Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Wu Fei was born on May 12, 1977 in Beijing, China. From the age of four she began her music studies first on the guzheng and then piano the following year, practicing two to four hours everyday. At fourteen she tested into the China Conservatory of Music and studied composition before and then at Mills College in the United States.
Wu Fei, who is also a composer, vocalist and improviser, combine East with West in her approach to her music. In 2007 she released her debut solo album A Distant Youth with accompanying guitar, violin and percussion. Her sophomore project titled Yuan followed the following year.
She has recorded with Abigail Washburn Carla Kihlstedt, Helge Andres Norbakkeh and two Fred Firth albums, as well as on his soundtrack for the PBS documentary film The Happy End Problem. Her performance was highlighted in the 2009 Shan Qi music DVD and she gave a live performance on guzheng and voice at the Hermes fashion show during Paris Fashion Week. Wu Fei, avant-garde and experimental jazz musician, continues to perform, compose and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alekos Vretos was born on May 11, 1976 in Athens, Greece. He studied oud and piano in his youth. While attending Berklee College of Music he studied composition. Since graduating he has been masterfully merging jazz, Arabic, Greek and Latin music in a blend of sounds from traditional instruments. As a bandleader, he has developed a unique atmosphere for his music by keeping traditional sound in the front line and expanding it through jazz improvisation and exploding rhythmic development.
Vretos made his first appearance on a recording titled Yunan with The Meliti Ensemble in 2004 to critical acclaim. As a leader he released his debut album Mergin in 2009, taking the oud into unchartered waters leaning heavily on jazz but with a fine hint of traditional Arabian sound.. That same year he launched his own indie label and management company Jadeo Music, making this the inaugural project.
Alekos features world, jazz and classical music in his playing as well as his fellow artists. He was included in 2013 list of the 100+1 most influential people in the Greek music scene. He has performed in major venues in Grece, the UK, Palestine, Mexico and the United States. He continues to perform, record, tour and collaborate with jazz big bands, orchestras and fellow composers.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Mickey Tucker was born on April 28, 1941 in Durham, North Carolina and began on piano at age six, playing in church when he was young. By the 1960s he was doing studio work with R&B musicians such as Little Anthony & The Imperials, Damita Jo, and accompanying comedian Timmie Rogers, switching to jazz music late in the decade.
In the late ’60s and ’70s Mickey played with Bill Harman, Junior Cook, James Moody, Frank Foster, Roland Kirk, Eric Kloss, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Roy Brooks, Eddie Jefferson, Billy Harper, Philly Joe Jones, George Benson,, Willis Jackson and Final Edition.
The 1980s saw Tucker performing with the Art Farmer and Benny Golson group The Jazztet, and with Richie Cole, Phil Woods and Louis Hayes. He would work with Junior Cook, and the Jazztet again in the Nineties as well as with Bob Ackerman.
Pianist Mickey Tucker has released eleven albums as a soloist or leader, and another 10 as a sideman. He moved to Sydney, Australia and is currently pursuing his musical endeavors in jazz as a pianist and organist.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Dudley Stuart John Moore was born on April 19, 1935 in London, England. Notably short in stature and born with clubfeet he was the butt of children’s jokes. He became a choirboy at the age of six and by eleven he earned a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music where he took up harpsichord, organ, violin, musical theory and composition. He rapidly developed into a highly talented pianist and organist and was playing the pipe organ at local church weddings by the age of 14. He attended Dagenham County High School where he received musical tuition from a dedicated teacher, Peter Cork, who would also become a lifelong friend and confidant.
Moore’s musical talent won him an organ scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford and it was during his university years that he developed a love of jazz. He soon became an accomplished pianist and composer and began working with John Dankworth and Cleo Laine. During the 1960s he formed the Dudley Moore Trio, with drummer Chris Karan and bassist Pete McGurk. Moore’s admitted principal musical influences were Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner. Mastering the latter’s cadence he recorded songs like Baubles, Bangles and Beads, My Blue Heaven, Indiana and Autumn Leaves among others. The trio performed regularly on British television, made numerous recordings and had a long-running residency at Peter Cook’s London nightclub, The Establishment.
Dudley became an American household name in his role as Arthur but as his star waned he opted to concentrate on the piano, continuing to work as a composer and pianist, writing scores for a number of films and giving piano concerts. Moore co-owned the fashionable restaurant 72 Market Street OysterBar & Grill in Venice, California and played the piano whenever he was there.
In June 2001, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Pianist, composer, actor and comedian Dudley Moore passed away on March 27, 2002 as a result of pneumonia, secondary to immobility caused by progressive supranuclear palsy in Plainfield, New Jersey.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Mark Sherman was born April 17, 1957 in Manhattan, New York City to a Juillliard trained soprano mother who performed with the Cleveland and Boston symphonies, so it was natural that he studied classical piano as a child.
Sherman graduated from The High School of Music and in 1975, then went on to study classical percussion at Juilliard. He performed in ensembles under the direction of Leonard Bernstein, Sir George Solti, Zubin Mehta and Herbert Von Karajan. While there he would jam regularly with Wynton Marsalis. During the course of his career, Sherman also studied with Elvin Jones, Rohland Kohloff, Justin Diccocco, Roland Hanna and Jackie Byard among others.
While still in his teens, Mark played drums in a trio with pianist Kenny Kirkland who he introduced to Wynton. At 21, he began working on Broadway and in New York’s active studio scene, playing percussion, piano, drums and vibraphone. In 1980 he released his first album Fulcrum Point on Unisphere records. The decade saw him in studio working on commercial jingles.
Sherman spent a lot of his time in the studio in the 1980s, working on commercial jingles. Pianist Mike Renzi took him under his wing, connecting him with Peggy Lee and other singers performing with Lee, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Lena Horne and Ruth Brown. In 1986 he signed with Columbia Records and released his major label debut, A New Balance.
He continued to perform with Peggy Lee in the early 1990s, began a seven-year playing relationship with Larry Coryell, became an active studio musician, and played on numerous films and Broadway soundtracks. Reemerging as a leader playing vibraphone, he also continued his active career as a sideman, recording with Capathia Jenkins, Jennifer Holiday, Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz Minnelli and others.
Sherman continued to release his own albums on Miles High Records, won the Rising Star (Vibes) category in the Down Beat Critics Poll in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 and has been a Jazz Ambassador for the U.S. State Department and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Vibraphonist, pianist and drummer Mark Sherman is currently on the faculty of Juilliard jazz program, New Jersey City University and the New York Jazz Workshop.
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