Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gordon Brisker was born on November 6, 1937 in Cincinnati, Ohio and began on piano as a child. He studied reed instruments at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Before enrolling in the Berklee College of Music he played with Ralph Marterie Following this he worked with Al Belletto, Bill Berry, and Woody Herman.
Moving to New York City he played with Louie Bellson and Gerry Mulligan. After a short time Brisker returned to Cincinnati, then moved to Los Angeles, California where he worked extensively as a studio musician.
From 1983 to 1985, Gordon taught at Berklee College of Music and during this time also arranged for Herb Pomeroy. After 1985 he returned to Los Angeles, recording extensively with Anita O’Day and Bobby Shew among others. He recorded several albums under his own name.
In the 1990s, Brisker moved to Australia and taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Tenor saxophonist Gordon Brisker died of pancreatic cancer on September 10, 2004 at the age of 66.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Willem Breuker was born on November 4, 1944 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. During the mid-1960s, he played with percussionist Han Bennink and pianist Misha Mengelberg. He co-founded the Instant Composers Pool (ICP) with which he regularly performed until 1973. He was a member of the Globe Unity Orchestra and the Gunter Hampel Group.
In 1974 Willem led the 10-piece Willem Breuker Kollektief, which performed jazz in a theatrical and often unconventional manner, drawing elements from theater and vaudeville. They toured Western Europe, Russia, Australia, India, China, Japan, the United States, and Canada. In 1974, he founded the record label BV Haast. Beginning in 1977, he organized the annual Klap op de Vuurpijl (Top It All) festival in Amsterdam.
Haast Music Publishers, which he also operated, published his scores. In 1997, he produced with Carrie de Swaan Componist Kurt Weill, a 48-hour, 12-part radio documentary on the life of Kurt Weill. In 1999, BV Haast published the book Willem Breuker Kollektief: Celebrating 25 Years on the Road, which includes two albums.
Bandleader, composer, arranger, saxophonist, and clarinetist Willem Breuker, who was knighted with the Order of the Netherlands Lion, died from lung cancer on July 23, 2010 in Amsterdam.
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KIND OF BLUE: CELEBRATING THE MUSIC OF MILES DAVIS
Born in 1926, trumpeter Miles Davis was among the greatest innovators in jazz. This centennial concert celebrates his unparalleled musical legacy, which includes the albums Sketches of Spain, Tutu, Birth of the Cool and Kind of Blue. Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, both Grammy Award nominees, will pay tribute to the magical pairing of Miles Davis and John Coltrane,
Miles was the quintessence of cool. A musical icon as well as a cultural one, Davis took his place in the pantheon by ceaselessly seeking and often ushering in the “next thing” in jazz while steadfastly refusing to be anyone but himself.
Finding his footing in the bebop world in the late 1940s and early 50s, Davis would go on to reinvent his sound many times—to the consternation of many of his followers and the delight of others. To Davis, what the audience might want never seemed to enter into the equation. Throughout his 65 years on the planet, he would set his course of discovery, a renegade in a restless search for new, uncharted places that the music could take him.
Featuring:
Ravi Coltrane ~ Tenor, Soprano Saxophone, Clarinet
Ambrose Akinmusire ~ Trumpe
Veronica Swift ~ Vocal
Shelly Berg and the Frost School of Music’s Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra
Conductor ~ Scott Flavin
Tickets: $52.65 – $152.10
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The Jazz Voyager
Leaving the magic of Manhattan for the West Coast in preparation, this Jazz Voyager is heading to San Francisco, California to be in the audience at the renowned jazz venue, the Black Cat. Located in the Tenderloin, the supper club will be put to the test to see if their Maryland Crab Cakes asre as good as the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
This week I will witness a once in a lifetime music collaboration between three time Grammy nominated composer De’Sean Jones and Urban Art Orchestra with the drumming of Blaque Dynamite. The Detroit saxophonist is bringing lush textures of music to the stage.
A cover charge including fees range between $20.00 and $50.00. Dinner has its own cost.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
James Theodore Powell was born October 24, 1914 in New York City. In the Thirties he worked with Frank Newton and other leaders in the city. In 1940 and ‘41 he recorded with Billie Holiday, whose band was composed of Roy Eldridg, Carl Frye, Kermit Scott, Sonny White, Lawrence Lucie, John Williams and Hal West. The second date had him working with Lester Boone, Ernie Powell, Eddie Heywood, Paul Chapman, Grachan Moncur, and Herbert Cowans.
Throughout the decade he recorded with Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra. The resulting album was released in 1960 as Mr. B. He also recorded in New York with Don Byas and Hal Singer. Powell then joined the Illinois Jacquet Orchestra with Tadd Dameron and Jimmy Mundy arranging
The Fifties saw Jimmy as a member of the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band that recorded Groovin’ High live at Birdland. He went on to record several albums with Gillespie. He recorded with Betty Carter, Bernard Purdie and Otis Redding. Throughout the rest of his career he performed and recorded into the !970s.
Alto saxophonist Jimmy Powell died on February 16, 1994.
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