Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Lew Davis was born on August 4, 1903 in London, England. His early childhood and education is unknown or when he picked up the trombone. He began playing with Jack Hylton And His Orchestra as the only trombonist on recordings from 1923 to 1928. He then joined Leo Vauchant before moving on to become a part of Paul Fenhoulet’s band.
The Thirties saw Lew with Ray Noble, Ambrose & His Orchestra, Lew Stone & The Monseigneur Band, as well as his own Lew Davis Trombone Trio. He went on to work with Benny Carter And His Orchestra, Jack Harris & His Orchestra, Ronnie Munro & His Orchestra, Savoy Hotel Orpheans, and Louis de Vries And His Rhythm Boys.
Trombonist Lew Davis dided in London on November 24, 1986.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Albert Wynn was born on July 29, 1907 in New Orleans, Louisiana but grew up in Chicago, Illinois where he began his professional career as a trombonist. His first appearance on record in 1926 backing Ma Rainey and the following year he played and recorded in St. Louis, Missouri with Charlie Creath.
Wynn went on to work with Earl Hines’s band briefly in 1928 before assembling a group of his own. Later that same year he joined the Sam Wooding Orchestra on their European tour and didn’t return to the United States until 1932 when he would live in New York City for a short time before going back to Chicago.
He was a member of Sidney Bechet’s New Orleans Feetwarmers for a stint going on to work with the bands of Jesse Stone, Carroll Dickerson, Richard M. Jones, and the Earl Hines Orchestra once again. During the late 1930’s and early ’40’s Albert played in the big band of Fletcher Henderson and the short lived assembly of Jimmie Noone.
Settling into semi-retirement he ran a Chicago record store and enjoined his final professional band work as a member of Franz Jackson’s Original Jazz All-Stars from 1956 to 1960 and the Gold Coast Jazz Band from 1960 to 1964.
Trombonist Albert Wynn died on May 1, 1973.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gary Tole was born on July 26, 1951 and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began playing the trombone at the age of twelve. By the age of sixteen, he was working with all the shows that came into the Pittsburgh area. After attending Duquesne University School of Music, he was offered the first trombone position with the world renowned Glenn Miller Orchestra. After four years of world tour he then toured with Harry James, Tex Beneke, Les Brown and Jimmy Dorsey, the latter he served as road manager and featured trombonist.
By 1978 he relocated and made his permanent residence in Southern California. Whether on stage or in the recording studio, Gary’s smooth, dynamic style has him in constant demand having performed with Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Bernadette Peters, Kenny Rogers, Rita Moreno, Melissa Manchester, James Ingram, and Phil Collins. He has backed television appearances of Diana Ross, Sammy Davis Jr., Bob Hope, Pia Zadora, Sheena Easton, Peabo Bryson, The Pointer Sisters, and many more.
As an active clinician for Yamaha, he finds time to participate in music education programs as a judge for jazz festivals, band and orchestra festivals, private teaching of the low brass instruments and traveling throughout the country conducting various clinics.
Trombonist Gary Tole, who also plays bass trombone and euphonium, continues to perform, compose, tour and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Aaron J. Johnson was born in Washington, D.C. on June 10, 1958. He studied piano and drums before taking up the trombone at age 12. While in high school he frequently performed with area funk bands but also conducted and arranged for student ensembles under the direction of noted trumpeter Peter D. Ford. It was Ford who gave him his first professional gigs and introduced him to Ellington alumni, bandleader and alto saxophonist Rick Henderson.
Although pursuing degrees in electrical engineering, Johnson remained active as a trombonist and bass trombonist throughout his college years. He had the good fortune to play with the University of Pittsburgh Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Kenny Clarke and Nathan Davis. Following college Aaron continued gigging around D.C. and the New York area, studying privately with reed multi-instrumentalist Makanda Ken McIntyre.
By the early 1990s Johnson established himself as an experienced and valuable sideman, composer and arranger. He has since recorded and performed with a multitude of major artists and ensembles to include Reggie Workman, Jimmy Heath, Charles Tolliver, Oliver Lake, Muhal Richard Abrams, Bill Lee, Frank Lacy, The Mingus Big Band, the Count Basie Orchestra, Steve Turre’s Sanctified Shells, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.
He has received the New Jersey State Council Fellowship in Music Composition (2000) Aaron Johnson has composed and arranged works performed or recorded by Frank Foster, Steve Turre, Frank Lacy, the Nancie Banks Orchestra, and Paradigm Shift. He has been featured in film scores, television commercials and public radio broadcasts.
Trombonist Aaron Johnson is currently in Columbia University’s Musicology doctorate program and has released his debut album Songs Of Our Fathers and continues to perform.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Britt Woodman was born on June 4, 1920 in Los Angeles, California. A childhood friend of Charles Mingus, he first worked with Phil Moore and Les Hite. After serving in World War II he played with Boyd Raeburn before joining with Lionel Hampton in 1946.
During the 1950s he worked with Duke Ellington. As a member of Ellington’s band he can be heard on twenty-five recorings such as 1957’s Such Sweet Thunder, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book, and 1958’s Black, Brown, and Beige and Ellington Indigos.
1960 saw Britt departing from Ellington to work in a pit orchestra. He went on to later work with Mingus and can be heard on the album Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus released in 1963. In the 1970s he led his own octet and recorded with pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi. In 1989, he was part of the personnel for the album Epitaph dedicated to the previously unrecorded music of Charles Mingus.
He recorded Playing For Keeps and In L.A. as a leader, and leaves a sideman recording catalogue of ninety-three albums with Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band, Bill Berry, Ella Fitzgerald, Lionel Hampton, Johnny Hodges, Jimmy Smith, Gene Ammons, Ray Brown, Ruth Brown, Frank Capp, Nat Pierce, Benny Carter, Rosemary Clooney, John Coltrane, Randy Crawford, Tadd Dameron, Miles Davis, Booker Ervin, John Fahey, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, Chico Hamilton, Jimmy Hamilton, Hank Jones, Oliver Nelson, Philly Joe Jones, Jon Lucien, Galt MacDermot, Teo Macero, Junior Mance, The Manhattan Transfer, Wade Marcus, Blue Mitchell, Grover Mitchell, James Moody, Maria Muldaur, Oliver Nelson, Oscar Peterson, Zoot Sims, Billy Taylor, Clark Terry, Teri Thornton, Jimmy Woode
Trombonisit Britt Woodman died in Hawthorne, California at the age of 80, having suffered severe respiratory problems on October 13, 2000.
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