Daily Dose Of Jazz…

George Gruntz was born in Basel, Switzerland on June 24, 1932. The young pianist won prizes at Zurich Jazz Festivals and in 1958 was pianist with the International Youth Band at the Newport Jazz Festival. While there he accompanied, among others Louis Armstrong and in an instant became famous.

George went on to work with jazz musicians Phil Woods, Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, Chet Baker, Art Farmer, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin and Mel Lewis to name a few. From 1972 to 1994 he served as artistic director for the JazzFest Berlin, composed his first opera, founded the Piano Conclave and the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band and moderated the TV music series “All You Need Is Love”.

An accomplished arranger and composer, having been commissioned by many orchestra and symphonies, he is also an organist, harpsichordist and keyboardist with more that three dozen albums to his credit. He continued to compose, arrange, record and perform until his death on January 10, 2013.

Put A Dose In Your Pocket

More Posts: harpsichord,keyboard,organ,piano

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Benny Payne was born on June 18, 1907 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and began playing piano when he was 12, working as an organist at a Philadelphia church as a teenager. His professional career started in 1926, working locally and with Wilbur Sweatman’s band for six months in 1928.

Fats Waller gave him some unofficial lessons; they recorded two piano duets in 1929. Payne worked as accompanist for singer Elizabeth Welch, was a member of the Blackbirds of 1929 show and toured Europe, appeared in Hot Chocolates and accompanied Gladys Bentley.

His foremost claim to fame was as Cab Calloway’s regular pianist during the singer’s prime years from 1931 until he had to join the Army in late 1943, then again after the war until ’46. Although he did not solo much, he was a major asset to the group and gave the big band stability in addition to contributing to the solid rhythm section.

He worked with Pearl Bailey, led his own trio and then started working in 1950 started a long relationship as pianist and musical director for lounge signer Billy Daniels until the singer’s death. In 1964, Payne appeared on Broadway in a revival of “Golden Boy” with Daniels and Sammy Davis, Jr.

He primarily performed in the cabaret world, led only one recording session as a leader for Kapp Records in 1955. Pianist Benny Payne retired and settled in Los Angeles, passing away on January 2, 1986.

Jazz Is Global – Share

More Posts: piano

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Erroll Louis Garner was born on June 15, 1921 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began playing piano at age 3. Self-taught, he never learned to read music and remained an “ear player” all his life. At the age of 7, Erroll began appearing on radio station KDKA with a group called the Candy Kids, by 11 he was playing on the Allegheny riverboats and by the time he turned 14 in 1937, he joined local saxophonist Leroy Brown.

He moved to New York in 1944, worked with bassist Slam Stewart and though not a bebop musician in 1947 played with Charlie Parker on the famous “Cool Blues” session. Short in stature (5 foot 2 inches), Garner performed sitting on multiple telephone directories except in New York, where a Manhattan phone book was sufficient. He was also known for his occasional vocalizations while playing, which can be heard on many of his recordings and he helped bridge the gap for jazz musicians between nightclubs and the concert hall.

His best-selling album recorded at an Army base in Carmel, California was Concert By The Sea; and his best-known composition, the ballad “Misty” is a jazz standard and was featured in the 1971 Clint Eastwood vehicle “Play Misty for Me”. The brilliant virtuoso with a distinctive swing style was reportedly Tonight Show host Johnny Carson’s favorite jazz musician, toured both at home and abroad until his death from lung cancer on January 2, 1977.

Give The Gift Of Knowledge

More Posts: piano

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Burton Greene was born June 14, 1937 in Chicago, Illinois and rose to popularity in the Sixties on New York’s free jazz scene gigging with Alan Silva and Marion Brown. He credited the Free Form Improvisation Ensemble in 1963, then joined Bill Dixon’s and Cecil Taylor’s Jazz Composers Guild in ’64.

During this period he gigged with Rashied Ali, Albert Ayler, Gato Barbieri, Byard Lancaster, Sam Rivers, Patty Waters and others while recording two albums as a leader. Burton moved to Europe in 1969, first to Paris then to Amsterdam delving into the Klezmer medium and recording with several different group configurations into the 90s.

Since the mid-1990s Greene has often performed and recorded in New York and along the East Coast with a modest catalogue that includes eleven recordings.. His autobiography written over 20 years, Memoirs of A Musical Pesty-Mystic, was published in 2001. His recent performances and recorded groups based in New York include duets, trios, quartets and quintets with Mark Dresser, Roy Campbell, Lou Grassi, Adam Lane, Ed and George Schuller, Russ Nolan and Paul Smoker.

Take A Dose On The Road

More Posts: piano

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Geri Allen was born on June 12, 1957 in Pontiac, Michigan and received her early jazz education at Cass Technical High School in Detroit and the Jazz Development Workshop under the mentorship of Marcus Belgrave. In 1979 she graduated fro Howard University with a jazz studies degree, moved to New York and studied with Kenny Barron. She went on to get a degree in ethnomusicology from the University of Pittsburgh, returned to New York and joined the Brooklyn based M-Base crowd, recording several albums with Steve Coleman, beginning in 1985.

Geri’s 1984 debut album “The Printmakers” showcased the pianist’s more avant-garde tendencies, followed by “Etudes” and “Twenty-One” in 1995 in which she was the first recipient of Soul Train’s Lady of Soul Award for jazz album of the year. She has played with a luminous list of musicians not the least Ron Carter, Tony Williams, Charlie Haden, Anthony Cox, Betty Carter, Ornette Coleman, Jack DeJohnette, Mary Stallings and Charles Lloyd.

Geri Allen currently teaches as Associate Professor of Jazz Piano & Improvisation Studies at the University of Michigan as well as recording and touring with Charles Lloyd; and in 2007 participated in the documentary film titled “Live Music, Community & Social Conscience” that looks at how music connects us to our humanity, and to each other regardless of borders, politics, culture economics, or religion. She was the 2008 recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Allen has received many awards such as the “African-American Classical Music Award”, “A Salute to African-American Women: Phenomenal Woman”, nominations in 2011 for the NAACP Image Award for Best Jazz Album, “Geri Allen & Timeline Live” and for both The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards for “Live Performance Album” and for “Best Jazz Pianist”, by the Jazz Journalists Association.

As an educator Geri has taught Jazz & Contemporary Improvisation at the School Of Music Theatre & Dance, at the University Of Michigan and was a curator in New York City at the STONE. Since 2013 she’s been teaching at her alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh, as an Associate Professor of Music and as the Director of the Jazz Studies Program.

Pianist Geri Allen continued to perform, tour and record until she passed away on June 27, 2017, two weeks after her 60th birthday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after losing her battle with cancer..

Inspire A Young Mind

More Posts: piano