Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Louis Thomas Jordan was born on July 8, 1908 in Brinkley, Arkansas. His father, James Aaron Jordan, was a music teacher and bandleader for the Brinkley Brass Band and the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. His mother died when he was young and his grandmother Maggie Jordan and his aunt Lizzie Reid raised him. At an early age he studied clarinet and saxophone with his father and by his teens he was a member of the Rabbit Foot Minstrels and was playing professionally in the late 1920s.
In the early Thirties he was performing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York City with Charlie Gaines. He recorded with Clarence Williams and was a brief member of the Stuff Smith Orchestra. Joining the Chick Webb Orchestra he sang and played alto saxophone, however, in 1938 he started a band that recorded a year later as the Tympany Five.
In 1942, Jordan and his band moved to Los Angeles, California where he began making soundies, the precursors of music video. He appeared on many Jubilee radio shows and a series of programs for the Armed Forces Radio for distribution to American troops overseas. Though a hernia condition kept him out of the war his recordings made him very popular with both black and white soldiers.
During the 1940s Jordan and the band became popular with such hits as Choo Choo Ch’Boogie, Knock Me a Kiss, Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby, and Five Guys Named Moe. Within a year of his breakthrough, the Tympany Five’s appearance fee rose from $350 to $2,000 per night. But the breadth of Jordan’s success and the size of his combo had larger implications for the music industry. His raucous recordings were notable for the use of fantastical narrative, best exemplified on Saturday Night Fish Fry, a two-part 1950 hit that was split across both sides of a 78-rpm record. It was one of the first popular songs to use the word “rocking” in the chorus and to feature a distorted electric guitar.
From July 1946 through May 1947, Jordan had five consecutive number one songs, holding the top slot for 44 consecutive weeks. In 1961, the IRS filed an income tax lien against Jordan and he had to sell property well below its value to pay off his debts. Musician Ike Turner stepped in and contacted and convinced the president of Jordan’s booking agency in Chicago, Illinois. to send Jordan a check for $20,000. He was unaware of this deed.
Over his career he charted dozens of singles, eighteen #1 and fifty-four in the Top Ten. He ranked fifth among the most successful musicians of the period 1942~1995, however, many he did not own the rights to, hence no financial benefit. Saxophonist, multi~instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader Louis Jordan suffered a heart attack and transitioned on February 4, 1975, in Los Angeles.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
As the virus is continuing to evolve the Jazz Voyager is staying close to home, especially since the country has lifted the masking mandate and it appears that everything is “back to normal”, even though it is not yet. Supply chain is still limiting production and delivery of items. As you travel around your city, state, country, and internationally please continue to be careful and protect yourself and others.
Carnaval is an album recorded Live Under The Sky in Denen Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan on July 30, 1978 by bassist Ron Carter, pianist Hank Jones, saxophonist Sadao Watanabe and drummer Tony Williams. The album was produced by Ed Michel and released five years later in 1983 on the Galaxy record label.
he art direction for the album was performed by Phil Carroll, the recording engineer was Jim Stern, mastered by George Horn, and the remix was done by Allen Sudduth.
Tracks | 43:18- Chelsea Bridge (Billy Strayhorn) ~ 10:12
- Manhã de Carnaval (Luiz Bonfá, Antônio Maria) ~ 9:01
- I’m Old Fashioned (Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer) ~ 8:18
- Confirmation (Charlie Parker) ~ 6:40
- Moose the Mooche (Parker) ~ 8:05
- Ron Carter ~ bass
- Hank Jones ~ piano
- Sadao Watanabe ~ alto saxophone
- Tony Williams ~ drums
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MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL
LACKAWANNA BLOCK PARTY
FAMILY JAZZ DISCOVERY ZONE | 12:00 pm~5:00 pm
Get in the zone for an afternoon of family fun! Bring your wee be-boppers to the zone, a special place where kids and their families can gather to play, improvise, create, make new friends and of course, share our passion for jazz!
JAZZ HOUSE WORKSHOP STUDENT ENSEMBLES | 1:00 pm~4:00 pm
Keeping in the 13 year tradition of the Montclair Jazz Fest, student ensembles from the Jazz House Summer Workshop will take the Lackawanna Block Party stage throughout the afternoon starting at noon on Saturday. Directed by trumpeter and educator Ted Chubb, the award-winning workshop continues on the campus of Montclair State University for two sessions.
NICOLE GLOVER QUARTET | 4:00 pm~7:00 pm
Saxophonist and bandleader Nicole Glover grew up in Oregon, where she was introduced to the music through her father’s record collection and studied in programs dedicated to learning jazz and priming students for touring and performing, such as the award-winning American Music Program and Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. She moved to the East Coast to attend William Paterson University, where she studied with Mulgrew Miller, Harold Mabern and Rich Perry. Assuming permanent residence in NYC in 2015, soon establishING herself as a rising star.
WINARD HARPER + JELI POSSE | 4:00 pm~7:00 pm
Winard Harper was born in Baltimore in 1962 and started like most drummers by beating on cans just after learning to walk. A child prodigy, a five-year-old Winard would sometimes sit in and play his drums in older brother Danny’s rock n roll band after the family moved to Washington D.C. Winard and his younger brother Philip, a trumpeter, would busk in the streets of Georgetown and sit in at jam sessions around the city. For more than a year, Winard worked in a trio with pianist Reuben Brown and bassist Steve Novosel, veterans of the DC jazz scene.
DJ BROTHER MISTER | 7:00 pm~10:00 pm
Dance with DJ Brother Mister who will be capping off the summer series. Join us for an old school funk + soul party featuring DJ Brother Mister aka 7x Grammy winner Christian McBride.
~ Rain Date: August 13, 2022
~ No Tickets Required | Suggested Donation: $10
~ Beach and Lawn Chairs: Welcomed
~ Pop-Up Tents: Prohibited
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MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL
SOUND CHECK SERIES
CRAIG HANDY + 2ND LINE SMITH
Born in Oakland, Calif., Craig Handy started out on piano, guitar and trombone before settling on saxophone when he was 11 years old, thanks to hearing Dexter Gordon on the radio. While attending North Texas State, Craig was a frontrunner in the school’s noted One O’ Clock Jazz Ensemble, and where he met trumpeter David Weiss with whom he formed a lifetime musical relationship, later playing together in The Cookers.
BIRSA CHATTERJEE
Birsa Chatterjee started as a student at the JAZZ HOUSE in middle school and soon distinguished himself on the saxophone and with his vocals. He was a member of the award-winning JAZZ HOUSE Big Band and was the first recipient of the James Moody Jazz Scholarship for New Jersey. Birsa graduated from The Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 2019 with degrees in saxophone and vocal performance and received his master’s degree in jazz saxophone performance from The Juilliard School.
Actual Showtime: 6:00 pm~9:00 pm | Rain Date: July 14, 2022
~ No Tickets Required | Suggested Donation: $10
~ Beach and Lawn Chairs: Welcomed
~ Pop-Up Tents: Prohibited
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Malcom Bruce Turner was born July 5, 1922 in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, England. He received his education at Dulwich College, learning to play the clarinet as a schoolboy. He began playing alto saxophone while serving in the Royal Air Force in 1943 during World War II.
From 1948-53 he played with Freddy Randall and worked on the Queen Mary in a dance band and in a quartet with Dill Jones and Peter Ind. He briefly studied under Lee Konitz in New York City in 1950. His first period with Humphrey Lyttelton ran from 1953 to 1957 but leaving Lytteltonin he led his Jump Band from until 1965, which was featured in the 1961 film, Living Jazz.
Turner arranged and recorded the music for this film and the album Jumpin’ at the NFT (National Film Theatre) was issued to coincide with the film’s release. He then took part in the biggest trad jazz event to be staged in Britain at Alexandra Palace. Returning to Randall’s group from 1964 to 1966, he played with Don Byas and Acker Bilk. He continued to work with Lyttelton and Ind into the 1980s, played with the Jump Band intermittently, and led small ensembles in the 1990s.
Turner’s autobiography Hot Air, Cool Music, was published by Quartet Books, appeared in 1984. He wrote a column on jazz for the Daily Worker. Saxophonist, clarinetist and bandleader Bruce Turner transitioned on November 28, 1993.
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