Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Richard Hawdon was born in Leeds, England on August 27, 1927 and first studied cello before moving to trumpet in his mid-teens. After a stint with the Yorkshire Jazz Band he relocated to London, England in 1951, signing on with Chris Barber’s famed New Orleans Jazz Band.
Hawdon replaced trumpeter Ken Colyer in the Christie Brothers Stompers in 1952, remaining with the group for close to two years. While his Louis Armstrong-inspired approach earned favor among traditional jazz purists, he developed a modernist sensibility influenced by Clifford Brown.
Bop and progressive jazz followed in 1954 as a member of Don Rendell’s group in addition to a stint as trumpeter and arranger with Tubby Hayes. He joined his first big band in mid-1956 with Basil and Ivor Kirchin and the next year he joined John Dankworth in 1957. This would be his longest and most rewarding career collaboration.
Beyond recordings with Dankworth, the group performed with Louis Armstrong, teamed with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, he wrote and arranged a number of Dankworth staples including Cool Kate and One for Janet. Hawdon went on to freelance with bandleaders Sid Phillips, Harry Gold, Oscar Rabin, Terry Lightfoot, and backed singers Tony Bennett and Eartha Kitt during a stint with the house band at the London cabaret Talk of the Town.
On the eve of the demise of jazz as the leading music of the era, Dick relocated to Yorkshire, England in 1967 and led the Batley Variety Club’s house band. A year later, he developed a jazz course at the new City of Leeds College of Music, and became head of the school’s Light Music Department in 1972. Hawdon also led his own jazz quintet throughout the 1980s, and after retiring from academia in 1993 he turned his attention to the bass, playing in a series of local groups.
Trumpeter and bassist Dick Hawdon died June 24, 2009.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frances Wayne was born Chiarina Francesca Bartocci or Clara Bertocci on August 26, 1924 in Boston, Massachusetts. She graduated from Somerville High School. Moving to New York City in her teens she sang in an ensemble led by her brother, saxophonist Nick Jerret.
In the early 1940s she recorded with Charlie Barnet’s big band, and in 1943 sang with Woody Herman’s band. Marrying Neal Hefti in 1945, Frances soloed in her husband’s big band formed in 1947. In addition to her solo career she sang with Hefti into the 1950s.
She later sang with smaller ensembles featuring Hank Jones, Milt Hinton, Jerome Richardson, Richie Kamuca, John LaPorta, Billy Bauer and Al Cohn. On The Woody Herman Show broadcasted on the radio, Wayne was his female vocalist.
On February 6, 1978, vocalist Frances Wayne, who received the 1946 Esquire Award as Best New Female Vocalist, died after suffering from cancer over an extended period in her hometown at age 58.
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ERIC ALEXANDER
Eric Alexander is one of the most sought-after saxophonists on the modern jazz scene. “The people I listened to in college are still the cats that are influencing me today,” says Alexander. “Monk, Dizzy, Sonny Stitt, Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson – the legacy left by Bird and all the bebop pioneers, that language and that feel, that’s the bread and butter of everything I do.”
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RONI BEN-HUR QUARTET
While many of the compositions on Love Letters were written by giants such as Leonard Bernstein (“Lonely Town”), Benny Golson (“Fair Weather”), and Ben-Hur’s long-time mentor, the late, great Barry Harris (“To Dizzy with Love”), Ben-Hur once again showcases his formidable composing chops with four original compositions. With the Quartet on Love Letters, Ben-Hur creates an irresistible atmosphere of musical harmony and loving connection. Each of Ben-Hur’s compositions reflect an aspect of the love that has propelled the guitarist to ever greater heights in the life and in jazz. With “To Dizzy with Love,” he shares a memory of his friend Barry Harris with a buoyant rendition of a song they once played together at Birdland. In this interpretation we are treated to a joyous dance of swing and Caribbean rhythms. On “Seul `a Paris” (alone in Paris), Ben-Hur’s wistful strings and muted trumpet speak of what it is like to fly solo in the “City of Love.” With the composition, “Waiting for JH”, co-written with the late American pianist Chris Anderson,
Ben-Hur sends a “love letter” to the late Jim Harrison, one of the genre’s most indomitable advocates and promoters, who worked tirelessly for a “who’s who” in jazz. The voice of the unspeakable is heard in “The House that Yosef Built,” a love letter to Ben-Hur’s father. The tune evokes a rush of memories about the hardships his parents faced in their escape from Tunisia in the aftermath of World War II. Guitar, bass and drum deftly lay a rhythmic foundation, and Jensen’s triumphant trumpet celebrates the family’s resilience and the sturdy house and home that Yosef Ben-Hur was determined to build for his family.
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AGUANKÓ
Conga player and composer Alberto Nacif and the superlative musicians who make up the sizzling Latin Jazz group Aguankó have a new, all original Latin Jazz recording titled “Unidad”, which was released at the July 2023 performance at Blue LLama.
This recording features the core group of Aguanko musicians from the incredibly rich Detroit area jazz scene performing original music which will continue the trajectory of this exciting group. Aguanko’s four previous recordings of original music since 2012 have been top 50 in the Jazzweek charts.
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