Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Hollenbeck was born June 19, 1968 in Binghamton, New York and earned degrees in percussion and jazz composition from the Eastman School of Music. He moved to New York City in the early 1990s. He has worked with Bob Brookmeyer, Fred Hersch, Tony Malaby, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Kenny Wheeler, Pablo Ziegler, and Meredith Monk.
In 1998, he composed The Shape of Spirit, a piece for wind ensemble on Mons Records. The following year he composed Processional and Desiderata for wind ensemble and orator. This composition, written for and featuring the voice and trombone of Bob Brookmeyer, was released on Challenge Records in 2001.
Hollenbeck went on to receive several commissions from the Bamberg Choir and the Windsbacher Knabenchor in Germany, Bang on a Can, the People’s Commissioning Fund, the IAJE Gil Evans Fellowship, and in addition he composed and performed the percussion score to the following Meredith Monk works: Magic Frequencies, Mercy and The Impermanence Project.
His 2000 debut release Static Still with Theo Bleckmanne began his recording as a leader and in 2001 his sophomore project No Images landed on Gary Giddins’ Village Voice Top Ten list. He has gone on to record nine more albums to date as a leader and nine albums with the Claudia Quintet.
Drummer John Hollenbeck, who was an eleven year professor of jazz drums and improvisation at the Jazz Institute Berlin and in 2015 joined the faculty of Schulich School of Music, continues to perform.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Mat Mathews was born Mathieu Hubert Wijnandts Schwarts on June 18, 1924 in The Hague, Netherlands and learned to play accordion while the country was still under the Nazi rule during World War II. It was after hearing Joe Mooney on a radio broadcast after the war that he decided to play jazz.
Moving to New York City in 1952, Mat formed a quartet which included Herbie Mann. He also worked and or recorded with Kenny Clarke, Art Farmer, Percy Heath, Carmen McRae, Oscar Pettiford, Joe Puma, Milt Jackson and Julius Watkins.
He worked mainly as a session musician in the late 1950s, and returned to the Netherlands in 1964, where he worked as an arranger, session musician, and record producer. In the 1970s, he again worked in the United States with Charlie Byrd, Doug Duke, Marian McPartland, and Clark Terry.
Accordionist, arranger, record producer Mat Mathews, who recorded eight albums as a leader, died on February 12, 2009 in Clarence Center, New York.
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On The Bookshelf
3 SHADES OF BLUE | JAMES KAPLAN
Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans And The Lost Empire Of Cool
1959 saw Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and the other members of Miles’s sextet come together to record the best selling jazz album of all time: Kind of Blue. That year, America’s great indigenous art form, jazz, reached the height of its power and popularity. Black geniuses, so legendary that they go by one name – Mingus, Monk, Rollins, Ornette, Blakey, Cannonball, Brubeck and Miles. They changed the music landscape and introduced a new sound. Kind of Blue is widely considered the most iconic jazz album of all time and certainly the bestselling.
3 Shades of Blue follows the paths of Miles, Coltrane and Evans to the mountaintop of 1959 and their roads on from there. It’s a book about music and business, race and heroin, and an astonishing meditation on creativity and the strange hothouses that can produce its full flowering. But above all this is the story of three very different men – their struggles, their choices, their inspiration. The tapestry of their lives is, in James Kaplan’s hands, an American Odyssey.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joseph Christopher Columbus Morris was born on June 17, 1902 in Greeenville, North Carolina. He led his own band from the 1930s into the late 1940s, holding a residency at the Savoy Ballroom for a period. During the mid 1940s he began drumming behind Louis Jordan, remaining with him until 1952. In the mid-to-late 1950s, Columbo backed Wild Bill Davis’s organ combo, and he recorded with Duke Ellington in 1967.
He worked again as a leader in the 1970s, in addition to doing tours of Europe with Davis. While in France he played with Floyd Smith, Al Grey, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Buddy Tate, and Milt Buckner. He got his first professional gig playing with Fletcher Henderson in 1921. Between the 1920s and the 1960s, Columbo played at most of the city’s nightclubs, and led the Club Harlem Orchestra for 34 years until 1978, when the club shut its doors.
Columbo worked, recorded, and toured with prominent jazz artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. He did an album on the Strand label called Jazz: Re-Discovering Old Favorites by the Chris Columbo Quintette featuring organist Johnny “Hammond” Smith. He appeared in the 1945 film It Happened In Harlem, based on the Harlem nightclub Smalls Paradise and the 1947 film Look Out Sister.
Prior to suffering a stroke in 1993 which partially paralyzed, Columbo was the oldest working musician in Atlantic City. Chris’ band went on to perform at practically every Atlantic City casino hotel. At the time of his stroke, he was playing regularly at the Showboat.
Drummer Chris Columbo, who was a father figure to Sonny Payne, who was also known as Crazy Chris Columbo and sometimes credited as Joe Morris on record, died on August 20, 2002 in New Jersey. He was 100 years old.
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Requisites
Major Changes ~ Frank Morgan and The McCoy Tyner Trio | By Eddie Carter 6.15.25
During the five years I lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, Everybody’s Records was a favorite shop I regularly visited. It was there that I heard Major Changes (Contemporary Records C-14039) by Frank Morgan and the McCoy Tyner Trio spinning on the turntable. As I listened, memories of when I first became a jazz fan came rushing back, and I picked it up immediately. Frank was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and began playing the guitar at a young age. His father introduced him to Charlie Parker, who inspired him to play the clarinet at age seven. Morgan later graduated to the soprano sax, then the alto sax, which became his primary instrument. Rounding out the ensemble are McCoy Tyner on piano, Avery Sharpe on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums. My copy of the album is the 1988 U.S. stereo release.
The quartet kicks off the first side with Changes by McCoy Tyner. The pianist’s brisk introduction sets the tone for their feisty melody. McCoy takes the first bite of this jazzy apple with a high-spirited solo. Frank follows with a vigorous statement, then Avery’s vivacious interpretation guides the group back to the theme’s reprise and fadeout. Irving Berlin’s How Deep Is The Ocean starts on a deceptively slow note, with the alto sax and piano sharing a private conversation ahead of the foursome’s sprightly theme. Tyner leads the charge with a swinging opening statement. Morgan builds on this momentum with a feisty reading. Sharpe rounds out the solos with a brief presentation leading to the out-chorus and exit.
Emily is a lovely composition by Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer. Frank begins delicately expressing each note of the melody with heartfelt sensitivity. McCoy’s opening solo is delivered with tenderness and warmth. Frank concludes with a gentle presentation, leading to a serene and graceful finish. Search For Peace by McCoy Tyner begins with Hayes’s introduction, leading into the quartet’s theme, which moves at a bright and brisk clip. The pianist starts the opening solo with remarkable precision and vibrant enthusiasm. Sharpe and Hayes share a brief interlude, then Morgan effortlessly glides over the rhythm section, perfectly attuned to Hayes’s flawless timing, until the closing chorus fades into nothingness.
McCoy Tyner announces Frank’s Back with a smooth lead-in, segueing into the opening ensemble at medium-tempo to begin the second side. Frank sets a stellar example for the group in the first solo. McCoy follows with a charismatic interpretation, then Frank and Louis share an exchange of notes, leading back to the reprise and conclusion. Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern’s All The Things You Are opens with the saxophonist’s soothing introduction ahead of the group’s mellow theme. Morgan’s opening statement starts strong and doesn’t let go until Tyner takes his turn. The pianist launches into a taut second reading that holds the listener’s attention until Morgan returns briefly, leading to the theme’s reprise and a graceful exit.
Theme From Love Story by Francis Lai and Carl Sigman comes from the 1970 romantic drama. The rhythm section’s introduction is simultaneously delicate and inviting, leading Frank to explore the intricately beautiful melody. McCoy captures the song’s essence with lively exuberance in the opening statement. Frank then weaves a tapestryof grace and elegance before the theme resurfaces, and the quartet fades into a poignant stillness. Richard Bock produced Major Changes. Ed Rak was the engineer behind the direct-to-digital recording, and George Horn mastered this release. The album boasts a superb soundstage that envelops the listener’s sweet spot, as if they’re seated in the studio alongside the musicians.
Frank Morgan battled heroin addiction for much of his life, mirroring the path of Charlie Parker. This struggle led him to spend a significant portion of his adult years in and out of prison. However, by the mid-1980s, he managed to overcome his dependency, remaining clean for the final two decades of his life, though he continued taking methadone daily. Morgan recorded twenty-one albums as a leader and contributed to twelve more as a sideman. Despite suffering a stroke in 1998, he made a remarkable recovery and continued to perform and record music during the last nine years of his life. Toward the end of his career, Morgan successfully completed his first European tour. He passed away from complications of colorectal cancer on December 14, 2007, just nine days before his seventy-fourth birthday.
The album’s title reflects the significant shifts in Morgan’s life and music, while highlighting the extraordinary chemistry between the musicians. Whether you're a seasoned jazz aficionado or a newcomer to Morgan’s music, Major Changes by Frank Morgan and the McCoy Tyner Trio is a treasure trove of captivating tracks and stunning solos. It also serves as a delightful showcase of his talent, and I wholeheartedly recommend checking it outthe next time you’re out record-shopping!
~ All The Things You Are – Source: JazzStandards.com
~ Theme From “Love Story” – Source: Wikipedia.org
© 2025 by Edward Thomas Carter
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