Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gérard Badini was born April 16, 1931 in Paris, France to an opera singing father. He began playing professionally in the early 1950s, playing clarinet in New Orleans jazz-style ensembles with Michel Attenoux, Jimmy Archey, Lil Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Bill Coleman, and Peanuts Holland.
In 1955, he joined Claude Bolling’s ensemble and then joined him on a worldwide tour as members of Jack Diéval’s orchestra. He switched principally to tenor sax beginning in 1958, continuing to work with Roger Guérin and Geo Daly in the late 1950s. In the 1960s he worked with Alice Babs, Duke Ellington, Jean-Claude Naude, Cat Anderson, Paul Gonsalves, Jef Gilson, and François Guin.
He founded his own group, Swing Machine, in 1973, working in this group with Bobby Durham, Raymond Fol, Michel Gaudry, Helen Humes, Sonny Payne, and Sam Woodyard. From 1977 to 1979, Badini lived in New York City, performing with Roy Eldridge, Major Holley, Oliver Jackson, Dick Katz, Clark Terry, Gerald Wiggins, and Reggie Workman.
In 1984, he formed a new big-band ensemble, Super Swing Machine, which he led and played piano in through the late 1990s. Known as Mr. Swing, bandleader, composer, reedist, and pianist Gérard Badini continues to .
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Milton Suggs was born on April 15th in Chicago, Illinois as a third generation musician. While growing up in Atlanta, Georgia he was continually exposed to music of varying styles, especially with his church choir at the age of seven. He recognized music as a gift from a young age; it was later that he would accept it as a calling. While in elementary and middle school, he gravitated toward the upright bass and later played the alto saxophone and drums, however, it was not until after high school that he committed to the pursuit of music as his life’s work.
Returning to Chicago, he began studying piano with the legendary Willie Pickens, while also honing his craft as a vocalist and performer. In 2012 Milton moved to New York City where he immediately took to performing throughout the city, branching out internationally as a performer and educator.
His voice and approach to music are a reflection not only of his direct lineage, but of the many great voices in Black American Music and culture from the past century and beyond. Firmly rooted in the blues Milton sports a rich baritone with the breadth and power reminiscent of Joe Williams, Donny Hathaway, and Nat King Cole.
Downbeat Magazine’s annual critc’s poll has been repeatedly voted a top 10 rising star male vocalist. Sugg’s fixture in jazz is cemented having worked with artists and bands such as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Orrin Evans, Wycliffe Gordon, Ulysses Owens, and Marquis Hill among others.
Vocalist Milton Suggs has produced four albums to date and is continually developing new projects with new ensembles.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Nicolas Masson was born on April 14, 1972 in Geneva, Switzerland. He took up the saxophone in his youth and at twenty years old he met Cecil Taylor in New York and took lessons from Frank Lowe and Makanda Ken McIntyre. Returning home he enrolled in the jazz program at the Conservatoire Populaire de Musique de Genève with Maurice Magnoni as a saxophone teacher.
While a student he attended master classes withLee Konitz, Dave Douglas and Misha Mengelberg. In 1999 Masson spent the summer in New York City studying with Chris Potter. Graduating from the conservatoire in 2000 with a jazz performance and teaching degree, he returned to New York City for a year and studied regularly with Rich Perry and played with local musicians.
His debut album Awake was released in 2002 on the Swiss label Altri Suoni. The session was recorded with his New York band featuring trumpeter Russ Johnson, bassist Eivind Opsvik and drummer Mark Ferber. A year later they were touring Switzerland and Italy.
Receiving a grant from the Bourse d’Aide à la Création he was able to tour Italy and record his sophomore album Yellow (A Little Orange) that was released in 2006 on the Fresh Sound/New Talent label. In 2005 and 2006, the Quartet toured Italy again, taking part in an itinerant Swiss festival organized by Rome’s Swiss Cultural Centre, sharing the evening with Irène Schweizer, Lucas Niggli and Malcolm Braff.
In 2007, a New York concert, European duo tour with Kris Davis of Switzerland, Italy, France and Germany, a New York gig with the Quartet and a 2009 release Thirty Six Ghosts on Clean Feed Records kept him busy. Saxophonist Nicolas Masson continues to record and play throughout Europe.
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JULIE DEXTER
Julie Dexter is a world-renowned, award-winning British singer-songwriter and producer. She has shared the spotlight with a host of cutting-edge artists, including Mint Condition, Caron Wheeler, Jill Scott, Lalah Hathaway, Omar, Ledisi, Doug Carn, Third World, and Maxi Priest, to name a few. Influenced by such legends as Nancy Wilson, Abbey Lincoln, and Bob Marley, as well as popular icons Omar and Sade, Dexter takes classic soul to the heart of her artistry.
In 1999, Dexter moved to Atlanta, where she now resides. She launched her label, Ketch A Vibe Records, and in 2000 released her critically acclaimed EP Peace of Mind, followed by Dexterity (2002), Conscious (2005), and New Again (2011). She released Moon Bossa, a collaboration with Khari Simmons, in 2007. Her single “Ketch A Vibe” was featured in national radio ads for President Obama’s election campaign. She has also sung for five Atlanta mayors, including mayor Andre Dickens.
Dexter was honored at the Black Women in Jazz Awards with the Afro Caribbean Soul of Jazz Award in 2017. Her music transcends genres, and fans and critics across the globe have followed her journey through the circles of jazz, broken-beat, bossa nova, reggae, Afro-beat, and soul. Her latest album, Déjà Vu (2019), takes listeners on a journey from bossa to reggae. She is an audaciously independent artist with an undeniable connection to her audience.
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The Jazz Voyager
Staying in the northern part of the States, the Jazz Voyager is returning to New York City and heading to Broadway to a well known venue called Smoke. It’s an intimate jazz spot where Buster Willaims will be unveiling his latest album.
Opened in 1999 by co-founders Paul Stache and Frank Christopher, the jazz and supper club is currently owned by Stache and his wife and partner Molly Sparrow Johnson. Located at 2751 Broadway 10025 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, it’s at the junction of 106th. The venue hosts local and renowned jazz artists and has launched an associated record label, Smoke Sessions Records.
Bassist Buster Williams brings with him the talents of alto saxophonist Bruce Williams, Stefon Harris on vibraphone, pianist George Colligan and drummer Lenny White. This engagement is his celebration of the release of his new album, Unalome.
The club’s number is 212-864-6662. For more information on days and time of sets visit https://notoriousjazz.com/event/buster-williams-something-more-2.
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