Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Otis Johnson was born on January 13, 1908 in Richmond, Virginia. He began his career in the late 1920s, working with Gene Rodgers, Henri Saparo, Eugene Kennedy, and Charlie Skeete. In 1929 he joined Luis Russell’s band, and rejoined Kennedy’s group before working with Benny Carter in 1934. He played with Charlie Turner and Willie Bryant in the mid-1930s. 

Toward the end of the decade he performed with Louis Armstrong and Don Redman. On December 30, 1940 Otis enlisted in the 369th Coast Artillery of the New York Army National Guard. He was discharged on October 13, 1945.

Trumpeter Otis Johnson, who never returned to active performance after leaving the military, died on February 28, 1994.

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RACHEL THERRIEN LATIN JAZZ PROJECT

Trumpeter Rachel Therrien has established herself as one of the most innovative voices working at the crossroads of jazz and world music. This Latin Jazz Project is the fruit of her graduate studies at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, her numerous musical experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean, and her 20 years of collaboration with the Latin jazz community in Montreal, New York and Toronto. As part of this exceptional group, she offers a refined repertoire that includes original pieces and her arrangements of the great Afro-Latin jazz classics. From salsa to danzón, from rumba to chachachá, Rachel and her virtuoso accomplices will bring you to dance with their unique and original music tinged with influences from Cuba, New York and Colombia, among others. A show full of color… and heat!

The French-Canadian trumpeter, composer and producer boasts an enviable curriculum known for her very personal signature with influences from Jazz to Afro-Latin and Global Music. Rachel works between New York and Montreal.

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TAL YAHALOM TRIO

Tal Yahalom is an award-winning guitarist, composer and bandleader based in Brooklyn, New York since 2014. Drawing from a wide range of influences – spanning jazz and impressionistic classical music to Brazilian repertoire and South-American guitar traditions – Tal aims to create engaging storytelling, adventurous interplay and a deep sense of groove while expanding on the traditional roles and textural capabilities of the guitar.

As a leader, he performs regularly with diverse solo programs, a chamber-jazz quintet (set to release its debut album later this year), a collective post-rock trio KADAWA, and various trios which have featured Caroline Davis, Dan Weiss, Eivind Opsvik and Rogerio Boccato.

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JOHNATHAN BLAKE QUARTET

TJG Mentoring Series Vol. 9 presents The Johnathan Blake Quartet ftg. Dabin Ry

Johnathan Blake, one of the most accomplished drummers of his generation, has also proven himself a complete and endlessly versatile musician. Blake’s gift for composition and band leading reflects years of live and studio experience across the aesthetic spectrum. Heralded by NPR Music as “the ultimate modernist,” he has collaborated with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Tom Harrell, Hans Glawischnig, Avishai Cohen, Donny McCaslin, Linda May Han Oh, Jaleel Shaw, Chris Potter, Maria Schneider, Alex Sipiagin, Kris Davis and countless other distinctive voices. DownBeat once wrote, “It’s a testament to Blake’s abilities that he makes his presence felt in any context.” A frequent presence on Blue Note records over the past several years, Blake has contributed his strong, limber pulse and airy precision to multiple leader releases from Blue Note artists including Dr. Lonnie Smith’s Breathe (2021), All in My Mind (2018) and Evolution (2016) and Kenny Barron’s Concentric Circles (2018), the latter whose trio Blake has been a vital member for nearly 15 years.

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Daily Dose O fJazz…

Ronald Shannon Jackson was born on January 12, 1940 in Fort Worth, Texas and as a child he was immersed in music. His father monopolized the local jukebox business and established the only African American-owned record store in the metropolitan area. His mother played piano and organ at their local church. Beginning at age five until nine he took piano lessons and in the third grade he studied music with John Carter. He graduated from I.M. Terrell High School, where he played with the marching band and learned about symphonic percussion. By the age of 15, he was playing professionally. His first paid gig was with tenor saxophonist James Clay.

Attending Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri gave him access to St. Louis, Missouri and the musicians touring the Midwest. His roommate was pianist John Hicks and his bandmates also included Lester Bowie and Julius Hemphill. Transferring first to Texas Southern University, then to Prairie View A & M before landing at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut studying history and sociology. In 1966, through trumpeter Kenny Dorham he attended New York University on a full music scholarship.

Once in New York City he performed with many jazz musicians, including Charles Mingus, Betty Carter, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson, Kenny Dorham, McCoy Tyner, Stanley Turrentine, Charles Tyler and Albert Ayler. By 1975 he joined Ornette Coleman’s electric free funk band, Prime Time, where he learned composition and harmolodics. He would go on to play Paris, France, record four albums with Cecil Taylor, and formed his band, The Decoding Society, in 1979. In addition to leading Decoding Society lineups, guitarist James Blood Ulmer recruited Ron for another group.

Continuing to push the envelope over the next few years he formed several groups including Last Exit, SXL, Mooko, and Power Tools. Jackson joined trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith’s Golden Quartet, then played with the Punk Funk All Stars, and toured Europe with The Last Poets. In 2011 he formed a power trio called Encryption.

Drummer Ron Jackson who recorded nineteen albums as a leader, six with Last Exit and as a sideman fifteen with Albert Ayler, James Blood Ulmer, Cecil Taylor, SXL, Music Revelation Ensemble, and Ornette Coleman, died of leukemia on October 19, 2013, aged 73.

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