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Jazz Musician of the Day: Gigi Gryce

November 28, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Gigi Gryce's birthday today! Gigi Gryce was born George General Grice(sic) on 28th November, 1925 (not 1927) in Pensacola, Florida- although he was brought up in Hartford, Connecticut. He spent a short period in the Navy where he met musicians such as Clark Terry, Jimmy Nottingham and Willie Smith, who were ...

News: Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Maria Schneider

November 27, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Maria Schneider's birthday today! Maria Schneider’s music has been hailed by critics as “evocative, majestic, magical, heart-stoppingly gorgeous, and beyond categorization.” She and her orchestra became widely known starting in 1994 when they released their first recording, Evanescence. There, Schneider began to develop her personal way of writing for what would ...

News: Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Frank Melrose

November 26, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Frank Melrose's birthday today! Franklyn Taft Melrose was an American jazz and blues pianist, who recorded as Kansas City Frank. He was born in Sumner, Illinois and was the younger brother of Walter and Lester Melrose, who had set up the Melrose Brothers Music Company in Chicago, in 1918. He became ...

News: Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond

November 25, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Paul Desmond's birthday today! Paul Desmond was revered for the pure, gentle tone of his alto saxophone, and the elegant lyricism of his improvisations. For seventeen years he was the lead soloist in the most commercially successful jazz combo ever, the Dave Brubeck Quartet. In an era that worshipped the frenetic, ...

News: Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Teddy Wilson

November 24, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Teddy Wilson's birthday today! His airy, effortless style, with its emphasis on lightly accompanied right-hand melody, was a key element in the transition from swing to bebop, and many modern jazz pianists took Wilson\'s approach as their starting point. His early recordings were percussive and forceful, but as he matured his ...

News: Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Emil Viklicky

November 23, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Emil Viklicky's birthday today! Emil Viklicky was born in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), where in 1971 he graduated from Palacky University with a degree in mathematics. While a student he devoted much time to playing jazz piano. In 1974, he was awarded the prize for best soloist at the ...

News: Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gunther Schuller

November 22, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Gunther Schuller's birthday today! The composer Gunther Schuller is, famously, a man of many musical pursuits. He began his professional life as a horn player in both the jazz and classical worlds, working as readily with Miles Davis and Gil Evans as with Toscanini; he was principal horn of the Cincinnati ...

News: Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Coleman Hawkins

November 21, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Coleman Hawkins' birthday today! Coleman Hawkins single-handedly brought the saxophone to the prominence in jazz that the instrument enjoys. Before he hit the scene, jazz groups had little use for the instrument. One player (forgot who) said, “with all due respect to Adolph Sax, Coleman Hawkins invented the saxophone." Hawkins, or ...

News: Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: June Christy

November 20, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating June Christy's birthday today! June was born as Shirley Luster on November 20, 1925 at the Memorial Hospital in Springfield, Illinois and was raised from the age of three in Decatur, Illinois; and from the beginning always wanted to sing. She was singing with local bands when she was just 13, ...

News: Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Tommy Dorsey

November 19, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Tommy Dorsey's birthday today! Trombonist Thomas “Tommy" Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the younger brother of famed jazz clarinetist, Jimmy Dorsey. In early years he was equally well-known as both trumpet and trombone player, recording several hot jazz solos on trumpet in 1920s, including “The Spell of the Blues" with ...