Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Leonard Geoffrey Feather was born on September 13, 1914 in London, England and learned to play the piano and clarinet without formal training and started writing about jazz and film by his late teens. At age of twenty-one, Feather made his first visit to the United States and after working in the U.K. and the U.S. as a record producer finally settled in New York City in 1939, where he lived until moving to Los Angeles, California in 1960.
His compositions have been widely recorded, including “Evil Gal Blues” and “Blowtop Blues” by Dinah Washington, and what is possibly his biggest hit, “How Blue Can You Get?” by blues artists Louis Jordan and B. B. King, and some of his own recordings as a bandleader are still available. But it was as a journalist, critic, historian, and campaigner that he made his biggest mark as one of the most widely read and most influential writer on jazz, and having written the liner notes for hundreds of jazz albums.
Leonard wrote the lyrics to the Benny Golson jazz composition “Whisper Not” which was then recorded by Ella Fitzgerald on her 1966 Verve release of the same name. He was co-editor of the Metronome Magazine and served as the chief jazz critic for the Los Angeles Times until his death on September 22, 1994 in Sherman Oaks, California at age eighty.
He leaves a legacy of a talented daughter, vocalist Lorraine Feather, a couple of dozen albums and several books such as The Encyclopedia Yearbook of Jazz in the Sixties, Inside Jazz and From Satchmo to Miles among others.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Malachi was born on September 6, 1919 in Red Springs, North Carolina and was the pianist for the epochal Billy Eckstine Bebop Orchestra in 1944-45 and again in 1947. He worked with Illinois Jacquet in 1948, Louis Jordan in 1951, and a series of singers including Pearl Bailey, Dinah Washington, Al Hibbler, Joe Williams and Sarah Vaughan.
Malachi is credited with creating the nickname “Sassy” for Sarah Vaughan, working with her both in the Eckstine Orchestra and later during her solo career. He was also fond of categorizing jazz pianists into “acrobats” and “poets,” classifying himself among the latter.
John opted out of the traveling life of the touring jazz musician in the 1960s, living roughly the last decade and a half of his life in Washington, D.C. freelancing, playing with touring bands and artists when they stopped through, and leading music workshops at clubs like Jimmy MacPhail’s Gold Room and Bill Harris’s Pig’s Foot.
Always the educator, Malachi’s generosity towards younger musicians was legendary. One of the musicians he helped influence recalls that younger players referred to his workshops as “The University of John Malachi”. On February 11, 1987 jazz pianist John Malachi passed away in Washington, D.C.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Richie Powell was born on September 5, 1931 in New York City, the older brother of bebop-icon Bud Powell. He studied piano at City College of New York and played in the bands of Paul Williams, Johnny Hodges and for two years was a member of the group led by Clifford Brown and Max Roach.
Pianist McCoy Tyner, who grew up next door to Richie and brother Bud in Philadelphia, purportedly got some of his inspiration to develop his pentatonic chord voicings because he heard the Richie voice left-hand chords in fourths.
In 1956, after an informal gig at a Philadelphia store called Music City, Powell and Brown were being driven overnight by Powell’s wife Nancy to an engagement in Chicago. During the dark rainy night Nancy lost control of the vehicle on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, heading for Cleveland, and in the early hours of June 26, 1956 all three occupants were killed.
Although sometimes considered less gifted than his brother, he was a respected musician and was beginning to achieve recognition at the time of his death. He left behind a small discography, playing on albums with Dinah Washington, Sonny Rollins but mainly with Max Roach and Clifford Brown.
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Requisites
The Baddest Monk: This 2012 sophomore offering follows the Dancing Monk debut of the Thelonious Monk trilogy by jazz pianist Eric Reed. Having received critical acclaim for both, Reed along with his colleagues prove once again that he can illustrate the breadth of his thought on one of the most idiosyncratic jazz composers. This is an insightful and vital re-examination by a group of young players of the remarkable talent of the composer and sets a new path for those desiring to partake, understand and appreciate.
Personnel: Eric Reed – piano, Seamus Blake – tenor saxophone, Etienne Charles – trumpet, Matt Clohesy – bass, Henry Cole – drums and Jose James – vocal
Producer: Joe Fields / Savant Records
Record Date: Dubway Studios, New York City / December 5, 2011
Cover: Keiji Obata
Songs: Rhythm-A-Ning, Epistrophy, Green Chimneys, Monk’s Mood, ‘Round Midnight, Evidence, Monk Beurre Rouge, Bright Mississippi, The Baddest Monk
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Requisites
Maiden Voyage is a concept album aimed at creating an oceanic atmosphere. Many of the song titles refer to marine biology or the sea, and the musicians develop the concept through their use of space and almost tidal dynamics. Three of the albums tunes – Maiden Voyage, The Eye of the Hurricane and Dolphin Dance have become jazz standards. The album was presented with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.
Personnel: Herbie Hancock – piano, Ron Carter – bass, Tony Williams –drums, Freddie Hubbard – trumpet, George Coleman – tenor saxophone
Supervised by: Rudy Van Gelder
Record Date: Blue Note / May 17, 1969
Cover: The sailboat lends to the nautical theme of a first outing.
Songs: Maiden Voyage, The Eye Of The Hurricane, Little One, Survival Of The Fittest and Dolphin Dance
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