Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Pepsi Auer was born Josef Auer on June 14, 1928 in Munich, Germany. He first played accordion in a youth orchestra, then he taught himself to play the vibraphone in 1936. A move to America in 1945 saw him performing in jazz clubs and by 1949 he moved to the piano. He would go on to work in the combo of Freddy Christmann in 1954, ultimately taking leadership two years later.
Pepsi worked with Freddie Brocksieper in 1958, the German All Stars in ’58, worked and toured from 1958 to 1960 with Albert Mangelsdorff jazz ensemble and then with Kurt Edelhagen. By the Sixties his style of approach mimicked Bud Powel and Horace Silver and in 1962 he worked in the Bayerischen Rundfunks.
Auer accompanied Stan Getz, Eric Dolphy and Benny Bailey on their tours of Germany, as well as with Miriam Klein. He would team up once again with Freddie Brocksieper from 1955-1964 and participate in recording sessions as well as with the German All Stars. From the mid-1960s he worked as a studio musician and increasingly composed music for television such as “A Summer With Nicole”.
In 1967 he took part in the Montreux Jazz Festival as a member of the Jazz Orchestra of the Bayerischer Rundfunk, where he and Don Manza were co-leaders. Pianist, vibraphonist and composer Pepsi Auer passed away on March 29, 2013.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Eddie Beal was born June 13, 1910 in Redlands, California. He started on drums but switched to piano in his teens. Early in the 1930s he worked in the orchestras of Earl Dancer and Charlie Echols and 1933 to 1936 he toured China with Buck Clayton. Following that stint he freelanced in California with Maxine Sullivan and others until 1941.
After military service from 1941–43, Beal accompanied Ivie Anderson and then led his own trio accompanying Billie Holiday at one point. He also worked in the Spirits of Rhythm. As a composer, he penned the tunes “Softly” (covered by Holliday) and “Bye and Bye”, a hit for The Turbans. He plays on the soundtrack to the 1951 film The Strip, he also makes an appearance in the film.
His later recording credits included but not limited to work with Toni Harper, Jimmy Mundy, Herb Jeffries, Helen Humes and Red Callender. He led his own group in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1973-74, and in 1974-75 he played with Tommy Dorsey.
Pianist Eddie Beal passed away on December 15, 1984 in Los Angeles, California.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Della Griffin was born June 12, 1925 in Newberry, South Carolina but grew up in New York, the 19th of 20th children. She greatly admired and was influenced by Count Basie, Charlie Barnet, and most specifically Billie Holiday. She began singing when she was 12 and a few years after her graduation in 1943 from Jamaica High School in Queens, New York, she began singing professionally.
1950 found Griffin and Frances Kelley forming one of the first all female R&B singing group that played in small clubs whenever they could for about a year. In 1951, Della invited Jerry Blaine, the owner of Jubilee Records, to hear the group perform. So impressed by the group that he signed them the next day and in January 1952 Jubilee released “The Enchanters” first record, they began touring, dropped their second record and two members left the group.
Della and Kelley were determined to continue their careers and replaced the two members becoming the “Dell-Tones” after lead singer and drummer Della. They went on to record with Brunswick and Rainbow record labels, and toured with Jimmy Forrest. By 1957 the Dell-Tones slowly began to drift apart and Della left to perform on her own.
Over the years Griffin migrated towards jazz touring with and playing in support to many artists including Sonny Stitt, Benny Green, Illinois Jacquet, and Etta Jones. She began performing again in New York City clubs including the Blue Note and The Blue Book where she stayed for years.
In 1984, Della was hit by a car and took a break from singing. She came back as a featured singer that garnered her more attention than her drumming. Recording with Houston Person, she began performing overseas at age 88, she has since all but ceased her performances and appearances. While singing remained her passion, vocalist Della Griffin, who was also proficient on the drums, alto saxophone, and piano, transitioned in New York City on August 9, 2022, at the age of 100..
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Nils Lindberg was born on June 11, 1933 in Uppsala, Sweden to a family of musicians from Gagnef, Dalecarlia. His musical taste and influence come from the traditional folk music of his home. He studied piano as a child and classical composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm with Lars-Erik Larsson and Karl-Birger Blomdahl.
Lindberg is known both as a jazz composer and musician, but also compases for choir and symphony. Several of his works are written in a style combing elements of jazz, Swedish folk music and classical music. He has recorded sixteen albums as a leader since his debut with Sax Appeal in 1960.
For several years Nils Lindberg worked together with one of Sweden’s leading vocalists Alice Babs, as a composer, arranger, pianist and conductor. He has also written arrangements for Duke Ellington, with whom Babs performed and recorded with. He has collaborated with internationally renowned artists like Josephine Baker, Mel Tormé and Judy Garland, and has toured Europe and Brazil, as well as the United States, where he has also been invited to give lectures.
Nils Lindberg, pianist and composer was awarded the Jussi Björling scholarship in 1990 and the medal Litteris et Artibus in 2006 for his contributions to music. He continues to compose, perform, record and tour.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Elisabetta Serio was born on June 1, 1972 in Italy. Inspired by the music of all genres she heard helped form her artistic personality. As a child, she trained in classical and modern studying at the Conservatorio Nicola Sala in Benevento, Italy. She graduated with a degree in jazz and pursued further studies with Maestro Valerio Silvestro and followed with seminars in Rome with Barry Harris and also the Italian musicians Rita Marctulli and bassist Pippo Matino.
Her musical journey in the strict sense is “the street” with the conventional forms of love and sacrifice make it a viable learning ground. This makes each performance unique and unrepeatable.
Modern jazz pianist Elisabetta Serio continues to collaborate with her countrymen musicians such as Pino Daniele, Rino Zurzolo – double bassist, Matino as well as James Senese, Tullio De Piscopo, Rino Zurrolo, Enzo Gragnianello. She has worked with international pop stars Noa, dipped into the funky blues with British singer Z Star and ventured into world music withSarah Jamne Morris.
She leads her own trio, drummer Leonardo De Lorenzo and bassist Marco de Tilla performing throughout Italy, at festivals around the world and in most jazz clubs. She often invites trumpeter Fulvio Siqurta for her quartet and Morris is a frequent guest. With all this she still finds time to participate on numerous recording and performing projects as a sideman/woman.
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