Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Albert George Hibbler was born on August 16, 1915 in Tyro, Mississippi and was blind from birth. At the age of 12 he moved to Little Rock, Arkansas where he attended Arkansas School for the Blind where he joined the school choir. He went on to begin working as a blues singer in local bands before failing his first audition for Duke Ellington in 1935. However, after winning an amateur talent contest in Memphis, Tennessee, he was given his start with Dub Jenkins and his Playmates. He later joined the Jay McShann band in 1942, followed with  replacing Herb Jeffries a year later and joining Ellington’s orchestra.

He stayed with Ellington for almost eight years, and featured on a range of Ellington standards, including Do Nothin’ Til You Hear From Me, I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But the Blues and I’m Just a Lucky So-and-So. Do Nothin’ lyrics were written specifically for him, reaching #6 on the Billboard pop chart and #1 for eight weeks on the Harlem Hit Parade in 1944.Considered undoubtedly the best of Ellington’s male vocalists, while with Ellington, he won the Esquire New Star Award in 1947 and the Down Beat award for Best Band Vocalist in 1949.

Leaving Ellington’s band in 1951 after a dispute over his wages, Al then recorded with various bands including those of Johnny Hodges and Count Basie, and for various labels including Mercury and Norgran. His biggest hit was Unchained Melody, which reached #3 on the US pop chart, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Its success led to network appearances, including a live jazz club remote on NBC’s Monitor. His other hits were He, 11th Hour Melody, Never Turn Back and After the Lights Go Down Low. 

In the late 1950s and 1960s, Hibbler became a civil rights activist, marching with protestors and getting arrested in 1959 in New Jersey and in 1963 in Alabama. The notoriety of this activism discouraged major record labels from carrying his work, but Frank Sinatra supported him and signed him to a contract with his label, Reprise Records. However, he made very few recordings after that, occasionally doing live appearances through the 1990s.

In 1971, he sang two songs at Louis Armstrong’s funeral. In 1972 he made an album, A Meeting of the Times, with another fiercely independent blind musician, the multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Baritone vocalist Al Hibbler transitioned on April 24, 2001 at Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago, Illinois at the age of 85.

More Posts: history,instrumental,jazz,music,vocal

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Armando Joseph “Buddy” Greco was born Armando Joseph Greco to an Italian-American family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 14, 1926. His mother introduced him to piano at age four and as a child he sang on the radio, and in his teens performed in the city’s night clubs. Sixteen saw him hired by Benny Goodman and spent four years touring the world with the Goodman orchestra, playing piano, singing, and arranging. Becoming acquainted with Great Britain in 1949 he spent many years performing in numerous clubs. He moved to Essex, keeping his Palm Springs property as a vacation home.

In 1951 he started his recording career, signing with labels such as Coral, Kapp, Epic, and Reprise. 1969 saw Buddy form a duo with jazz guitarist Ron Escheté. He opened a small club in Palm Springs, California which became popular for celebrities to dine. After closing it, he moved to England.

In 2008, he and singer Lezlie Anders toured the UK, performed with the BBC Big Band and at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London. He was the first Las Vegas headliner to star at a British casino when he performed at the Circus Casino, and he performed a tribute to Frank Sinatra for BBC Radio 2 with the 42-piece BBC Concert Orchestra. He toured the UK with the Swinging Las Vegas Legends show beginning in July 2010.

In 2010, Greco and his wife Lezlie produced the stage show Fever! The Music of Miss Peggy Lee, which met with critical acclaim at its London West End opening. They continued to perform and tour for the next seven years. Vocalist Buddy Greco transitioned on January 10, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 90.

More Posts: bandleader,conductor,history,instrumental,jazz,music,vocal

MARIA HOWELL & NOEL FRIEDLINE

Noel Freidline and Maria Howell reimagine Motown. 27 number 1 hits, over 60 top 10 hits. Motown had so many hits that one could put together five separate shows of their music and still have plenty of songs left over.  The exemplary songwriting of Smokey Robinson, Holland/Dozier/Holland, as well as Berry Gordy himself, along with the interpretation by such legends as Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Diana Ross and the Supremes and many more has left us with a repertoire that is prime for reinterpretation.  Join Noel & Maria as they reinterpret and reimagine the music that defined the 60’s, the Motown Sound!

Personnel:
Noel Freidline ~ Piano
Maria Howell ~ Vocal
Juan Rollan ~ Saxophone
Zack Page ~ Guitar
Justin Varnes ~ Drums

More Posts: adventure,album,club,festival,genius,jazz,museum,music,piano,preserving,restaurant,travel,vocal

JOE GRANSDEN QUARTET & ROBYN SPRINGER

Trumpeter Joe Gransden brings his quartet along with his special guest, vocalist Robyn Springer for a swinging weekend of four performances on Friday and Saturday night.

More Posts: adventure,album,club,festival,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel,trumpet,vocal

The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

This week we continue to safeguard ourselves from those who consider the variants not a threat but this jazz voyager is opting on the side of caution as we select our next album. I’ve chosen the studio album Devil’s Got Your Tongue by Abbey Lincoln. It’s her fifteenth and her third for Verve Records. It was recorded on February 24 & 25, 1992 at BMG Studios in New York City and released on October 13, 1992. 

The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart on April 10, 1993. Verve allowed this icon of jazz to record nine of her compositions along with two classics for a very gratifying set. 

1. Rainbow (with The Noel Singers) (Abbey Lincoln, Melba Liston) ~ 4:42
2. Evalina Coffrey (The Legend Of) ~ 7:04
3. Story Of My Father (with The Staple Singer) ~ 5:28
4. A Child Is Born (with The Noel Singers) (Thad Jones, Alex Wilder) ~ 6:20
5. People In Me (with The Noel Singers) ~ 6:13
6. A Circle Of Love (with The Noel Singers) ~ 5:53
7. Jungle Queen ~ 6:09
8. The Merry Dance ~ 7:48
9. Devil’s Got Your Tongue ~ 5:49
10. Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year (Frank Loesser) ~ 7:46
11. The Music Is The Magic (with The Staple Singers) ~ 5:44

• Abbey Lincoln – vocals
• Rodney Kendrick – piano
• Marcus McLaurine – bass
• Grady Tate – drums (tracks 2–4, 10–11)
• Yoron Israel – drums (tracks 1, 5, 6, 8–9)
• James Louis “J.J.” Johnson – trombone (tracks 2, 4, 10)
• Stanley Turrentine – tenor saxophone (tracks 5, 8, 10–11)
• Maxine Roach – viola (tracks 2, 6)
• Babatunde Olatunji – Ngoma, Djembe, Ashiko & Shekere drums (track 7)
• Kehinde O’Uhuru – Ashiko drum (track 7)
• Sule O’Uhuru – Agogô bells, Djembe (track 7)
• Gordy Ryan – Jun-jun drum (track 7)
• The Staple Singers – backing vocals
  • Pops Staples, Mavis Staples, Cleotha Staples
• The Noel Singers – backup singers
  • Ivan Archer, Giselle Brown, Queinton Caesar, Ronnie David, Shelby Ellis, Daylene Hunt, Clevie Jordan, Marie Leveque, Lucila Martinez, Jason Moses, Gregory Norman, Leigh-Ann Oadmore, Aleata Prince, Natasha Reeves, Tiffany Rivera, Linda Sanchez, Joann Santiago Sherrille Shabazz, Chante Slater, Karen Thompson, Teddy Turrene, Merlene West, Tasha Woodward

• Producer – Jean-Philippe Allard
• Engineer (First Engineer) – Rick Applegate
• Engineer (Second Engineer) – Jay Newland
• Engineer (Assistant Engineer) – Doug McKean
• Engineer (Assistant Engineer) – Sandy Palmer

More Posts: adventure,album,club,festival,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel,vocal