Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Hall Franklin Overton was born February 23, 1920 in Bangor, Michigan but grew up in Grand Rapids. As a youngster he found that his few piano lessons were not enough to discover that elusive “something” he was seeking in music. His high school music teacher urged him to study theory and composition at The Chicago Musical College, prior to military service. It was during this overseas duty that he learned to play jazz.
Following his discharge Hall attended the Julliard School of Music, graduated with a Masters and joined the faculty. As an educator he would eventually teach at Yale School of Music and The New School of Social Research. He would receive awards from both The Koussevitzky Foundation and The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
In 1954, his New York City loft at 821 Sixth Avenue, aka the Jazz Loft, provided the perfect setting for the musicians to practice. While composing his classical compositions, he was also deeply immersed in jazz, recording with Stan Getz, Duke Jordan, Jimmy Raney, and Teddy Charles. Thelonious Monk selected him to score his piano works for full orchestra and on February 28, 1959, Thelonious Monk Orchestra At Town Hall was recorded live. Monk later released another live album of Hall’s compositions on Big Band and Quartet in Concert.
Hall’s opera, Huckleberry Finn, commissioned by the Barney Jaffin Foundation, was presented by The Juilliard Opera Company just months before his death on November 24, 1972 from cirrhosis of the liver. Pianist, composer and educator Hall Overton was just 52.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Eddie Higgins was born Edward Haydn Higgins on February 21, 1932 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and began study of piano with his mother. His professional career began in Chicago while attending Northwestern University. He played the most prestigious clubs in Chicago for more than two decades in the 50s and 60s with his longest tenure at the London House, playing opposite Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Errol Garner, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, and George Shearing among others.
As a leader he amassed a number of recordings during the Chicago years but as a sideman he added many more albums working with Wayne Shorter, Coleman Hawkins, Bobby Lewis, Freddie Hubbard, Jack Teagarden and Al Grey to name just a few.
Equally adept in every jazz circle Eddie was able to work in Dixieland, modal, bebop and swing as well as being a persuasive, elegant and sophisticated pianist whether he was soloing or accompanying a singer.
Higgins eventually moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, played in local clubs, performed the jazz festival circuit, toured Europe and Japan, and continued to record up until his death on August 31, 2009 at 77.
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Requisites
The Cats: In the Fifties, Tommy Flanagan was one of the most highly valued pianists in jazz. His appearance on record was primarily as a sideman, well appreciated by his fellow musicians but not recognized for their display of his superior abilities by a wider audience.
This album contains a Flanagan trio track “How Long Has This Been Going On?” surrounded with the choice, empathetic soloists as Coltrane, Burrell and Sulieman. It is still a delight to hear their interaction to this day with Tommy and the all-Detroit rhythm section of Doug Watkins and Louis Hayes. Flanagan penned all of the originals on this album.
Personnel: Tommy Flanagan – piano, John Coltrane – tenor saxophone, Idrees Sulieman – trumpet, Kenny Burrell – guitar, Doug Watkins – bass, Louis Hayes – drums
Record date: Hackensack, New Jersey – April 18, 1957
Supervised by: Bob Weinstock
Songs: Minor Mishap; How Long Has This Been Going On; Eclypso; Solacium; Tommy’s Tune
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Requisites
It’s 1956 when pianist Kenny Drew steps into a New York studio with two absolute legend, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones, to record his first album as a bandleader. The Kenny Drew Trio. This should’ve been his big break, the moment that launched him into the jazz stratosphere but America wasn’t ready to listen.
There’s a twist though. While Drew struggled to find acceptance at home, his brilliance didn’t go unnoticed everywhere. Fast forward to the early 1970s when the album finally gets released in Japan, and suddenly everything clicks. Japanese audiences and critics got it. The record became a best-seller, earning the acclaim it deserved all along.
Recorded across two September days in 1956, with production by the legendary Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, and cover photography by the brilliant Roy De Carava, this trio tackled everything from Duke Ellington’s “Caravan” to Thelonious Monk’s “Ruby, My Dear,” from the Disney classic “When You Wish Upon A Star” to Drew’s own composition “Blues For Nica.”
Sometimes the world has to catch up to genius. Kenny Drew’s story reminds us that great art doesn’t always find its audience right away—but when it does, it’s worth the wait.
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