Mark Shane. Delta Five, and Jon-Erik Kellso`s Hot Four.
More Posts: clarinet,history,instrumental,jazz,music
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Malcolm Cecil was born on January 9, 1937 in London, England. By the time he came of age he was a founding member of the UK’s leading jazz quintet of the late 1950s, The Jazz Couriers, before going on to join a number of British jazz combos led by Dick Morrissey, Tony Crombie and Ronnie Scott into the early 1960s.
Malcolm later joined Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner to form the original line-up of Blues Incorporated. With Robert Margouleff he formed the duo TONTO’s Expanding Head Band, a project based on a unique combination of synthesizers. This led to them collaborating on and co-producing several of Stevie Wonder’s Grammy-winning albums Talking Book, Music of My Mind, Innervisions and Fulfillingness’ First Finale of the early 1970s. They are also credited as engineers for the Stevie Wonder produced 1974 album Perfect Angel by Minnie Riperton.
Their unique sound made them highly sought-after and they went on to venture in not only jazz, but rock and r&b to collaborate with, amongst others, Quincy Jones, Gil Scott-Heron, Weather Report, Bobby Womack, The Isley Brothers, Billy Preston, Stephen Stills, The Doobie Brothers, Dave Mason, Little Feat, Joan Baez and Steve Hillage. Bassist, engineer and record producer Malcolm Cecil continues to perform and produce.
More Posts: bandleader,bass,history,instrumental,jazz,music,record producer
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Dick Charlesworth, born Richard Anthony Charlesworth on January 8, 1932 in Sheffield, England. Attending King Edward VII School, at 16, he became a clerk in the Ministry of Labour and was in due course transferred to London. He bought a clarinet and started playing jazz as a hobby in 1952. Entirely self-taught, he became good enough to play clarinet and saxophone in a dance band and performed with jazz bands in south London including Jim Weller’s Jazzmen.
He formed his first group in 1956 and his Dick Charlesworth’s Jazzmen won the South London Jazz Band Championship in 1957. His group was signed by the Melodisc label, and they recorded an EP in December 1957 and produced an album for Doug Dobell’s 77 Records.
Leaving the Civil Service in 1959 he became a professional musician and signed a recording contract with EMI, remarketing the group as Dick Charlesworth’s City Gents. This was the time of light jazz, sporting distinctive attire of pin stripes and bowler hats, with their Latin motto, Dum vivimus vivamus, simply translated as “While we live, let us enjoy life”. They charted one single Billy Boy on the UK Singles Chart in 1961.
When jazz went out of vogue in the Sixties, Dick broke up his band, and from 1964 to 1969 fronted a band on the cruise liners. He then settled in Mojacar, Spain where he ran a music bar. Returning to Britain in 1977, he was active on the London jazz scene until the early 2000s working with, among others, Keith Smith, Rod Mason, Alan Littlejohn, Denny Wright, and appeared on the BBC Radio series, Jazz Score.
In his later years, Charlesworth lived in Thames Ditton, Surrey, and played a residency at various pubs with his band The Dick Charlesworth’s Fraternity Four, and released their final recording in 2004. Clarinetist, saxophonist and bandleader Dick Charlesworth passed away following a heart attack on April 15, 2008, at the age of 76.
More Posts: bandleader,clarinet,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone
Conversations About Jazz & Other Distractions
Conversations About Jazz Features Scat, Improvisation & The Avant~Garde on January 7
Hammonds House Digital invites you to join us for Conversations about Jazz & Other Distractions hosted by former jazz radio host and founder of Notorious Jazz, Carl Anthony. On Thursday, January 7 at 7:30 pm (EST), Carl’s special guests will be musicians and artists known for their extraordinary skills in improvisation, scat, and the avant-garde. Tune in for a great evening with vocalist and pianist Audrey Shakir, saxophonist Kebbi Williams, and composer and lyricist Fay Victor. The program is free and will stream live on Hammonds House Museum’s Facebook and YouTube.
Audrey Shakir is a jazz-pop vocalist and pianist extraordinaire. Dubbed Atlanta’s First Lady of Jazz, she has entertained throughout the U.S. and internationally. Her scatting talents have been compared to the great Ella Fitzgerald, and she brings a remarkable jazz influence to all the material she performs.
Kebbi Williams is a Grammy award-winning tenor saxophonist and one of contemporary music’s whirlwind improvisers. The imaginative multi-instrumentalist/ composer/producer/arranger/teacher resists categorization. His innovative sound blends avant-garde jazz, hip-hop, afro-beat, gospel, electronica, classical and fiery rock, which he interweaves with passion and edge.
Fay Victor is a musician, composer, lyricist, and educator. Originally a singer in the traditional jazz field, she has been working in jazz, blues, opera, free improvising, avant-garde, modern classical music, and occasional acting since re-settling in New York in 2003. She is an Associate Professor at the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York.
Hammonds House Museum is generously supported by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Fulton County Arts and Culture, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, The National Performance Network, AT&T and WarnerMedia.
Hammonds House Museum’s mission is to celebrate and share the cultural diversity and important legacy of artists of African descent. The museum is the former residence of the late Dr. Otis Thrash Hammonds, a prominent Atlanta physician and a passionate arts patron. A 501(c)3 organization which opened in 1988, Hammonds House Museum boasts a permanent collection of more than 450 works including art by Romare Bearden, Robert S. Duncanson, Benny Andrews, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Hale Woodruff, Amalia Amaki, Radcliffe Bailey and Kojo Griffin. In addition to featuring art from their collection, the museum offers new exhibitions, artist talks, workshops, concerts, poetry readings, arts education programs, and other cultural events throughout the year.
Located in a beautiful Victorian home in Atlanta’s historic West End, Hammonds House Museum is a cultural treasure and a unique venue. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they continue to observe CDC guidelines, but look forward to welcoming in-person visitors soon! For more information about upcoming virtual events, and to see how you can support their mission and programming, visit their website: hammondshouse.org.
MEDIA: For more information, contact Karen Hatchett at Hatchett PR, karen@hatchettpr.com.
More Posts: conversations,history,instrumental,jazz,musicians,piano,saxophone,vocal
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
It’s a new year and it’s been ten months since the quarantine and social distancing has been instituted. Some of us, unfortunately, are still not fully adapting to life with the virus, desiring their comfort zone to be as it was before the pandemic. For those of us who have taken this life interruption to no longer be an inconvenience, we relax and find new engagements for our senses.
With that in mind, this week I’ve selected the classic studio album Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Recorded at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio in New York City on June 25, July 1, and August 18, 1959, it was released on December 14, 1959 on Columbia Records. It is based upon the use of time signatures that were unusual for jazz and is a subtle blend of cool and West Coast jazz.
The producer on the album was Teo Macero, and Fred Plaut engineered the sessions. S. Neil Fujita had the responsibility for creating the cover artwork, and Seth Rothstein was the project director.
The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard pop albums chart, and was the first jazz album to sell a million copies. The single Take Five off the album was also the first jazz single to sell one million copies. By 1963, the record had sold 500,000 units, and in 2011 it was certified double platinum by the RIAA, signifying over two million records sold. The album was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2009.
Columbia president Goddard Lieberson took a chance to underwrite and release the album. Although it received negative reviews from critics upon its release, it became a popular recording by fans globally. In 2005, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. It was also listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2009 the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Track List | 38:30
All pieces composed by Dave Brubeck, except Take Five by Paul Desmond.
Side One- Blue Rondo à la Turk ~ 6:44
- Strange Meadow Lark ~ 7:22
- Take Five ~ 5:24
- Three to Get Ready ~ 5:24
- Kathy’s Waltz ~ 4:48
- Everybody’s Jumpin’ ~ 4:23
- Pick Up Sticks ~ 4:16
- Dave Brubeck – piano
- Paul Desmond – alto saxophone
- Eugene Wright – bass
- Joe Morello – drums
As you all know, the moment the world becomes safe and opens back up for Americans to travel, I will be back jet setting around the globe. In the meantime, stay vigilant, wear masks and remain healthy.
More Posts: adventure,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,piano,preserving,restaurant,travel