Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Frank Guarente was born Francisco Saverio Guarente on October 5, 1893 in Montemiletto, Italy and received formal training in music before emigrating to America in 1910. He settled in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where a brother of his lived.

Relocating to New Orleans, Louisiana in 1914, where he took a job in a bank and associated with ethnically Italian musicians such as Nick LaRocca and Tony Parenti. He met King Oliver and eventually started getting gigs with New Orleans brass bands. He played at Tom Anderson’s club and toured Texas under the name Ragtime Frank with his ensemble, the Alabama Five.

Serving in the United States Army during World War I in 1917, then played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Charlie Kerr and Eddie Lang. Putting together his own group in 1921 in New York City, which included Arthur Schutt and Chauncey Morehouse. Soon after, Paul Specht picked his players up to join a larger orchestra, and Guarente played with Specht on European tours through 1924.

Leading a Specht side group called The Georgians, they recorded between 1922 and 1924 in the style of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. He left Specht in 1924, to form his own group, The New Georgians, that toured Europe and remained active until 1927. This he followed by working in England with the Savoy Orpheans and ensembles associated with Bert Firman.

Returning to the United States in 1928, he joined Specht’s orchestra again, playing until 1930. He joined Victor Young’s band in 1930, remaining there until 1936, and also played with Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, Bing Crosby, and The Boswell Sisters on record and radio. In 1937 ill health forced him to stop performing and on July 21, 1942 in New York City, trumpeter, composer and bandleader Frank Guarente transitioned at the age of 48.

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Three Wishes

Pannonica made an inquiry about three wishes when she was talking with Walter Miller and he responded with the following:

1. “It should be very simple to answer. How do I start? Well, number one is freedom. I have never been actually able to accept the fact that I’ve ever been that way.”
2. “Then, I’d like to be fully secured~towards my obligations to others, I mean. Neighbors, you know, sometimes you feel you have to run from them. You don’t have an answer for them. Though I usually have an answer.”
3. “I wan to say that no one is really independent. Everyone is dependent on others. So I would think-how can I explain this? My life has been devoted to music. I don’t know. I’d like to further my studies. And yet most of the good people are naturally talented. There seems to be a conflict. You don’t know which way to start. It’s bad to be ignorant. I’d like to help the teenagers. They’re so fiery, so sensitive. You know? The kids, today? They don’t seem to be content, at all! I’d like to help them.”

*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…

Ian Wilfred Hamer was born on September 11, 1932 in Liverpool, England, the son of a successful Merseyside dance band leader. Together with his two brothers he played in the band run by his mother until serving in the Royal Air Force.

Moving to London, England in 1953 he worked for clarinettist Carl Barriteau and for a brief period with the Oscar Rabin Band. For a year beginning in 1955 he was part of the Tubby Hayes octet then later joined the Vic Ash quintet. In 1963, together with Harry South, he led a band called The Six Sounds, featuring Ken Wray and Dick Morrissey. By 1966 the band had developed into the Ian Hamer Sextet. In 1966 Ian joined the Top of the Pops studio orchestra conducted by Johnny Pearson.

Hamer played in big bands led by Tubby Hayes, Ted Heath, Mike Gibbs, Jack Parnell and Harry South. He also played with Kenny Wheeler, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, as well as in smaller bands with Stan Tracey, Benny Golson, Lalo Schifrin, Gary McFarland, Woody Herman’s Anglo-American Herd, Barbara Thompson, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis band, Eric Delaney, John Dankworth and Joe Harriott.

As a session musician, he played on recordings by The Beatles, Bing Crosby, Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield, Shirley Bassey, Barbra Streisand, James Last, Matt Monro, and Peter Herbolzheimer. Ian played trumpet on the theme tune for The Sweeney, written and arranged by Harry South.

In 1987, Hamer moved to Brighton, England and founded the group Ian Hamer and the Sussex Youth Jazz Orchestra, later dropping Youth. On September 3, 2006, trumpeter Ian Hamer transitioned in Brighton at 73.

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TIERNEY SUTTON & RANDY BRECKER

“Ms. Sutton is a pure jazz spirit who respects a song. Even when going out on an improvisatory limb, she never lets its essence slip away.” – The New York Times “Brecker has the chops to play it cool or hot, laid-back or virtuosic.” – Downbeat

9-time Grammy-nominated vocalist Tierney Sutton and legendary multi-Grammy-winning trumpet master Randy Brecker share a stage for the very first time in an evening of spontaneous music-making. This special Tuesday night performance will also feature the illuminating pianist Christian Jacob.

Tierney Sutton – vocals | Randy Brecker – trumpet | Christian Jacob – piano

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EDDIE HENDERSON QUINTET

“His musical wisdom, gleaned during decades spent on the best jazz bandstands, informs every unerring note.” – Downbeat. Eddie Henderson – trumpet Donald Harrison – alto saxophone George Cables – piano Gerald Cannon – bass Lenny White – drums Trumpeter Eddie Henderson celebrates the release of a highly anticipated new recording, Witness to History, that reflects on his incredible life in music and whose arrival coincides with the 50th anniversary of his 1973 recording debut as a leader, Realization.

Joining Henderson for these release performances is the spectacular quintet of his closest collaborators that he convened for the recording, including alto saxophonist Donald Harrison, pianist George Cables, bassist Gerald Cannon, and drummer Lenny White. Henderson’s “deft feel and plush sound made him a central figure in the worlds of jazz-funk and hard-bop in the 1970s,” according to The New York Times. The Chicago Reader adds, “His progressive, assured, and imaginative improvisations roll out in a glorious sun-splashed tone… he seems to dance through his solos, balancing his quick clockwork technique with bursts of bluesy soul.” The eternally youthful Henderson has proven again that he is still making some of the most important music of his career into his 80s.

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