Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jon Eardley was born on September 30, 1928 in Altoona, Pennsylvania and first started on trumpet at the age of 11. His father played in Paul Whiteman’s orchestra. From 1946 to 1949 he played in an Air Force band in Washington, D.C., then led with his own quartet in D.C. from 1950 to 1953.
Moving to New York City in 1953 and the following year saw him playing with Phil Woods, then with Gerry Mulligan for three years, and with Hal McIntyre (1956). Following this he returned to his hometown and played there until 1963, when he moved to Belgium.
In 1969 he moved to Cologne, Germany, playing there with Harald Banter and Chet Baker. Working through the 1980s, the last years before death he played in the WDR Big Band Cologne, Germany.
He recorded with Gerry Mulligan, Teo Macero, J. R. Monterose, Airto Moreira, Charlie Parker, Manfred Schoof, and Zoot Sims. Trumpeter Jon Eardley, who recorded four albums as a leader and ten albums as a sideman, passed away on April 1, 1991 in Lambermont, near Verviers, Belgium.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Nelson “Cadillac” Williams was born on September 26, 1917 in Montgomery, Alabama and began playing piano at age 13, however, he settled on the trumpet soon afterwards. It has been speculated that while still a teenager he may have played with blues pianist/singer Cow Cow Davenport.
In the 1930s, he played in the territory bands Trianon Crackerjacks and Brown Skin Models, and acted as musical director for the Dixie Rhythm Girls. Around 1940, he left Alabama for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he played with Tiny Bradshaw’s band before joining the U.S. Army during World War II.
After the war, Billy Eckstine hired Williams, before working with John Kirby and pianist Billy Kyle. In 1949, he began the first of several stints with Duke Ellington, who bestowed upon him the nickname “Cadillac”.
In 1951, he left Ellington’s employ and moving to Paris, France he led his own bands and recorded for French labels. He returned to Ellington in 1956, and played with him again in 1969 on a tour of Europe. Trumpeter Nelson “Cadillac” Williams settled in the Netherlands and passed away in 1973 in Voorburg.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Charlie Allen was born in Jackson, Mississippi on September 25, 1908 and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He began playing in the early 1920s just out of high school and through the decade worked as a member of the bands of Hugh Swift, Dave Peyton, Doc Cook, Clifford King, and Johnny Long.
Allen worked with Earl Hines from 1931 to 1934, then did a short stint in Duke Ellington’s orchestra in 1935, though he never recorded any solos with Ellington. He played with Fletcher Butler in 1936 and then returned to play with Hines again in 1937.
He played in various groups in Chicago in the 1940s and 1950s. Later in his life he became a music educator, worked in the Chicago Musicians’ Union, and designed custom trumpet mouthpieces, used by Cat Anderson, among others.
Trumpeter Charlie Allen passed away on November 19, 1972 in Chicago.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Francis Williams was born September 20, 1910 in McConnell’s Mill, Pennsylvania. His first gigs were with Frank Terry’s Chicago Nightingales in the 1930s.
In 1940 he moved to New York City, and in the first half of the decade played in the bands of Fats Waller, Claude Hopkins, Edgar Hayes, Ella Fitzgerald, Sabby Lewis, and Machito. From 1945 to 1949, and again in 1951, he played and recorded extensively as a member of Duke Ellington’s orchestra.
Williams worked primarily with Latin jazz ensembles and New York theater bands in the 1950s and 1960s, and played with Clyde Bernhardt and the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band. In addition to working with his own quartet, near the end of his life he worked with Panama Francis.
Trumpeter Francis Williams, who was a single father of two, had one son, actor Greg Morris, passed away on October 2, 1983 in Houston, Texas.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina) is a perfect album to listen to as this country continues to play the stupid card and not take this pandemic or its remedy serious. So as those of us who are vaccinated, wearing masks and social distancing. This studio album was recorded in 2007 by the Terence Blanchard Quintet at Conway Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California and Bastyr University, Kenmore, Washington. It was released on August 14, 2007 by Blue Note Records. Blanchard won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, and was nominated for Best Jazz Instrument Solo for his work on the song Levees.
The album was produced by Blanchard, with Robin Burgess as the associate producer, the engineers were Brian Valentino and Frank Wolf, Seth Waldman was the assistant engineer, and mastering by Gavin Lurssen. Lolis Eric Elie, Blanchard, Brice Winston, Derrick Hodge,and Aaron Parks each contributed to the liner notes.
Spike Lee commissioned Terence Blanchard to compose the score for his 2006 four-hour HBO documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, to show the agony of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In 2007 Blanchard recorded “A Tale of God’s Will”, which contains The Water, Levees, Wading Through, and Funeral Dirge heard in Lee’s documentary. His mother Wilhelmina survived but lost her Pontchartrain Park home.
Track List | 69:13 All tracks are written by Terence Blanchard except where noted.- Ghost of Congo Square (Blanchard, Hodge, Scott) ~ 3:01
- Levees ~ 8:07
- Wading Through ~ 6:27
- Ashé (Aaron Parks) ~ 8:18
- In Time Of Need (Brice Winston) ~ 7:53
- Ghost Of Betsy ~ 1:58
- The Water ~ 4:07
- Mantra Intro (Kendrick Scott) ~ 3:22
- Mantra (Kendrick Scott) ~ 9:49
- Over There (Derrick Hodge) ~ 7:43
- Ghost Of 1927 ~ 1:38
- Funeral Dirge ~ 5:51
- Dear Mom ~ 3:39
- Terence Blanchard ~ conductor, trumpet, orchestration, producer, liner notes
- Brice Winston ~ soprano sax, tenor sax, liner notes
- Derrick Hodge ~ double bass, bass guitar, liner notes
- Aaron Parks ~ piano, orchestration, liner notes,
- Kendrick Scott ~ drums, percussion, orchestration
- Zach Harmon ~ tabla and happy apple
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