Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ford Leary was born on September 5, 1908 in Lockport, New York. He married early, had a son, and left both wife and child for a music career. During the thirties he performed as part of the Frank Trumbaur band and with the Bunny Berigan band, the latter being one of his better positions while scuffling to make ends meet freelancing in New York City.
Ford would go on to work with Larry Clinton in the late Thirties and in the early 1940s with Charlie Barnet, Mike Riley, and Muggsy Spanier. As he was readying to begin a new career path as a replacement performer in the Broadway show Follow The Girls, he suffered a back injury from which he never fully recovered.
His short career ended in the late ‘40s when trombonist and vocalist Ford Leary, the only trombonist of note to die institutionalized at Bellevue Hospital, passed away on June 4, 1949 at age 40.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Stephanie Crawford was born on August 30, 1942 in Detroit, Michigan and divided her childhood between living with her mother in Detroit’s Black Bottom, called that due to its dark soil, and with an aunt in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She grew up surrounded by jazz, blues, R&B, and gospel music, from which she draws from.
Although singing was her first love from childhood she did not sing in public until she was 36, after working on a Chrysler assembly line and as a short-order cook, and earning a bachelor’s degree in painting from Wayne State University.
Her first live performance in front of an audience was accidental while taking in a rather bad pianist/vocalist in a local dive. Whe she would forget the words, Stephanie would call out the lyrics. Fed up, the woman challenged her to come up and sing and the rest is history. The invite to come back was given and she found her home.
A move to New York City, while working on her master’s in fine arts, Crawford became so immersed in the Manhattan jazz scene that she dropped out of school in order to devote more time to sitting in at jam sessions. She found herself seeking out and studying with Frank Foster and Barry Harris.
Her next stop was Paris, France where she won the prestigious Django d’Or award for Best International Jazz Vocalist in 1993. Singing did not pay the bills, so to support herself Stephanie taught jazz singing at two music schools. Returning to New York City she found work with a Portuguese wine importer.
Vocalist Stephanie Crawford, is clear that talent and fame are not synonymous, and though she continues to sing, helping to keep the fading local jazz scene alive, and continues with her passion for art. Just prior to the pandemic she performed in New York City at the Laurie Beechman Theater.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Linda Ciofalo was born on August 28, 1972 in New York City, New York. She began singing from a very early age, first appearing in public at the age of nine. The music at this time in her life was traditional church music but later, after deciding upon a career as a singer, she studied at the Juilliard School of Music.
Encouraged by educator Howlett Smith to explore jazz, Linda studied at jazz workshops, learning from singers such as Sheila Jordan and Mark Murphy. She also performed with Murphy, as well as pianist Barry Harris.
In the mid-80s her professional career was launched when she was chosen from three hundred applicants to sing with a big band. Although her chosen field is jazz, Ciofalo has also sung with reggae and rock bands, and has performed in the musical theatre. Her performances take her from small clubs to festivals, and is mainly centred on the East Coast states.
Vocalist Linda Ciofalo, who is also an accomplished songwriter, sings a wide-ranging repertoire, incorporating sultry ballads and raunchy blues songs.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jeanie Barton was born on August 18, 1978 in London, England. She spent years as a principal in the National Youth Music Theatre, then studied jazz harmony at Morley College in London as well as improvisation with BBC Jazz award winner Anita Wardell. She also cut her teeth as a singer for bebop pioneer Laurie Morgan’s trio, fronting their famous North London weekly gig, Downstairs at The King’s Head in Crouch End for over a decade.
She went on to support Georgie Fame, as well as backing vocals for Luddy Samms of The Drifters. Barton has performed for Samuel L Jackson, Shirley Bassey, and Pierce Brosnan. She has sung at The Jazz Cafe, The 606 Club, Ronnie Scott’s and The National Theatre, as well as a Parisian cruise on the Seine and the Cannes Film Festival.
Vocalist Jeanie Barton was voted Best Newcomer at the Marlborough Jazz Festival 2015, and in addition writes for the London Jazz News and Nottingham Live, formally the Nottingham Post.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
Stone Flower is the sixth studio album by Antônio Carlos Jobim. Recorded over a period of seven sessions in 1970 on March 16, April 23, 24, 29, and May 8, 20, and 22nd by Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The album was produced by Creed Taylor, the album was released on July 7, 1970 on CTI Records. The album peaked at #18 on the Jazz Albums chart in 1971 and #196 on the Billboard 200.
Track Listing | 33:47 All tracks composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim, except where noted- Tereza My Love ~ 4:24
- Children’s Games ~ 3:30
- Choro ~ 2:10
- Brazil (Ary Barroso) ~ 7:25
- Stone Flower ~ 3:21
- Amparo ~ 3:41
- Andorinha ~ 3:32
- God and the Devil in the Land of the Sun ~ 2:23
- Sabiá ~ 3:58
- Antônio Carlos Jobim – piano, electric piano, guitar, vocals
- Harry Lookofsky – violin
- Joe Farrell – soprano saxophone
- Urbie Green – trombone
- Hubert Laws – flute
- Ron Carter – double bass
- João Palma – drums
- Airto Moreira – percussion
- Everaldo Ferreira – percussion
- Eumir Deodato – guitar, arranger
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