Daily Dose Of Jazz…

George Stevenson was born into a musical family on June 20, 1906 in Baltimore, Maryland. His brother Cyrus and his father both played piano. At 15 he studied saxophone and trombone with A. J. Thomas eventually joined his Baltimore Concert Band. His trombone style was greatly influenced by Tricky Sam Nanton.

By 19 he joined pianist Harold Stepteau and his Melody Boys, before organizing his own 11-piece Baltimore Melody Boys. They disbanded in 1928 and he moved to New York City. He would go on to play with Sammy Price and His Texas Blusicians and Hot Lips Page and His Band. Through the 1930s and 1940s he worked with various other bands including the Savoy Bearcats, Charlie Johnson, Fletcher Henderson, Claude Hopkins, Jack Carter’s Orchestra, Lucky Millinder, Cootie Williams and Roy Eldridge, and Cat Anderson.

From 1948 he went on to freelance with several leaders, continuing to perform through the 1960s. He briefly led his own band in 1959 and his last performances were with Max Kaminsky a year before his death.

Trombonist George Stevenson died on September 21, 1970.

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LAURA IMPALLOMENI QUINTET

Flo Redmonds: Tenor Saxophone | Sam Jones: Drums | James Beckwith: Keyboard/Piano | Ezekiel Ajie: Electric bass | Laura Impallomeni: Trombone

Laura Chiara Impallomeni is British Italian jazz musician, trombonist, composer and band leader. She brings the trombone to the fore, with an exciting collection of her original contemporary jazz compositions. These are collaboratively brought to life by some of the UK’s most formidable jazz musicians. Her  music encapsulates her broad range of influences from hints of hard bop to Ethio jazz, whilst rhymically exploring odd meters to bass-heavy grooves. 

In  November 2022, she debuted some of these compositions at London Jazz  Festival 2022 in a sold out performance. She went on to share her full body of work at the Royal Albert Hall in January this year and has just been awarded the “Record and Release’ grant from Help Musicians, to release her debut contemporary jazz album later this year. 

She  is also the musical director, co-composer and trombonist of an original 11-piece afro jazz band ‘Yamäya’, who performed on the Supreme  Standards stage at the Love Supreme Festival 2023 after releasing their   debut album Senegal on Funkiwala Records last year. Laura has performed and toured with various renowned artists such as First  Aid Kit, The Moulettes, Giffords Circus, Janet Kay and Ken Boothe. She is also the trombonist for Rootsgarden Dub Sound System, The Voodoo Love  Orchestra and Barnacles. She also works for the London music charity ‘Play for Progress’ as a therapeutic music teacher/workshop leader with young asylum seekers and refugees.

Note: Spice Jazz Soho: Presents at Crazy Coqs at Brasserie Zédel, 21 Sherwood Street, London, UK

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STEVE TURRE SEXTET | SANYA RECORD RELEASE

“The jazz world needs more Steve Turres. A powerful technician with a quick wit, Turre is perhaps the leading trombonist of this generation.”
– Rolling Stone
*PLEASE NOTE: All 7PM and 9PM shows at Smoke are Dinner Shows

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Eldon Payne was born in Morristown, Tennessee on April 25, 1957. He graduated cum laude from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with a B.S. in Business Administration in 1979. Then he moved to Tampa, Florida in the spring of 1980.

Retiring from Delta Air Lines with twenty five years of service in 2008, Eldon performed during that period with the University of Tennessee Campus Band, Tampa Bay Buccaneer Band, Shades of Blue, Boulevard Jazz Orchestra, The Mostly Pops Orchestra, Helios Jazz Orchestra, Cigar City Big Band, Swing Sound Orchestra, Frankie D. New York Orchestra, Clearwater Community Jazz Band, Sun City Center Big Band, George Carroll Big Band, Gulf Bay Big Band, Ten O’clock Big Band, Frank Parsons Band, Ed Geimer Big Band, Encore IV Big Band, and The Sarasota Jazz Project.

Over the course of his career Payne has performed at several Florida clubs and festivals as well as backing the likes of Margo Rey, Denise Moore, Kathy Kosins, Michael Lynche, Bryan Hughes, Lorri Hafer, Chuck Wansley, Whitney James, Alexis Cole and the late Kevin Mahagony.

Trombonist Eldon Payne, who never recorded as a leader, continues to perform and record as a sideman and studio musician.

ROBYN B. NASH

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THE MUSIC OF BENNY GOLSON

Eddie Henderson – trumpet | Ralph Moore – tenor saxophone | Steve Davis – trombone | Mike LeDonne – piano | Buster Williams – bass | Carl Allen – drums

“Among jazz’s greatest living composers.” – The Washington Post The music of jazz legend Benny Golson is celebrated and performed by the New Jazztet featuring trumpeter Eddie Henderson, trombonist Steve Davis, pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist Buster Williams, and drummer Carl Allen with special guest Ralph Moore on tenor saxophone. This group recorded together under Golson’s leadership in 2008, which resulted in the acclaimed album, New Time, New ’Tet. Golson is one of the most important contributors to jazz history as a player and the jazz canon as composer writing such enduring classics as “Killer Joe,” “I Remember Clifford,” “Along Came Betty,” “Stablemates,” “Whisper Not,” “Blues March,” “Five Spot After Dark,” and “Are you Real?” among quite a few others. He also was a major influence on the tenor saxophone playing in the bands of Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Earl Bostic, and Art Blakey. The full impact of his career on American culture is hard to summarize but Downbeat called him “a defining voice of modern jazz.”

***PLEASE NOTE: All 7PM and 9PM shows at Smoke are Dinner Shows | Fees Apply To All Tickets

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