Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Claire Martin was born on September 6, 1967 in Wimbledon, South London, England. She grew up in a house full of music, claiming to have learned all of Judy Garland’s songs by the time she was 12. She also cites Ella Fitzgerald’s Song Books as being the life changing influence that inspired her to attend Stage School and later to study singing in both New York and London.
Her professional career started with her first engagement, aboard the QE2, where she sang in the Theater Bar for two years. In 1991, at the age of 21, Martin formed her own jazz quartet, and was signed by the Scottish jazz label Linn Records. Her debut album, “The Waiting Game” was extremely well reviewed and was selected by The Times as one of their “Albums of the Year”.
Claire has opened for Tony Bennett at the Glasgow International Jazz Festival, won the British Jazz Awards and BBC Jazz Awards for Best Vocalist, has co-presented for the Jazz Line Up on BBC Radio 3, collaborated with composer and performer Sir Richard Rodney Bennett and has recorded a total of 17 albums.
Vocalist Claire was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to music. She continues to perform, tour and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Marc Courtney Johnson was born on September 5, 1967 and began singing in church youth choirs off and on from age 5 through 13. In junior high he was introduced to the clarinet and developed a love for classical music, playing in both symphony and marching bands in high school.
Matriculating at Northern Illinois University where he briefly pursued a vocal performance degree, studying for a semester with Basso Cantante Myron Myers, singing with the NIU Chorus and touring with the NIU Black Choir. However, he transferred to the University of Illinois at Chicago and getting a business degree Johnson returned to his roots in church primarily as a solo vocalist.
In the summer of 2003 Marc began his serious pursuit as a jazz vocalist. He has worked with Chicago’s icons of jazz, Kimberly Gordon and the Alan Gresik Swing Shift Orchestra; works regularly at the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge and Green Dolphin Street, fronts the Ken Arlen band Front of House and performs with the Dan Cray Trio.
In 2004 Marc produced and released his debut self-titled CD “Marc Courtney Johnson” with the dynamic Dan Cray Trio followed with his sophomore project “Dream of Sunny Days” in 2009. He continues to perform and compose.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Judy Bady was born on September 3, 1956 in Benton Harbor, Michigan. She went on to matriculate through William Paterson University with a degree in Music Studies. One hears the influence of her great predecessors with her vocal artistry, having a dramatic & rich vocabulary of musically composed American song. After a couple of auspicious performances with Bobby McFerrin at his concert performances, he advised her to leave Kalamazoo and pursue her singing career.
Moving to New York City in 1988 and delved into the artistic scene. Four years later she again appeared with McFerrin in an impromptu duet at the JVC Jazz Festival, again the following year for several songs at the Blue Note
She has performed and/or recorded with such luminaries as Hamiet Bluiett, Doug Carn, Andrew Cyrille, Jon Faddis, Billy Harper, Jon Hendricks, John Hicks, Oliver Lake, Bill Lee, Bobby McFerrin, Rene McLean, Hilton Ruiz, Paul Serrato and Francesca Tanksley, among others.
The vocalist, actress and writer has won multiple Down Beat music awards including Best Jazz Vocalist and was featured in the international award-winning documentary, “Jazzwomen: The Female Side of Jazz”.
Vocalist Judy Bady, with an emotional range from tender to swinging in her singing, recorded her debut album as a leader and titled it “Blackbird” in 2003. She continues to perform and record.
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Hollywood On 52nd Street
Alfie, the title song, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, for the 1966 British romantic comedy-drama directed by Lewis Gilbert. The film starred Michael Caine, with supporting roles by Shelley Winters, Millicent Martin and Vivien Merchant.
The original film soundtrack featured jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins with local musicians from London including pianist Stan Tracey, who improvised “Little Malcolm Loves His Dad”, Rick Laird on bass, drummer Phil Seamen and tenor saxophonist Ronnie Scott. The released soundtrack album, recorded back in the States with orchestration by Oliver Nelson, featured Rollins, but with other musicians.
The Story: Alfie tells the story of a young womanizer who leads a self-centered life, purely for his own enjoyment, until events force him to question his uncaring behavior and his loneliness. He cheats on numerous women, and despite his charm towards women, he treats them with disrespect and refers to them as “it”, using them for sex and for domestic purposes. Alfie frequently breaks the fourth wall by speaking directly to the camera narrating and justifying his actions. His words often contrast with or totally contradict his actions.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Born August 26, 1943, Dorival Tostes Caymmi, the son of famous Brazilian musicians Dorival Caymmi and Stella Maris. He began playing piano at age eight, studied music theory at the Conservatorio Lorenzo Fernandez and in 1959 made his professional debut accompanying his sister, Nana.
In 1960 Dori became a member of Groupo dos Sete, writing music for plays aired on Brazilian television. He co-directed and played viola in the play Opinião, an important transitional work between the styles of bossa nova and MPB and directed the play Arena Conta Zumbi. For a time he produced Edu Lobo, Eumir Deodato and Nara Leao, co-wrote the prize winning song “Saveiros” with Nelson Matta, a collaboration that lasted many years and produced some of Brazil’s biggest hits.
Caymmi played and toured with Paul Winter, arranged and directed albums by Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa and Gilberto Gil, and was involved with the tropicalia movement of the late 1960s, but did not record in this style himself due to his distaste for Euro-American pop music. He wrote scores for numerous films and television shows in the 1970s and 1980s, moved to Los Angeles, California in 1989 and has since played or recorded with Dionne Warwick, Toots Thielemans, Marilyn Scott, Oscar Castro-Neves, Eliane Elias, Richard Silveira and Edu Lobo; was a collaborator celebrating Tom Jobim at Carnegie Hall and arranged the music for Spike Lee’s film, Clockers.
Dori Caymmi has been nominated for Latin Grammys several times and is a two-time Grammy Award winner for Best Latin Song and Best Latin Samba Recording. The Brazilian singer, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and producer has an extensive discography dating back to 1964 and he continues to perform and record.
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