Results for "Philadelphia"

Walt Dickerson

Born: April 16, 1928

Dickerson made a fairly 'big splash' when his first recordings appeared in the early 60s (Down Beat Critics Poll "New Star", 1962), but he's remained an enigmatic figure ever since. His early sides demonstrated a sure grasp of the Hampton/Jackson continuum in blazing through standards, but his original compositions on those dates reflected a spiritual, even mystical flavor that was expanded on in recordings into the early 80s. Dickerson's distinctive melodic and rhythmic approach is complemented by his unique timbre on what is often a cold-sounding and unwieldly instrument - his use of rubber mallets specially-treated to produce a plush and very warm yet crisp sound, immediately recognizable

Joey DeFrancesco

Born: April 10, 1971

Joey DeFrancesco’s emergence in the 1980s marked the onset of a musical renaissance. Organ jazz had been a form of music that literally went into hibernation from the mid-seventies to the mid-eighties largely because of the introduction of high-tech, light-weight keyboards. It was Joey, however, that ignited the flame once again with the sound of his vintage Hammond organ and Leslie tone cabinet.

He not only illuminated this once dormant music form but brought back the many proponents of jazz organ who had been shuffled by record producers and club owners to lesser roles within the music industry. Befriending and supporting those who preceded him, Joey became the new-age proponent of an instrument that had been pushed aside in favor of the growing technology. Considered a child prodigy, Joey remembers as far back as age four, playing jazz tunes modeled by his father, Papa John DeFrancesco and memorizing music from the many jazz albums in their home. Papa John, a jazz organist himself, took young Joey under his wing and nurtured his rapidly developing skills, bringing Joey along with him to gigs, Joey would sit-in with as many seasoned Philadelphia musicians who were around.

Buddy DeFranco

Born: February 17, 1923

Buddy DeFranco has the unprecedented distinction of winning twenty Downbeat Magazine Awards, nine Metronome Magazine Awards, and sixteen Playboy All-Stars Awards as the number one jazz clarinetist in the world.

Buddy is generally credited with leading the way for jazz clarinetists from the exciting era of swing to the exhilarating age of bop. Along the way he has set the example for all jazz musicians for technical brilliance. Improvisational virtuosity and creative warmth. He is one of the most imaginative clarinetists playing today.

Born in Camden, New Jersey, Buddy was raised in South Philadelphia and began playing the clarinet at age nine. By age fourteen he had won a national Tommy Dorsey Swing contest, and appeared on the Saturday Night Swing Club, sharing the spotlight with Gene Krupa. He was soon discovered by Johnny "Scat" Davis and began his road career with him in 1939. He joined Gene Krupa in 1941, Ted FioRito and Charlie Barnet 1942-43, Tommy Dorsey 1944-45, Boyd Raeburn 1946, Tommy Dorsey again in 1947-48. In 1950 he joined the famous Count Basie Septet.Buddy was appointed leader of the Glenn Miller Orchestra 1966-1974. Since then he has resumed his jazz career and has done countless clinics: Tri-State Festival, Stan Kenton Clinics, North Texas State Teachers College, Clinician and Soloist with the N.O.R.A.D. Band and Air Men of Note. Buddy has brought his clarinet and jazz groups to many famous clubs. His concert appearances include Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Ravinia Park with Tony Bennett, Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas, Kool Jazz Festival, Aurex Jazz Festival in Japan, Bern Festival in Switzerland, Radio Cologne with Bill Holman and the Radio Cologne Orchestra, Dutch Radio with Rob Pronk & Metropole Orchestra, European Tours, the Far East, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, South Africa, and Argentina ... wherever good jazz is played!

Ted Curson

Born: June 3, 1935

Theodore "Ted" Curson (born June 3, 1935, died November 4, 2012) was a jazz trumpeter. He was perhaps best-known for recording and performing with Charles Mingus. Curson got interested in playing trumpet through the fact that the local newspaper salesman had a silver trumpet that he was playing on the streets while selling newspapers. Curson's father could not afford a trumpet and besides, he wanted Ted to become an alto player like his idol, Louis Jordan. Finally, when Ted was 10 years old, his father found an old trumpet for him in the Navy Yard. He soon after formed a band, the Bebop Trio, with friends from the neighbourhood

Marilyn Crispell

Born: March 30, 1947

Marilyn Crispell is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music where she studied classical piano and composition, and has been a resident of Woodstock, New York since 1977 when she came to study and teach at the Creative Music Studio. She discovered jazz through the music of John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor and other contemporary jazz players and composers. For ten years she was a member of the Anthony Braxton Quartet and the Reggie Workman Ensemble and has been a member of the Barry Guy New Orchestra and guest with his London Jazz Composers Orchestra, as well as a member of the Henry Grimes Trio, Quartet Noir (with Urs Leimgruber, Fritz Hauser and Joelle Leandre), and Anders Jormin's Bortom Quintet. In 2005 she performed and recorded with the NOW Orchestra in Vancouver, Canada and in 2006 she was co-director of the Vancouver Creative Music Institute and a faculty member at the Banff Centre International Workshop in Jazz. In 2014 she led a three-week music residency at the Atlantic Center For the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, and in 2016 led a one-week residency at the Conservatory Manuel de Falla in Buenos Aires. In 2019 she will be a guiding artist at the Jazzdanmark Summer Session in Denmark. Currently she is touring and recording with two different trios: Joe Lovano's Trio Tapestry (with Carmen Castaldi) and a trio with Harvey Sorgen and Joe Fonda, as well as collaborating with Angelica Sanchez, Tanya Kalmanovitch, Gunhild Seim, Tyshawn Sorey, David Rothenberg and others.

Marc Copland

Born: May 27, 1948

Born 27 May 1948, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, Copland was a part of the vibrant music scene in Philadelphia as a saxophonist before going to New York where he met John Abercrombie and also played with Chico Hamilton, and others. He experimented with the electric alto but gradually became dissatisfied with the direction his music was taking and, leaving New York, quit playing the sax in order to study piano. He was gone for almost a decade but upon his return to the jazz world in the mid-80s his piano playing was a revelation, his own vividly original style firmly in place. As a sideman he played with Bob Belden, Jane Ira Bloom, Joe Lovano, Tim Hagans, James Moody, Wallace Roney and many others. But his career as a sideman in the Apple was relatively short-lived; Copland began recording and touring in trio with Gary Peacock and Billy Hart (At Night/Sunnyside, Paradiso/Soul Note) In the nineties, his reputation spread owing to three legendary recordings with the Savoy label, which put him on the road in an All-Star quintet (Randy Brecker, Bob Berg, and Dennis Chambers), and later in quartet with guitarist John Abercrombie, Drew Gress, and drummer Hart. Copland has enthralled audiences not only in trio and as a solo pianist, but also as a duo partner without peer—as attested by his duo recordings with Greg Osby (Night Call, Round and Round/Nagel-Heyer) and Gary Peacock (What It Says/Sketch).

Norman Connors

Born: March 1, 1947

Norman Connors is a highly regarded American jazz drummer, composer, and producer. He gained prominence in the 1970s with his fusion of jazz, soul, and R&B music. Connors is known for his work as a bandleader and for collaborating with many prominent musicians in the jazz and R&B genres. Some of his notable albums include "Love from the Sun," "Saturday Night Special," and "You Are My Starship," which featured vocalists such as Phyllis Hyman and Michael Henderson. Connors' music often incorporates lush arrangements, smooth grooves, and soulful melodies, making him a significant figure in the fusion of jazz and R&B during his era.

John Coltrane

Born: September 23, 1926

John William Coltrane was born on September 23, 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina. At the age of three his family moved to High Point, NC, where young Coltrane spent his early years. His father, John Robert Coltrane, died in 1939, leaving twelve year-old John and his mother on their own.

His mother, Alice Blair Coltrane, moved to New Jersey to work as a domestic while John completed high school. John played first the clarinet, then alto saxophone in his high school band. His first musical influence was the tenor saxophonist Lester Young of Count Basie's band. In June of 1943, after graduation, Coltrane moved to Philadelphia to be closer to his mother.

Johnny Coles

Born: July 3, 1926

Johnny Coles never became a star name, but his associations with a half-dozen of the leading jazz figures of the post-war era are significant enough testament to his musical ability. Whether through circumstances or lack of inclination, Coles seemed content to work with others at the helm throughout his career, but he earned a significant reputation within those parameters. He was never a band-leader of any note, and recorded very few records under his own name. His debut album The Warm Sound, appeared in 1961, while his most significant record as a leader, Little Johnny C, was issued on Blue Note label in 1963. He taught himself to play trumpet from the age of 10, later adding the customary flugelhorn as well

Stanley Clarke

Born: June 30, 1951

Four-time Grammy™ winner Stanley Clarke is quite possibly the most celebrated acoustic and electric bassist in the world. As a performer, composer, conductor, arranger, recording artist, producer, and film scorer known for his ferocious dexterity and consummate musicality, Clarke is a true pioneer in jazz and of the bass itself. Unquestionably he is a “living legend,” lauded with every conceivable award available to a musician in his over 40- year career as a bass virtuoso. Clarke’s incredible proficiency has been rewarded with: four Grammys, gold and platinum records, Emmy nominations, an honorary Doctorate from Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, and much more