Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Burton Franklin Bales was born on April 20, 1916 in Stevensville, Montana and began to play piano at age twelve. By the 1930s he was in California playing in hotels and nightclubs. He played regularly in San Francisco, California in the 1940s, with Lu Watters’s Yerba Buena Jazz Band until he was drafted in 1943 and only recorded with that group on one brief session with Bunk Johnson.
After he was discharged for myopia he led his own band from 1943 to 1946 before taking an extended residency at San Francisco’s 1018 Club. He played with Turk Murphy (1949–50), Bob Scobey, and Marty Marsala, then played mostly solo between 1954 and 1966 where one of his regular gigs was at Pier 23.
He recorded extensively for Good Time Jazz, Arhoolie, ABC-Paramount, and Euphonic. Stride pianist Burt Bales transitioned on October 26, 1989, in San Francisco.
More Posts: bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano
Three Wishes
When Nica questioned Bud Powell what his three wishes would be if they could be granted he told her:
- “Not to have to go to the doctors and the hospitals.”
- “To go to Japan.”
- “To make a record.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
More Posts: baroness,composer,history,instrumental,jazz,music,pannonica,piano,three,wishes
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 .
More Posts: bandleader,composer,history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano,saxophone
Three Wishes
Marian McPartland was hanging out with the Baroness when she inquired about her three wishes and she responded by telling her:
- “I don’t need three wishes. Just one. But I can’t tell you what it is.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
More Posts: baroness,composer,history,instrumental,jazz,music,pannonica,piano,three,wishes
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Fraser MacPherson was born on April 10, 1928 in Saint Boniface, Manitoba, Canada. He moved with his parents to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada as a child where he learned piano, clarinet, and alto and tenor saxophones. After relocating to Vancouver, British Columbia to continue a commerce degree, he played in bands led by Ray Norris, Dave Robbins, Paul Ruhland, and Doug Parke.
He led his own groups and eventually took over the leadership of the Cave supper club band.In 1958 Fraser took a year’s leave to study in New York City, adding flute to his list of instruments.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s MacPherson was a first-call studio player in Vancouver, as well as leading the house band at the Cave supper club. He also taught briefly in the Jazz and Commercial Music department at Vancouver Community College, where his students included future Powder Blues Band baritone saxophonist Gordie Bertram and New Orleans based saxophonist and jazz educator John Doheny.
Fraser’s debut album as leader of a small jazz group, Live at the Planetarium, was recorded for broadcast on the French-language CBC radio network. He leased the master tapes and released them on his own independent label, West End Records. The album was re-released by Concord Records, and he recorded several other releases for them. He also recorded for Sackville and Justin Time record labels.
In the summer of 1993, Pacific Music Industry Association (PMIA) created the Fraser MacPherson Scholarship Fund which annually awards grants of $2000 to four to eight aspiring music students.
Fraser MacPherson, who won a Juno Award for Best Jazz Album and was awarded the Order of Canada, transitioned in Vancouver at the age of 65 on September 27, 1993.
More Posts: bandleader,clarinet,history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano,saxophone