Daily Dose Of Jazz…
David Owen Mackay was born on March 24, 1932 in Syracuse, New York. He attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut from 1950 to 1954, where he was the first blind student to graduate. He then attended Boston University from 1956 to 1958, where he studied with Margaret Charloff. He also studied with Lennie Tristano in New York City, then at the Lenox School of Jazz where he studied with Bill Evans, and lastly at The Hartford School of Music where he studied with Asher Zlotnik.
By the mid-1960s, Mackay joined the Hindustani Jazz Sextet with Don Ellis, Harihar Rao, Emil Richards, Steve Bohannon, Chuck Domanico and Ray Neapolitan. During this period he played with the Don Ellis Orchestra. The late Sixties saw him and Vicky Hamilton formed a duo and produced two recordings together with instrumentation including flute and saxes from Ira Schulman and guitar from Joe Pass.
In the mid-1970s, Dave along with Bill Henderson, and Joyce Collins formed a unique trio which toured the northwest, recorded two Grammy nominated albums for Discovery, and by 1981 they were performing on the television show Ad Lib. By the end of the decade with Lori Bell, and Ron Satterfield he formed the group Interplay, which garnered them four Grammy npominations. In the 1990s, he teamed up with Stephanie Haynes.
By the turn of the century he teamed with John Giannelli on bass and Joe Correro on drums performing Bill Evans tunes in a celebration of the Life and Music of bassist Scott LaFaro. He then hooked up with bassist Kenny Wild and singer Tierney Sutton. He would go on to perform with Serge Chaloff, Sonny Stitt, Bob Wilber, Bobby Hackett, Jim Hall, Don Ellis, Emil Richards, Shelly Manne, Chet Baker, Joe Pass, Warne Marsh, Kai Winding, Stephanie Haynes, and Tierney Sutton.
As a composer a couple of Mackay’s original compositions were later recorded by Cal Tjader, and by the Baja Marimba Band. He wrote a majority of the music with lyricist Barbara Schill for a hit stage musical comedy titled Is It Just Me, Or Is It Hot In Here?
Pianist, vocalist and composer Dave Mackay, with roots in the works of Art Tatum, Bud Powell, and Bill Evans, who favored the standards of the 1940s and 1950s and the bossa novas of Luíz Eça, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and João Gilberto, transitioned on July 29, 2020.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Michael John David Westbrook was born March 21, 1936 in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England and grew up in Torquay. After a spell in accountancy and his National Service he went to art school and studied painting and where he began his first bands in 1958, soon joined by such musicians as John Surman, Lou Gare and Keith Rowe.
Moving to London, England in 1962, Westbrook led numerous bands, large and small, and played regularly at the Old Place and the Little Theatre Club at Garrick Yard, St Martin’s Lane. Together with Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath, Westbrook shared the role of house-band at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.
Becoming a key figure in the development of British jazz, Mike produced several big-band records for the Deram label, with the newly formed Mike Westbrook Concert Band, which varied in size from 10 to 26 musicians. His music was given exposure on BBC Radio. The British Arts Council awarded him a bursary to develop ‘Metropolis’ for an enlarged Concert Band, and the jazz suite was further broadcast on BBC Radio Three.
The 1970s saw a wide range of different projects beyond his orchestra work including but not limited to carnival processions, jazz-rock, avant-rock. At 80 years old, Westbrook, as part of the celebrations, recorded his first solo piano album for 40 years, titled PARIS.
Pianist, composer, and writer of orchestrated jazz pieces Mike Westbrook, who was awarded the OBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), and recorded his latest album London Bridge Live in Zurich 1990 in 2022, continues to expand his musical horizons.
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ELIANE ELIAS
Hot off her 2022 GRAMMY® win for Best Latin Jazz Album for Mirror Mirror, (also recently nominated for a Latin GRAMMY®) internationally acclaimed recording artist, pianist, singer, composer and arranger Eliane Elias’ distinctive musical style and artistry is one of the most celebrated and recognizable sounds in jazz and Brazilian music. She blends her Brazilian roots and alluring voice with her virtuosic instrumental jazz, her classical and compositional skills, while she consistently displays her pianistic mastery and ability to integrate the many artistic roles she takes on.
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JEFF JENKINS
Jeff Jenkins – Piano | Darryl White – Trumpet, Flugelhorn | Dale Black – Acoustic Bass | Jeffrey Johnson – Drums
Omaha-based jazz pianist, composer, and educator Jeff Jenkins was recently a professor of music in the Thompson Jazz Studies Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder.Grounded in a wide range of jazz styles, he has released seven original CDs in the last 15 years, while appearing as a featured player on dozens more. Throughout his career Jenkins has appeared locally, nationally and internationally in festivals and clubs with his eponymous ensembles, or as a guest artist with jazz greats including Freddie Hubbard, Eddie Harris, Clark Terry, The New York Voices, Bobby Hutcherson, and John Abercrombie, among others. A product of the acclaimed jazz program at the University of North Texas, Jenkins continued his piano studies in the New York City studios of Fred Hirsch, Richie Beirach, and Kenny Barron. Based in Manhattan in the 1980s, Jenkins performed in noted jazz venues throughout the city, and appeared as principal pianist forseveral Broadway musicals. A gifted bandleader and in-demand sideman across Colorado, Omaha, and the western region, Jenkins also mixes and produces music professionally in his Mixdown Sound recording studio.
Darryl White’s performance experiences include a wide range of idioms. He has appeared as guest soloist with the Omaha Symphony, Lincoln Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Mesa Chamber Orchestra, Grand Junction Symphony, Lake Forest Chamber Orchestra and many other solo appearances across the nation. He has also appeared as guest soloist for several international festivals including the International Brass Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Montreux Jazz Festival, the International Women’s Brass Conference, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the Brandon Jazz Festival, the New Mexico Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival and Roaring Fork Jazz Festival in Aspen, Colorado as well as with college jazz bands and high schools across the continent. He can be heard on several recordings including performances with the Denver Brass, “Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue” on Centaur Records, 1997; and “America, The Golden Dream” on Delos International, 1996. He can also be heard on the Capri Record Label with jazz tenor saxophonist Keith Oxman on a 1997 release entitled “Out on a Whim and a 1999 release entitled “Hard Times”. White currently has three solo recordings released. The first is a 1999 release entitled, “Ancient Memories,” and a 2002 release entitled “In the Fullness of Time”. The 2002 release features several original compositions including “Lil I” featured on the PBS special “New Beginnings”. Lastly, White released his first classical recording, “Resonance” (2007) which features ECM recording artist/pianist Art Lande.
Born in Wichita Kansas Dale began playing the clarinet at 8 years old and later became interested in string instruments taking on the upright bass and later the electric bass in church. In 2008 Dale moved to Los Angeles California where he was embraced for his contributions to the west coast scene and beyond. Working with a myriad of artist including Terence Blanchard, Kamasi Washington, Marcus Belgrave, Terrace Martin, Kenny Burrell and the Late Solomon Burke to name a few. Dale continues to record as well as tour and has currently been working on releasing his much-antisipated debut album this fall.
A native of Fayetteville, North Carolina and a recent transplant to the Omaha area, Jeffery Johnson is a soulful, swinging presence on the scene. Steeped in the tradition of gospel music as a child, Johnson eventually attended the University of North Carolina at Pembroke to pursue a B.A. in Music with a concentration in Jazz Studies. During his undergraduate program, Jeffery played R&B, Gospel, and Jazz throughout North Carolina, and embarked on another musical journey to obtain his M.M. in Jazz Studies at North Carolina Central University under the direction of Dr. Ira Wiggins, where he was fortunate to learn from Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo.
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CYRUS CHESTNUT QUINTET
Freddie Hendrix – trumpet
Stacy Dillard – tenor saxophone
Cyrus Chestnut – piano
Gerald Cannon – bass
Willie Jones III – drums
Cyrus Chestnut, one of the great jazz pianists, leads an exciting quintet with trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, tenor saxophonist Stacy Dillard, bassist Gerald Cannon, and drummer Willie Jones III. “His brand of crisp articulation and blues-inflected harmony evokes another era… multifaceted and dynamic…” says The New York Times. Inspired by gospel music throughout his life, Cyrus draws on a range of musical influences while never straying too far from the blues, which The New York Daily News says makes him “the rightful heir to Bud Powell, Art Tatum, and Erroll Garner.”
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