Daily Dose Of Jaz…
Zalman “Porky” Cohen was born on June 2, 1924 in Springfield, Massachusetts and began performing publicly in his mid-teens, and studied with trombonist Miff Mole. By 19 he was playing with the Charlie Barnet Orchestra, often featured as a soloist. Stints with Tony Pastor and Glen Gray’s Casa Loma Orchestra followed, and in 1948 during the segregation era in the jazz and blues worlds, he was one of a few white musicians to perform with the Lucky Millinder Orchestra.
Porky married, settled down and limited his performing career to local gigs in Rhode Island and southeastern New England. He did, however, join the Grammy winning jump-blues band Roomful Of Blues from 1981 to 1987, touring all over the U.S. and Europe. During this phase of his career, he recorded with jump-blues greats Big Joe Turner, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Jimmy Witherspoon and Earl King.
Having had enough of the rigors of constant touring, in 1987 he returned to Providence, Rhode Island and again played with various area bands. He continued performing until increasitg ill-health sidelined him Trombonist Porky Cohen died of complications resulting from a stroke on April 14, 2004 at age 79 in Providence.
More Posts: bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,trombone
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Barron W. “Barry” Rogers was born on May 22, 1935 in The Bronx, New York descended from Polish Jews whose name was originally Rogenstein, and was raised in Spanish Harlem. His father and several of his uncles sang in a choir and his mother taught in Africa and Mexico, inspiring an interest in music from other nations. Mambo and jazz were popular in his neighborhood.
As a student of jazz trombonists Jack Teagarden, Lawrence Brown, and J. C. Higginbotham’s playing, he began performing Latin music in the mid-1950s and would be most associated with it from then on. He developed his style while working with Eddie Palmieri, and Willie Colón regarded Rogers as his strongest musical influence and would feature him in many of his productions. Bobby Valentín would feature Rogers in his song El Jíbaro y la Naturaleza, which led Marvin Santiago to nickname him El Terror de los Trombones for the record.
Rogers worked with Israel “Cachao” López, Machito, Manny Oquendo, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Cheo Feliciano, Johnny Pacheco, Chino Rodríguez, and the Fania All-Stars. He was a founding member of the band Dreams with Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, and Billy Cobham. He also worked with George Benson, David Byrne, Ron Carter, Aretha Franklin, Don Grolnick, Bob James, Elton John, Chaka Khan, Bob Moses, Todd Rundgren, Carly Simon, Spyro Gyra, James Taylor, Jimmy Ponder and Grover Washington Jr. as well as others too numerous to name in pop, r&b and rock genres.
Trombonist Barry Rogers, who performed in the jazz and salsa mediums, died suddenly in Washington Heights, Manhattan at the age of 55 on April 18, 1991.
More Posts: history,instrumental,jazz,music,trombone
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jimmy Henderson was born on May 20, 1921 in Wichita Falls, Texas and began studying piano at age six, picking up the trombone a few years later. By the time he was thirteen he had joined a musicians’ union and was first chair at the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra.
Winning several trombone competitions by age fourteen, Jimmy started his own orchestra while still in his teens, in addition to studying at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Henderson toured with the big bands of Hal McIntyre, Jimmy Dorsey, and Tommy Dorsey.
In 1954, he moved to Los Angeles, California where he steadily worked as a session musician for some 20 years. Among his credits in the studios was the soundtrack for Bonanza. From 1957 to 1960, he was also a member of Lawrence Welk’s orchestra in which he appeared weekly on the Maestro’s television show.
He led his own orchestra for fifteen years, and was the musical director for the Emmy Awards, Television Academy Honors, and Directors Guild of America Awards In the 1970s, he led the Glenn Miller Orchestra ghost band before retiring in 1980.
Trombonist and bandleader Jimmy Henderson died at the age of 77 on June 10, 1998 in New York City, New York.
More Posts: bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,trombone
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Emile Joseph Christian born April 20, 1895 in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, was the younger brother of noted cornetist and bandleader Frank Christian. He played both cornet and trombone with the Papa Jack Laine bands. He went to Chicago, Illinois in late 1917 to play trombone with the Bert Kelly Jass Band. The following year he moved to New York City, replacing Eddie Edwards in the Original Dixieland Jass Band, touring England and making his first recordings with this band.
After a brief time in the Original Memphis Five, he returned to Europe and from 1924 into the 1930s, he played bass and trombone with various jazz bands. In Berlin, Germany he recorded, in Stockholm, Sweden he recorded with Leon Abbey’s band. In Paris, Nice and Aix-les-Bain, France he played with Tom Waltham’s Ad-Libs. In 1935 he played with Benny Peyton’s Jazz Kings in Switzerland.
Christian played in both Black and White bands in Europe and India before returning to the United States after the outbreak of World War II. The 1950s saw him moving back to New Orleans, where he played with the bands of Leon Prima, Santo Pecora, and Sharkey Bonano and his own band. In 1957 he toured with the Louis Prima Band and continued playing in New Orleans into 1969.
Trombonist and cornetist Emile Christian, who wrote a number of tunes and in his later years mostly playing string bass, died on December 3, 1973 in New Orleans at the age of 78.
More Posts: cornet,history,instrumental,jazz,music,string bass,trombone
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Maria Faust was born on April 18, 1979 in Kuressaare,, Estonia. Growing up under the Communist regime she was classically educated, and at the conservatory there, she didn’t feel that there was room for her, musically. Yearning for something different in Tallinn, jazz and improvisational music took hold of her, but in order to develop further, she had to leave the country. With the help of the Danish Cultural Institute, she came to the Southern Danish Music Conservatory. Even in her new surroundings, she felt she did not fit into the world of jazz.
She plays and composes in non-traditional ways, and her big breakthrough came with her album, Sacrum Facere, which is Latin for human sacrifice. It was inspired by the culture of deported orthodox Russians. With collected work songs, hymns, and lullabies she merged the material with classical music and free improvisation. The album received universally positive reviews, and received two Danish Music Awards in 2014 for Jazz Composer of the Year and Jazz Crossover Release of the Year.
She has worked with John Parish and Mark Howard. She tours western Europe, the Balkan Peninsula, South America, China, and Russia. Saxophonist Maria Faust, who has recorded nine albums as a leader, continues to push the boundaries of music.
More Posts: bandleader,bass,cornet,history,instrumental,jazz,music,trombone