Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gene Shaw was born Clarence Eugene Shaw in Detroit, Michigan on June 16, 1926. He played the piano and trombone as a child and didn’t begin playing the trumpet sometime around 1946 after hearing Dizzy Gillespie’s Hot House while recovering from injuries sustained in the army.
He attended the Detroit Institute of Music, and studied with pianist Barry Harris. In his hometown he played with Lester Young, Wardell Gray, and Lucky Thompson. His move to New York City in 1956 had him playing with Charles Mingus’s Jazz Workshop a year later and among his credits with the bassist are Tijuana Moods, East Coasting, where he used a Harmon mute, although he was initially wary of using it, given its association with the sound of Miles Davis.
Later that same year over a fight with Mingus, he destroyed his instrument and quit music. Not returning to playing until 1962, Gene formed his own ensemble. He retired again two years later, then returned to music once more in 1968.
As a leader he recorded three albums between 1962 and 1964 on the Argo label titled Breakthrough, Debut in Blues and Carnival Sketches. As a sideman with Mingus he also recorded three albums, East Coasting and A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry on the Bethlehem label in 1957, and Tijuana Moods in 1962 on RCA.
Trumpeter Gene Shaw, who was an active member of the Chicago Gurdjieff society and a student of Fourth Way psychology, including its music, died in Los Angeles on August 17, 1973.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Tony Oxley was born on June 15, 1938 in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. A self-taught pianist by the age of eight, he first began playing the drums at seventeen and was taught by Haydon Cook. While playing evening gigs with local dance bands at night, he was sacked from his regular job, at a cutlery-making company, for falling asleep.
During his National Service from 1957 to 1960 with the Black Watch military band he studied music theory and improved his drumming technique. After leaving the army he became a member of a dance band playing for passengers on the Queen Mary and made several trips to New York. When on shore leave Tony visited clubs and heard Philly Joe Jones, Horace Silver, Art Blakey. From 1960 to 1964 he led a quartet which performed locally back home.
1963 saw Oxley playing Saturday afternoon gigs with other aspiring young jazz musicians and working with Gavin Bryars and guitarist Derek Bailey, in a trio known as Joseph Holbrooke. Moving to London, England in 1966 he became house drummer at Ronnie Scott’s, where he accompanied visiting musicians such as Joe Henderson, Lee Konitz, Charlie Mariano, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, and Bill Evans until the early 1970s. He was a member of bands led by Gordon Beck and Mike Pyne.
As a sideman he appeared on the John McLaughlin 1969 album Extrapolation and formed a quintet with Bailey, Jeff Clyne, Evan Parker, and Kenny Wheeler, releasing the album The Baptised Traveller. Tony helped found Incus Records with Bailey and others and Musicians Cooperative. The label would go on to release more than 50 albums, received a three-month artist-in-residence job at the Sydney Conservatorium in Australia and joined the London Jazz Composers Orchestra and collaborated with Howard Riley.
Oxley wwent on to join saxophonist Alan Skidmore’s quintet, tutor at the Jazz Summer School in Barry, South Wales, and form the band Angular Apron, and start the Celebration Orchestra He toured and recorded with Anthony Braxton, and began a working relationship with Cecil Taylor. Over the next few decades he joined several bands, recorded a series of albums and ventured into electronic and acoustic percussion music.
Free improvising drummer and electronic musician Tony Oxley died on December 26, 2023.
ETIENNE CHARLES CREOLE ORCHESTRA
Last season, trumpet master, inexhaustible band leader, and fashion icon Etienne Charles lit up The House of Swing with his Appel Room performance of Carnival: The Sound of a People. Now, he returns to Dizzy’s Club leading his Creole-inflected big band featuring master practitioners from across the globe. Expect a spirited set of new music designed to pull every listener of every generation from their seat to their feet.
The Orchestra
Etienne Charles, music director/trumpet
Nathaniel Williford, Austin Muthyala, trumpet
Anthony Hervey, trumpet (6/15 and 6/16)
Summer Camargo, trumpet 6/15 and 6/16)
Trunino Lowe, trumpet (6/14 only)
Geoffrey Gallante (6/14 only)
Sam Keedy, Rashaan Salaam, Gina Benalcazar-Lopez, trombone
Rob Edwards, trombone (6/14 only)
Dion Tucker, trombone (6/15 and 6/16)
Godwin Louis, Jordan Pettay, alto saxophone
John Ellis, tenor saxophone
Joseph Herbst, tenor saxophone, libriarian
Paul Nedzela, baritone saxophone
Alex Wintz, guitar
Andre White, steel pan
Axel Tosca, piano
Brandon Rose, bass, vocals
Harvel Nakundi, drums
Dennis Collins, vocals (6/16 only)
Katie Oberhotlzer, vocals (6/16 only)
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JANE MONHEIT
Jane Monheit is a jazz and adult contemporary vocalist with a deep passion for the Great American Songbook. With many highly acclaimed solo albums, countless awards and accolades, and over two decades of international touring experience, Jane has not only been an extremely successful bandleader, but has had the privilege of making music with some of the greatest musicians, arrangers, and producers in jazz.
At the age of 20, during her senior year at the prestigious Manhattan School Of Music, Jane placed second in the Thelonious Monk Competition, now known as the Hancock Competition. This led to an incredible career trajectory, catapulting Jane into the jazz stratosphere nearly overnight.
By 22, Jane was working with legends such as Tommy Flanagan, Ron Carter, and Kenny Barron, recording her first albums, and touring the planet. This led to collaborations with jazz luminaries such as Terence Blanchard, Ivan Lins, Tom Harrell, John Pizzarelli, Christian McBride, Vince Mendoza, Jorge Calandrelli, and many more.
After more than twenty years, twelve studio albums and countless recorded guest appearances, Jane has continued to tour the world nearly nonstop, including playing iconic venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Hollywood Bowl, and headlining at nearly every legendary jazz club on the planet, most notably NY stalwarts such as the Village Vanguard and Birdland
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NICOLE HENRY
Philadelphia native and SOUTH favorite, Nicole Henry and her world class band returns for two stellar nights of amazing jazz on July 26 & 27.
Nicole’s versatile and emotionally driven performances have wowed audiences in 20 countries. Among her numerous accolades, Henry’s passionate, soulful voice and heartfelt charisma have earned her a Soul Train Award for “Best Traditional Jazz Performance,” “Best New Jazz Artist” by HMV Japan, “Best Solo Musician” by her hometown Miami New Times, and she was hailed as “One of Eight Black Artists Making Waves in 2024” by Symphonic.
She has enjoyed four TOP 10 CDs including her latest album “Time to Love Again” which reached #4 on the U.S. jazz radio chart and remained in the TOP 40 for 20 weeks. “Time to Love Again” also reached #6 on UK’s Sweet Rhythms chart and enjoys worldwide play on both Sirius XM’s Real Jazz & Watercolors stations. These successes were supplemented by a 32-city national tour.
The New York Times raved, “I had the sense of being in the presence of a pop-soul superwoman whose every gesture and inflection conveyed confidence and mastery,” while BroadwayWorld exclaimed, “(She) should be standing on the biggest stages of the world, alongside the biggest divas in the world. Everyone everywhere needs to be exposed to this magical force of musical artistry.”
Two Shows ~ 7:00pm & 9:30pm
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