Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Juan Tizol: The Puerto Rican Trombonist Who Gave Duke Ellington “Caravan”
Imagine stowing away on a ship to chase your musical dreams, then ending up writing some of the most iconic compositions in jazz history. That’s not fiction—that’s Juan Tizol’s extraordinary story.
A Musical Education in Puerto Rico
Born January 22, 1900, in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, Tizol grew up surrounded by music in a family where it was taken seriously. He started on violin but quickly switched to valve trombone, the instrument that would become his distinctive voice. His uncle Manuel Tizol, music director of the San Juan symphony, became his primary teacher, and young Juan soaked up everything—classical technique, ensemble discipline, professional standards. He played in his uncle’s band and gained invaluable experience performing with local operas, ballets, and dance groups. This was a classical education, Puerto Rican style. Tizol wasn’t learning jazz yet—he was learning music, period.
A Dangerous Leap of Faith
Then came 1920 and a decision that would change everything: Tizol joined a band heading to Washington, D.C. The catch? They traveled as stowaways on a ship, risking everything for the chance to play music in America.
Once they arrived safely, the group set up shop at the Howard Theater, one of Washington’s premier African American venues, playing for touring shows and silent movies while occasionally working small jazz and dance gigs on the side. It was at the Howard that Juan first crossed paths with a young Duke Ellington, who was just beginning to make a name for himself.
Joining the Duke Ellington Orchestra
Summer 1929 brought the call that every jazz musician dreams of—Duke wanted him in the band. Tizol became the fifth voice in Ellington’s brass section, and suddenly the maestro had entirely new compositional possibilities. Now he could write for trombones as an actual section instead of just doubling the trumpets. Tizol’s rich, warm valve trombone tone also blended beautifully with the saxophones, often carrying lead melodies that gave Ellington’s sophisticated arrangements their distinctive color and texture.
More Than Just a Sideman
But Tizol wasn’t just a player—he was essential to the band’s daily operation, meticulously copying parts from Ellington’s scores (no small task in the pre-Xerox era) and contributing his own remarkable compositions.
And what compositions! “Caravan” and “Perdido” are timeless jazz standards that musicians still play today, nearly a century later. Both have been recorded hundreds of times and have become part of the permanent jazz repertoire. Tizol also brought explicit Latin influences into the Ellington sound with pieces like “Moonlight Fiesta,” “Jubilesta,” and “Conga Brava,” adding rhythmic spice and exotic colors that made the band’s already rich palette even more distinctive.
California Calling
In 1944, Tizol made a difficult decision—he left Ellington to join Harry James’ Orchestra in Los Angeles. The reason was simple and human: he wanted more stable work and more time with his wife. The constant touring with Duke was glamorous but exhausting.
He returned to Ellington in 1951, then back to James two years later, spending most of his remaining career on the West Coast. There he worked with James’ popular orchestra, contributed to Nelson Riddle’s elegant arrangements, and appeared on the Nat King Cole television show, bringing his warm sound to America’s living rooms.
After one more brief reunion with Ellington in the 1960s—because that musical connection never really disappears—Tizol eventually retired in Los Angeles, where he passed away on April 23, 1984, in Inglewood, California.
A Legacy Beyond Borders
From stowaway to standard-bearer, Juan Tizol’s journey reminds us that jazz has always been an international language—and sometimes the most quintessentially “American” sounds come from somewhere else entirely.
Every time a band plays “Caravan,” with its mysterious, exotic melody suggesting desert caravans and distant lands, they’re playing Juan Tizol’s vision. Not bad for a kid from Puerto Rico who risked everything to follow the music north.
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Peter Charles Strange was born on December 19, 1938 in Plaistow, Newham, London, England. He played violin as a child before switching to trombone as a teenager.
His first major gig was with Eric Silk and his Southern Jazz Band when he was just 18 years old. In 1957, Silk’s clarinetist Teddy Layton split off and formed his own band, and Strange went with him. Called up for National Service in 1958 he became a bandsman in the Lancashire Fusiliers, whilst serving in Cyprus.
Following his discharge from service Peter played with Sonny Morris, Charlie Gall, and Ken Sims, then joined Bruce Turner from 1961 to 1964. After 1964, Turner went into partial retirement for about 10 years, so he played off and on with Freddy Randall, Joe Daniels, and Ron Russell, but not carrying any full-time associations. He returned to play with Turner again permanently in 1974.
In 1978 co-founded the Midnite Follies Orchestra with Alan Elsdon. 1980 saw Strange founding the five-trombone ensemble, Five-A-Slide, which featured Roy Williams and Campbell Burnap. He joined Humphrey Lyttelton’s band in 1983, and remained with the ensemble until he died.
Trombonist, arranger and composer Peter Strange, who played with his own side group, the Great British Jazz Band, died of cancer at the age of 65 on August 14, 2004 in Banstead, Surrey, England.
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EITHER/ORCHESTRA
In the decades since the Either/Orchestra debuted on December 17, 1985 at the Cambridge MA Public Library, the group has made over 1000 performances in 38 of the United States and 12 foreign countries, as well as releasing a dozen albums and being nominated for a Grammy, winning five Boston Music awards and numerous Downbeat Critics Poll placements, among many other honors. From prestigious festivals like Glastonbury Pop and Chicago Jazz to tiny clubs, schools and churches in out of the way places, the group has been “dependably marvelous,” according to the Village Voice.
No obstacles deterred leader Russ Gershon and his intrepid musical explorers from visiting new musical worlds – until the Covid pandemic. The band’s most recent performance was in December of 2019 at Tufts U., with one of their distinguished Ethiopian collaborators, vocalist Teshome Mitiku. But now, they’re coming back!
To celebrate the exact 40th anniversary of their first show, the Either/Orchestra returns to the stage not a mile from where they started. The E/O began playing the Regattabar when the club was band new in the ’90’s. There is no better and more appropriate venue for them to inaugurate their fifth decade.
The E/O will be making selections from their vast catalog of originals and original arrangements of classic and obscure jazz, as well as dipping into their unparalleled repertoire of Ethiopian music in honor of their upcoming release, éthiopiques 32: Nalbandian the Ethiopian.
Their second release on the legendary éthiopiques series features music by Nerses Nalbandian, a teenage refugee of the Armenian genocide who rose to become music director of Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie’s National Theater in Addis Ababa. Nalbandian’s interest in American music helped set the stage for the birth of the modern Ethiopian pop music which has bewitched music aficionados the world over the past couple of decades. His music has seldom been played since the totalitarian revolution which deposed Haile Selassie in 1974, and the E/O was asked by the Nalbandian family and éthiopiques producer Frances Falceto to reconstruct and play it at the National Theater of Ethiopia. The album is a record of that labor of love.
E/O personnel:
Tom Halter | trumpet
Dan Rosenthal | trumpet
Joel Yennior | trombone
Sam Spear | alto sax
Russ Gershon | tenor sax
Charlie Kohlhase | baritone sax
Alexei Tsiganov | piano
Rick McLaughlin | bass
Brooke Sofferman | drums
Vicente Lebron | congas
Cover: Sold Out
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Erkki Vilhelm Aho was born December 10, 1918 in Helsinki, Finland. He led the Rytmi orchestra which was formed in 1938. In the orchestra, Olavi Virta and Raija Valtonen acted as soloists, the pianist was Toivo Kärki and another famous member was Pauli Granfelt.
Aho’s orchestra was one of the top Finnish orchestras. During the Continuation War, his orchestra consisted of 14 men before it was taken over in 1945 by drummer Osmo “Ossi” Aalto. In the spring of 1944, the orchestra recorded American evergreens arranged by Kärjen Syväri.
Trombonist, trumpeter and conductor Erkki Aho died on August 19, 2002.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bill Allred was born in Rock Island, Illinois on November 19, 1936 into a family where his father played the Streckfus Steamboat lines on the Mississippi.
He formed a Dixieland band while still in high school. In 1954 he enlisted in the Navy, playing with Navy bands throughout his tour and was excited to be part of a big band for the first time. Returning home he married, pursued a regular career and continued to gig.
His big break came in 1970 when, out of 2500 auditioning musicians, he was chosen to be part of the Disney World Band on the park’s opening day in 1970. While at Disney he formed a trad band called The Reedy Creek Jazz Band. The band was noticed by Bob Snow, who recruited him to put together a show and band for the Rosie O’Grady’s Goodtime Jazz Emporium, that ran for 25 years.
In 1979, Bill formed the Continental Jazz Band for a Roaring Twenties club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “Auntie Mame’s” later won the Carbonell Award for Best Cabaret Show in South Florida.
Trombonist and bandleader Bill Allred, who was a vital component of the classic jazz scene in South Florida, died on February 1, 2024 at the age of 87.
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