Daily Dose of Jazz…

Nappy Lamare was born Joseph Hilton Lamare on June 14, 1905 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He got his nickname from his friend, Eddie Miller, because he had curly hair. He started playing trumpet but picked up the banjo when he was thirteen and weeks later he was a member of the Midnight Serenaders. During his teen years he worked with Sharkey Bonano, Monk Hazel, and Johnny Wiggs. In 1925 he toured in California with Johnny Bayersdorffer, then recorded for the first time two years later with the New Orleans Owls.

A move to New York City had him playing mostly guitar instead of banjo and he became a member of the Ben Pollack Orchestra and sang on Two Tickets to Georgia. Lamare remained with the band until 1942, performing on records and films, sometimes as a vocalist. He moved to California and spent the rest of his career playing Dixieland as leader of the Louisiana Levee Loungers, then the Straw Hat Strutters in the 1940s and 1950s. The Strutters appeared in the movie Hollywood Rhythm and on the weekly TV variety show Dixie Showboat.

The latter part of his career he spent in reunions with Bob Crosby, performing at Disneyland, and touring with the World’s Greatest Jazz Band. He played guitar, banjo, and sang until his transition at the age of 82 on May 8, 1988.

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SAMARA JOY

Samara Joy ~ vocal, Pasquale Grasso ~ guitar, Ben Paterson ~ piano, Sam Edwards ~ bass, Keith Balla ~ drums

Samara Joy is a singing star in the ascendancy, with a voice as smooth as velvet and endless charm. The young vocalist attracted attention in 2019 after winning the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. Now, the 21-year-old announces her self-titled debut release, which puts her spin on jazz standards from the Great American Songbook.

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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

The Jazz Voyager has been combing the stacks of music in his library for the right album and has selected For Swingers Only by vocalist Lorez Alexandria that was released by the Argo label in 1963.

A stylized, disciplined, soulful, and satisfying session, the recording of this album took place over two days on January 2 & 3, 1963 at Ter Mar Recording Studios in Chicago, Illinois. The session was produced by Esmond Edwards.

1. Baltimore Oriole (Hoagy Carmichael, Paul Francis Webster) ~ 3:11
2. Little Girl Blue (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) ~ 3:34
3. All or Nothing at All (Arthur Altman, Jack Lawrence) ~ 4:55
4. Traveling Down a Lonely Road (Nino Rota, Michele Galdieri, Don Raye) ~ 3:45
5. Mother Earth (Peter Chatman) ~ 3:03
6. Love Look Away (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) ~ 3:49
7. The End of a Love Affair (Edward C. Redding) ~ 2:49
8. That Old Devil Called Love (Alan Roberts, Doris Fisher) ~ 3:54

• Lorez Alexandria – vocals
• Ronald Wilson – tenor saxophone, flute
• John Young – piano, arranger
• George Eskridge – guitar
• Jimmy Garrison – bass
• Phil Thomas – drums

• Cover Design ~ Don Bronstein
• Cover Photography ~ Roger Marshutz
• Engineer ~ Eddie Rio
• Liner Notes ~ Leonard Feather

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Three Wishes

What Johnny Mathis responded to the question posed by Baroness Pannonica was one word answers as to his three wishes: 

1. 1. “Love.”

   2. “Kindness.”

   3. “Tactfulness.

*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…

Karin Krog was born May 15, 1937 in Oslo, Norway and started singing jazz as a teenager, attracting attention while performing in jam sessions in her hometown. By 1955, she was hired by the pianist Kjell Karlsen to sing in his sextet.

1962 saw Karin forming her first band and becoming a student of the Norwegian-American singer Anne Brown, studying with her until 1969. Throughout the Sixties she performed with the rhythm and blues band Public Enemies, releasing the hit singles Sunny and Watermelon Man.

She has worked with Vigleik Storaas, Jacob Young, Terje Rypdal, Arild Andersen, Jan Garbarek, Dexter Gordon, Kenny Drew, Don Ellis, Steve Kuhn, Archie Shepp, Paul Bley, John Surman, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Red Mitchell, and Bengt Hallberg. During 1994, she became the first Norwegian musician to have an album released by Verve Records. The album Jubilee was a compilation of songs from her thirty-year career.

She has released thirty-seven albums as a leader with her latest live album Infinite Paths in 2016, as well as three as a guest. Vocalist Karin Krog, who has been bestowed with fifteen awards, including being knighted in 2005 into the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olavz, continues to compose and perform.

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