Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Orrin Keepnews born March 2, 1923 in Bronx borough of New York City and graduated from Columbia University with a degree in English in 1943. And was subsequently involved in bombing raids over Japan in the final months of World War II before returning for graduate studies at Columbia in 1946.
While working as an editor for the book publishers Simon & Schuster he moonlighted as editor of The Record Changer magazine in 1948 and by 1952 along with the magazine’s owner Bill Grauer, produced a series of reissues on RCA Victor’s Label “X”. The following year they founded Riverside Records, which was originally devoted to reissue projects in the traditional and swing jazz idioms.
Signing pianist Randy Weston was the label’s first modern jazz artist, who helped them to begin paying attention to the current jazz scene. Their most significant early move came in 1955, when they were made aware of the availability of Thelonious Monk, who was leaving Prestige and from this point, the label concentrated on the burgeoning modern jazz scene.
Keepnews produced significant young artists as Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Wes Montgomery, Johnny Griffin, Jimmy Heath and was soon rivaling Blue Note and Prestige as a New York independent jazz label. In 1961, Keepnews produced what many regard as one of the greatest live jazz recordings of all time with the Bill Evans Trio, Sunday At The Village Vanguard and Waltz For Debby. However, in 1963 Grauer died of a heart attack and a year later the company was bankrupt, closing the Riverside doors. Not to be trumped, Keepnews founded Milestone Records in ’66 and released albums by McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Lee Konitz and Gary Bartz. 1972 saw him in San Francisco as jazz A&R for Fantasy Records who bought both Riverside and Milestone masters.
Returning to freelancing he opened the doors of Landmark Records in 1985 that eventually passed to Muse Records in 1993. Over the course of his career he has won several Grammy Awards, including Best Album Notes and Best Historical Album; was given the Trustees Award for Lifetime Achievement, received an NEA Jazz Masters Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 in the field of jazz.
He continued to be responsible for extensive reissue compilations, including the Duke Ellington 24CD RCA Centennial set in 1999 and Riverside’s Keepnews Editions series. Orrin Keepnews, writer and record producer, passed away on March 1, 2015 in El Cerrito, California.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frederick Walker was born in St. Louis, Missouri on July 16, 1942. He received his high school equivalency from the United State Armed Forces Institute, then went on to study criminal justice for two years from 1873 to 1975 at St. Louis Community College.
In 1980, Fred founded Star City/St. Louis Records and produced two 45 releases with the Nightwind Band titled Later For That and Why Can’t We. He eventually formed Star City Enterprise encompassing Star City Productions, Star City/St. Louis Records and Saxy Jazz.
His Star City Productions deals with the production of recorded music and the small studio offers digital recording capabilities, CD label production, graphic design and other services related to the production of recorded sound. It also offers copyright registration assistance, music society membership, ISRC encoding and much more.
Soprano and alto saxophonist Fred Walker continues to perform, record and grow his company with new individuals and groups signing on.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jason Miles was born June 30, 1951 in Brooklyn, New York. He went to Indiana State University and when jazz fusion was becoming popular in the 1970s he was in New York creating innovative techniques in synthesizer programming and electronic music.
In 1979 he recorded his debut album Cozmopolitan with Michael Brecker and Marcus Miller, although it was never released. During the 1980s he was a session musician who worked with Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan, Diana Ross, David Sanborn, and Luther Vandross.
The 1990s had him playing keyboards and writing music for the animated film The Snow Queen and People: A Musical Celebration of Diversity on the Disney Channel. He and his wife Kathy Byalick composed Visionary Path, a New Age album with narration by Diana Krall, Roberta Flack, and F. Murray Abraham.
In 2000 Miles released The Music of Weather Report, the first of several tribute albums. During the next year he won a Grammy Award for producing A Love Affair: The Music of Ivan Lins with appearances by Sting and Brenda Russell. His next solo album To Grover, with Love, was a tribute to Grover Washington Jr. that was nominated for Record of the Year by the National Smooth Jazz Awards. He also recorded tributes to Miles Davis and Marvin Gaye.
Keyboardist, composer and record producer Jason Miles, who has a discography of nineteen albums, continues to compose and perform.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Mat Mathews was born Mathieu Hubert Wijnandts Schwarts on June 18, 1924 in The Hague, Netherlands and learned to play accordion while the country was still under the Nazi rule during World War II. It was after hearing Joe Mooney on a radio broadcast after the war that he decided to play jazz.
Moving to New York City in 1952, Mat formed a quartet which included Herbie Mann. He also worked and or recorded with Kenny Clarke, Art Farmer, Percy Heath, Carmen McRae, Oscar Pettiford, Joe Puma, Milt Jackson and Julius Watkins.
He worked mainly as a session musician in the late 1950s, and returned to the Netherlands in 1964, where he worked as an arranger, session musician, and record producer. In the 1970s, he again worked in the United States with Charlie Byrd, Doug Duke, Marian McPartland, and Clark Terry.
Accordionist, arranger, record producer Mat Mathews, who recorded eight albums as a leader, died on February 12, 2009 in Clarence Center, New York.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Donald Henri Grusin was born April 22, 1941 and grew up in Littleton, Colorado to a Latvian, classical violinist father. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in economics. In the early Seventies he was an economics professor in Guadalajara, Mexico but soon after he taught economics at Foothill College in California.
By the mid Seventies Grusin was touring with Pete Escovedo’s group Azteca alongside his daughter Sheila E in Bogota, Colombia. The trip sparked a lifelong interest in Latin music. In 1975, Quincy Jones invited him to tour with his band, and he left teaching for a career in music.
He worked as a studio musician on albums by Randy Crawford, Billy Eckstine, Joe Pass, and the Pointer Sisters. He formed the fusion group Friendship with Lee Ritenour, Ernie Watts, and Alex Acuña and recorded one album, then released solo albums in 1981 and 1983. By 1985 Don had produced the album Musician for Ernie Watts, winning a Grammy Award.
Grusin’s 2004 live album The Hang received a Grammy Award nomination, and he won Grammy Awards for his work on two albums by the Paul Winter Consort. He won an Echo Award for the album Quality Time, recorded with Peter Fessler.
As a record producer or keyboardist, Grusin has worked with Gerald Albright, Patti Austin, David Benoit, Larry Carlton, Oscar Castro-Neves, Dori Caymmi, Gilberto Gil, Jim Hall, Sérgio Mendes, Airto Moreira, Milton Nascimento, Flora Purim, Nelson Rangell, Brenda Russell, Zoot Sims, Leon Ware, and Sadao Watanabe.
Keyboardist, composer, and record producer Don Grusin, who is Dave Grusin’s younger brother, continues to push the boundaries of jazz and Latin jazz music.
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