Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Nancy King was born June 15, 1940 in Springfield, Oregon. She started gigging in 1959 with fellow University of Oregon music students. After moving to San Francisco in 1960, her accomplished scat singing landed her many gigs with various bebop artists. Performing the Playboy Club circuit and Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1960s, it was during Monday night hits at the Jazz Workshop where she met her future husband Sonny King. By the Seventies she took a break from touring, settled in Eugene, Oregon and raised her three sons while doing weekend gigs at Portland’s Benson Hotel.

Known for her masterful scatting and elastic range, Nancy has performed in worldwide tours and recordings, as well as collaborations with such artists as Jon Hendricks, Vince Guaraldi, Ralph Towner, Karrin Allyson and Dave Friesen among others.

King has released ten albums beginning with her 1991 debut release of Impending Bloom and including her 2004 recording of her performance Live At Jazz Standard with pianist Fred Hersch. In 2011 she released her Prennia project on the Ornry Diva label.

Vocalist Nancy King would occasionally pop into jazz loving cities to perform but by 2014, suffering from degenerative hips has limited her ability to travel and perform. Though Covid had postponed the operation he is looking forward to replacement surgery, recovery and getting back onto the stage and recording studio.

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Three Wishes

Whenever the the ladies got together Pannonica would always make it a point to ask them what their three wishes would be and this time Terri Thornton told her:  
  1. “There would be only one: To get closer to myself. And that means to get closer to God. And that way all wishes will come true.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter

SUITE TABU 200

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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.

Tracks | 29:00
  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
Personnel
  • Lorez Alexandria – vocals
  • Ronald Wilson – tenor saxophone, flute
  • John Young – piano, arranger
  • George Eskridge – guitar
  • Jimmy Garrison – bass
  • Phil Thomas – drums
Credits
  • Cover Design ~ Don Bronstein
  • Cover Photography ~ Roger Marshutz
  • Engineer ~ Eddie Rio
  • Liner Notes ~ Leonard Feather

CALIFORNIA JAZZ FOUNDATION

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