Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Moon Edward Mullens was born on May 11, 1916 in Mayhew, Mississippi and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He played locally around the city early in his career, including with Half Pint Jaxon.
He moved to New York City and played with Chris Columbus before joining Hot Lips Page’s band in 1938, where he first recorded. He played with Earl Bostic, Columbus again in 1941, and Benny Carter before serving in the military during World War II.
After the war he played with Louis Armstrong between 1946 and 1947, Cab Calloway, Joe Thomas, and with Lionel Hampton on and off between 1949 and 1959. From 1959 to 1961 he worked with Duke Ellington, then left music permanently, setting up a photography business, never recording as a leader.
Trumpeter Moon Mullens transitioned on April 7, 1977.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jon-Erik Kellso was born on May 8, 1964 in Dearborn, Michigan and began playing jazz music very young in life, while receiving some formal training in classical idioms.
He moved from Detroit, Michigan to New York City in 1989 to join Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks. He has recorded many movie and TV soundtracks with the group, including the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack for Boardwalk Empire, The Aviator, Bessie, Ghost World, and Revolutionary Road.
He has performed and/or recorded with J.C. Heard, Catherine Russell, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Kat Edmonson, Milt Hinton, Ruby Braff, Marty Grosz, Bob Haggart, Dick Hyman, Wynton Marsalis, Ken Peplowski, Bucky Pizzarelli, Bob Wilber, Howard Alden, Wycliffe Gordon, and Kenny Davern among other jazz musicians.
Not limited to the genre he has also played and recorded with Linda Ronstadt, Leon Redbone, Maria Muldaur, Elvis Costello, Dave Van Ronk, and many others, appearing on over one hundred records. Since 2007 Kellso has led The EarRegulars at the historic Ear Inn in Manhattan on Sunday nights, and has recorded two acclaimed albums. Trumpeter Jon~Erik Kellso, who is a prolific session player, continues to perform and record.
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The Jazz Voyager
This Jazz Voyager is on his way to NOLA to investigate for you a new spot for jazz that I’ve never been to called Chickie Wah Wah. This intimate club is a revered local place for live jazz, roots and funk music while serving up creative sandwiches.
This week I’ll be listening to native trumpeter, pianist and composer Terence Blanchard featuring the E~Collective and the Turtle Island Quartet. They will be performing two shows at 8:00 and 10:00pm. He started his career in 1982 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then The Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed on more than fifty. So we’ll be celebrating Cinco de Mayo and Jazz Fest on the same night.
Located in Mid~City, it’s just a short ride from the French Quarter to 2828 Canal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70119. One can always get more information at https://chickiewahwah.com/.
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Three Wishes
Carmell Jones and the Baroness Pannonica were talking one night and she asked him if he was given three wishes what would he ask for. His reply was:
- “I would like, first of all, to be at peace with myself, you know? And that would enable me to be at peace with my instrument.”
- “That I wouldn’t have to worry about money and all that it takes to make a living, but that I would be able to look – be free to look – for something other than money. A spiritual thing, you know?”
- “I’d like to have a home. A home is very important for me, because a home is where you make up everything you want to do.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Freddie Hill was born Frederick Roosevelt Hill on April 18, 1932 in Jacksonville, Florida. He studied cello and piano as well as trumpet. After four years at Florida A & M on a music scholarship and then spent two years in the army that brought him into contact with the Adderley brothers, among others. He moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue graduate studies at Los Angeles State College and gigs with many artists, including Gerald Wilson and Earl Bostic, followed.
Steady studio work gave him security thanks to Wilson, Matthews, Nelson and H. B. Barnum. However, his opportunities to record as a jazz soloist were few. Playing on the Gerald Wilson Pacific Jazz sessions put him in the company of many outstanding soloists. Hill is prominently heard on Leroy Vinnegar’s Leroy Walks Again!!! And Buddy DeFranco’s Blues Bag, which included Curtis Fuller and Art Blakey.
Besides working with Wilson and Vinnegar, Freddie recorded with Oliver Nelson’s Big Band, South Central Avenue Municipal Blues Band, and The Monterey Jazz Festival Orchestra.
Leaving the Los Angeles scene in 1971, he married and moved to the desert. By the end of the decade studio work was drying up and trumpeter Freddie Hill transitioned a forgotten man, date unknown.
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