Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Don Elliott was born on October 21, 1926 in Somerville, New Jersey. He played mellophone in his high school band and played trumpet for an army band. After study at the University of Miami he added vibraphone to his arsenal of instruments. He recorded with Terry Gibbs and Buddy Rich before forming his own band.
From 1953 to 1960 he won the Down Beat readers poll several times for “miscellaneous instrument-mellophone.” Known as the “Human Instrument”, Elliott additionally performed jazz as a vocalist, trombonist, flugelhornist and percussionist. He pioneered the art of multi-track recording, composed over 5000 jingles with a countless number being prize-winning advertising jingles, prepared film scores, recorded over 60 albums and built a thriving production company.
Don scored several Broadway productions, such as The Beast In Me and A Thunder Carnival, the latter of which he performed with the Don Elliott Quartet, provided one of the voices for the novelty jazz duo the Nutty Squirrels, and lent his vocal talents to such motion picture soundtracks as The Getaway, $ (Dollars), The Hot Rock and The Happy Hooker.
His album Calypso Jazz is considered by some jazz enthusiasts to be one of the definitive calypso jazz albums. He worked with Paul Desmond, Ruby Braff, Bill Evans, Michel Legrand, Art Farmer, George Shearing and Mundell Lowe among others over his career. Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, publisher and producer Don Elliott, who was a longtime associate of Quincy Jones, passed away of cancer in Weston, Connecticut on July 5, 1984.
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GUNHILD CARLING
Gunhild Carling is an internationally acclaimed Swedish jazz star, celebrated for her dazzling performances, incredible versatility, and magnetic stage presence.
A true force of nature, Gunhild sings, tap dances, and plays over a dozen instruments — including trombone, trumpet, bagpipes, piano, harmonica, recorder, drums, harp, and ukulele — often switching between them seamlessly in a single performance.
With over 70 million views on YouTube and other platforms, Gunhild has captivated audiences across the globe, performing everywhere from intimate jazz clubs to royal celebrations.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Fedchock was born on September 18, 1957 in Cleveland, Ohio and earned his degree in music education from Ohio State University. He holds a master’s degree in Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media from the Eastman School of Music.
Fedchock began his career as a trombonist in 1980 working for several years in the Woody Herman Orchestra, becoming noted for his arrangements. He has worked and toured with T.S. Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Louie Bellson, Bob Belden, Rosemary Clooney, and Susannah McCorkle among others. He has also been a part of the Manhattan Jazz Orchestra and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band.
An avid educator, he is in demand as a clinician at colleges and universities, was the trombone chair for the IAJE Resource Team, a board member of the International Trombone Association and is a trombone instructor at Purchase College and Temple University. As a leader John recorded his first album in 1992 with the New York Big Band, which remains active to the present.
Trombonist John Fedchock has followed with eight more recordings, his latest being Justifiably J.J.: A Centennial Tribute (Live at the Jazz Kitchen, Indianapolis) and continues to perform, record and tour.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gene M. Roland was born September 15, 1921 in Dallas, Texas and learned to play several instruments, such as trumpet and piano. He received a degree in music from the University of North Texas College of Music, first hooked up with Stan Kenton in 1944, playing fifth trumpet and contributing arrangements. He worked briefly with Lionel Hampton and Lucky Millinder, and then rejoined Kenton in 1945 as a trombonist and writer, arranging the hit “Tampico”.
In 1946 Roland played piano and wrote for a group that included Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Jimmy Giuffre and Herbie Steward , and would lead Woody Herman‘s Four Brothers Second Herd. By the late 40s, he played trombone with Georgie Auld, trumpet with Count Basie, Charlie Barnet and Lucky Millinder and contributed charts for the big bands of Claude Thornhill and Artie Shaw. He led a giant rehearsal band in 1950 that included Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, wrote for Kenton in 1951, Dan Terry in 1954, and Woody Herman from 1956-58, for whom he contributed 65 arrangements.
Gene was a major force in Kenton’s mellophonium band of the early 1960s, not only writing for the ensemble, but also performing as one of the mellophoniums, occasionally doubling on soprano sax with the orchestra. He provided the robust vocal on “Hawaiian Teenage Girl”, and remained active as a writer in the 1960s and 70s, working with Copenhagen’s Radiohus Orchestra and playing trumpet, piano and tenor with his own groups.
Arranger, composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Gene Roland, who was the only arranger to write for Kenton in all four decades of the band’s existence, passed away on August 11, 1982 in New York City.
FRANK LACY
Trombonist Frank Lacy brings his talent to the stage at Smalls. He has spent over two decades as a member of the Mingus Big Band. An alumni of Texas Southern University and Berklee College of Music in Boston, studying trombone and composition. His classmates included Branford Marsalis, Greg Osby, and Marvin Smith.
He played with Illinois Jacquet’s big band, and a couple years later he was musical director for Art Blakey. He released his first album as a band leader in 1991 with his father on guitar.[3] He has also worked with Lester Bowie, Marty Ehrlich, Michael Formanek, Slide Hampton, Roy Hargrove, Rufus Reid, Henry Threadgill, Steve Turre, McCoy Tyner, and Bobby Watson.
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