THE COUNT

[edit] Early life
William James Basie was born to Harvey Lee Basie, and Lillian Ann Childs, who lived on Mechanic Street in Red Bank, New Jersey.[1][2] His father worked as a coachman and caretaker for a wealthy judge. After automobiles replaced horses, his father became a groundskeeper and handyman for several families in the area.[3] His mother, a piano player who gave William his first piano lessons, took in laundry and baked cakes for sale and paid 25 cents a lesson for piano instruction for him.[4][5]

Basie was not much of a scholar and instead dreamed of a traveling life, inspired by the carnivals which came to town. He only got as far as junior high school.[6] He would hang out at the Palace theater in Red Bank and did occasional chores for the management, which got him free admission to the shows. He also learned to operate the spotlights for the vaudeville shows. One day, when the pianist didn’t arrive by show time, Basie took his place. Playing by ear, he quickly learned to improvise music appropriate to silent movies.[7]

Though a natural at the piano, Basie preferred drums. However, the obvious talents of another young Red Bank area drummer, Sonny Greer (who was Duke Ellington's drummer from 1919 to 1951), discouraged Basie and he switched to piano exclusively by age 15.[4] They played together in venues until Greer set out on his professional career. By then Basie was playing with pick up groups for dances, resorts, and amateur shows, including Harry Richardson’s “Kings of Syncopation”.[8] When not playing a gig, he hung out at the local pool hall with other musicians where he picked up on upcoming play dates and gossip. He got some jobs in Asbury Park, playing at the Hongkong Inn, until a better player took his place.[9]

[edit] Early career
Around 1924, he went to Harlem, a hotbed of jazz, living down the block from the Alhambra Theater. Early after his arrival, he bumped into Sonny Greer, who was then the drummer for the Washingtonians, Duke Ellington’s early band.[10] Soon, Basie met many of the Harlem musicians who were making the scene, including Willie “the Lion” Smith and James P. Johnson.

Basie toured in several acts between 1925 and 1927, including Katie Krippen and Her Kiddies as part of the Hippity Hop show; on the Keith, the Columbia Burlesque, and the Theater Owners Bookers Association (T.O.B.A.) vaudeville circuits; and as a soloist and accompanist to blues singers Katie Krippen and Gonzelle White[11][12]. His touring took him to Kansas City, St. Louis, New Orleans, and Chicago. Throughout his tours, Basie met many great jazz musicians, including Louis Armstrong.[13]

Back in Harlem in 1925, Basie got his first steady job at Leroy’s, a place known for its piano players and its “cutting contests”, The place catered to “uptown celebrities”, and typically the band winged every number without sheet music (using “head” arrangements).[14] He met Fats Waller, who was playing organ at the Lincoln Theater accompanying silent movies, and Waller taught him how to play that instrument (Basie later played organ at the Eblon Theater in Kansas City).[15] As he did with Duke Ellington, Willie “the Lion” Smith helped Basie out during the lean times arranging gigs at house-rent parties, introducing him to other top musicians, and teaching him some piano technique.[16]

In 1928 Basie was in Tulsa and heard Walter Page and his Famous Blue Devils, one of the first big bands, which featured Jimmy Rushing on vocals.[17] A few months later, he was invited to join the band, which played mostly in Texas and Oklahoma. It was at this time that he began to be known as "Count" Basie (see Jazz royalty).[18]

[edit] Kansas City years
The following year, Basie became the pianist with the Bennie Moten band based in Kansas City, inspired by Moten’s ambition to raise his band to the level of Duke Ellington’s or Fletcher Henderson’s.[19] Where the Blue Devils were ”snappier” and more “bluesy”, the Moten band was classier and more respected, and played in the “Kansas City stomp” style.[20] In addition to playing piano, Basie was co-arranger with Eddie Durham, who actually did the notating.[21] During a stay in Chicago, Basie recorded with the band. He occasionally played four-hand piano and dual pianos with Moten, who also conducted.[22] The band improved with several personnel changes, including the addition of sax man Ben Webster.

When the band voted Moten out, Basie took over for several months as Count Basie and his Cherry Blossoms until the band folded, when he returned to Moten's newly re-organized band.[23] When Moten died in 1935 after a surgical procedure, the band unsuccessfully attempted to stay together. Then Basie formed a new band, which included many Moten alumni, with the important addition of tenor saxophone player Lester Young. They played at the Reno Club and sometimes were broadcast on local radio. Late one night with time to fill, the band started improvising. Basie liked the results and named the piece "One O'Clock Jump".[24] According to Basie, “we hit it with the rhythm section and went into the riffs, and the riffs just stuck. We set the thing up front in D-flat, and then we just went on playing in F”. It became his signature tune.[25]

[edit] Hammond and first recordings

Basie and band, with vocalist Ethel Waters, from the film Stage Door Canteen (1943)At the end of 1936, Basie and his band, now billed as Count Basie and His Barons of Rhythm, moved from Kansas City and honed their repertoire at a long engagement at the Grand Terrace Ballroom in Chicago.[26] Right from the start, Basie’s band was noted for its rhythm section. Another Basie innovation was the use of two tenor saxophone players; at the time, most bands had just one. When Lester Young complained of Herschel Evans' vibrato, the two were split apart and placed one on each side of the alto players, and soon Basie had the tenor players engaged in “duels”. Many other bands later adapted the split tenor arrangement.[27]

In that city in October 1936, members of the band participated in a recording session which producer John Hammond later described as "the only perfect, completely perfect recording session I've ever had anything to do with".[28] Hammond, according to Basie, had heard Basie’s band over short-wave radio, then he went to Kansas City to check them out.[29] It was Lester Young’s earliest recordings. Those four sides were released under the name Jones-Smith Incorporated because Basie had already signed with Decca Records but had not started recording for them (his first Decca session was January 1937). The sides included: "Shoe Shine Boy", "Evening", "Boogie Woogie", and "Oh, Lady Be Good".[30]

By now, Basie's sound was characterized by his trademark "jumping" beat and the contrapuntal accents of his own piano. His personnel around 1937 included: Lester Young and Herschel Evans (tenor sax), Freddie Green (guitar), Jo Jones (drums), Walter Page (bass), Earle Warren (alto sax), Buck Clayton and Harry Edison (trumpet), Benny Morton and Dickie Wells (trombone).[31] Lester Young, known as “Prez” by the band, came up with nicknames for all the other band members. Basie became known as “Holy Man”, “Holy Main”, and just plain “Holy”.[32]

Basie favored blues, and he showcased some of the most notable blues singers of the era: Billie Holiday, Jimmy Rushing, Big Joe Turner, Helen Humes, and Joe Williams. He also hired arrangers who knew how to maximize the band's abilities, such as Eddie Durham and Jimmy Mundy.

[edit] New York City and the Swing years
When they arrived in New York, they made the Woodside Hotel their base (where they often rehearsed in the basement). Soon, they were booked at the famed Roseland Ballroom for the Christmas show. Basie recalled a review, which in his words was something like, “We caught the great Count Basie band which is supposed to be so hot he was going to come in here and set the Roseland on fire. Well, the Roseland is still standing”.[33] Compared to the reigning band of Fletcher Henderson, Basie’s band lacked polish and presentation.[34] Hammond advised and encouraged them, and they soon came up with some adjustments, including softer playing, more solos, more standards, and saving their hottest numbers for later in the show to give the audience a chance to warm up.[35] His first official recordings for Decca followed, under contract to agent MCA, including Pennies from Heaven and Honeysuckle Rose.[36]

Hammond introduced Basie to Billie Holiday and soon she sang with the band. (Holiday didn’t record with Basie, however, as she had her own record contract and preferred working with small combos).[37] The band’s first appearance at the Apollo Theater followed, with vocalists Holiday and Rushing getting the most attention.[38] Eddie Durham came back to help with arranging and composing, but for the most part their numbers were worked out in rehearsal, with Basie guiding the proceedings, and the results written out little if at all. Once they found what they liked, they usually were able to repeat it using their collective memory.[39]

Next, Basie played at the Savoy, which was noted more for jitterbugging, while the Roseland was more of a place for fox-trots and congas.[40] In early 1938, the Savoy was the meeting ground for a “battle of the bands” with Chick Webb’s group. Basie had Holiday and Webb countered with Ella Fitzgerald. As Metronome magazine proclaimed, “Basie’s Brilliant Band Conquers Chick’s”, then it went on in detail,

“Throughout the fight, which never let down in its intensity during the whole fray, Chick took the aggressive, with the Count playing along easily and, on the whole, more musically scientifically. Undismayed by Chick’s forceful drum beating, which sent the audience into shouts of encouragement and appreciation and casual beads of perspiration to drop from Chick’s brow onto the brass cymbals, the Count maintained an attitude of poise and self-assurance. He constantly parried Chick’s thundering haymakers with tantalizing runs and arpeggios which teased more and more force from his adversary”.[41]
The publicity over the battle, before and after, gave the Basie band a big boost and they gained wider recognition, as evidenced by Benny Goodman’s recording of One O'Clock Jump shortly thereafter.[42]

A few months later, Holiday left for Artie Shaw’s band, and was replaced by Helen Humes; she was also ushered in by John Hammond, and stayed with Basie for four years.[43] Co-arranger and trombone player Eddie Durham left for Glenn Miller’s orchestra and was replaced by Dicky Wells. Basie’s 14-man band began playing at the Famous Door, a mid-town nightspot, with a CBS network feed and air conditioning. Their fame took a huge leap.[44] Adding to their play book, Basie received arrangements from Jimmy Mundy (who had also worked with Benny Goodman and Earl Hines) particularly for "Cherokee", "Easy Does It", and "Super Chief".[45] In 1939, Basie and his band made a major cross-country tour, including their first West Coast dates. A few months later, Basie quit MCA and signed with the William Morris Agency, who got them better fees.[46]

In 1942, Basie moved to Queens with Catherine Morgan, after being married to her for a few years. On the West Coast, the band did a spot in Reveille With Beverly, a musical starring Ann Miller, and also a "Command Performance" for Armed Forces Radio with Hollywood stars Clark Gable, Bette Davis, Carmen Miranda, Jerry Colonna, and singer Dinah Shore.[47] Other minor movie spots followed including Choo Choo Swing, Crazy House, Top Man, and Hit Parade of 1943.[48] They also started to record with RCA.[49] The war years caused a lot of turn over, and the band worked many play dates with lower pay. Dance hall bookings were down sharply as swing began to fade, the bebop revolution began, and the era of the pop singer was about to take hold.

[edit] Post war and later years
The big band era appeared to be over after the war (c. 1946), and Basie disbanded the group. For awhile, he performed in combos, sometimes stretched to an orchestra. In 1950, he headlined the Universal-International short film 'Sugar Chile' Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet. He re-formed his group as a 16-piece orchestra in 1952. Basie credits Billy Eckstine, a top male vocalist of the time, for prompting his return to Big Band and Norman Granz for getting him into the Birdland club and promoting the new band through recordings on the Mercury, Clef, and Verve labels.[50] The jukebox era had begun, and Basie shared the exposure along with early rock'n'roll and rhythm and blues artists. Basie's new band was more of an ensemble group, with fewer solo turns, and relying less on “head” and more on written arrangements.


Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New JerseyBasie added touches of bebop “so long as it made sense”, and he required that “it all had to have feeling”. Basie’s band was sharing Birdland with bebop greats Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. Behind the occasional bebop solos, though, he always kept his strict rhythmic pulse, “so it doesn’t matter what they do up front; the audience gets the beat”.[51] Basie also added flute to some numbers, a novelty at the time that became widely copied.[52] Soon, they were touring and recording again. The new band included: Paul Campbell, Tommy Turrentine, Johnny Letman, and Idris Sulieman, Joe Newman (trumpet); Jimmy Wilkins, Benny Powell, Matthew Gee (trombone); Paul Quinichette and Floyd Johnson (tenor sax); Marshall Royal and Ernie Wilkins (alto sax); and Charlie Fowlkes (baritone sax).[53] Down Beat said, Basie “has managed to assemble an ensemble that can thrill both the listener who remembers 1938 and the youngster who has never before heard a big band like this”.[54]

In 1954, the band made its first European tour. Jazz was especially strong in France, The Netherlands, and Germany in the 1950’s; These countries were the stomping grounds for many ex-patriate jazz stars who were either resurrecting their careers or sitting out the years of racial divide in the United States. Neal Hefti began to provide arrangements, notably "Lil Darlin'". By the mid-1950s, Basie's band had become one of the pre-eminent backing big bands for some of the most prominent jazz vocalists of the time. They also toured with the “Birdland Stars of 1955”, whose lineup included Sarah Vaughan, Erroll Garner, Lester Young, George Shearing, and Stan Getz.[55]

In 1957, Basie released the live album At Newport. "April in Paris" (arrangement by Wild Bill Davis) was a best-selling instrumental and the title song for the hit album.[56] The Basie band made two tours in the British Isles and on the second, they put on a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II, along with Judy Garland, Vera Lynn, and Mario Lanza.[57] In 1959, Basie’s band recorded a “greatest hits” double album The Count Basie Story (Frank Foster, arranger) and

Jazz in London

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ബ്ര്രുസ് Eskovitz.

bruceeskovitz.com > bio



Jazz Composer/Saxophonist, Dr. Bruce Eskovitz was eleven years old when he fell in love with the sound of the tenor saxophone, and by the age of thirteen had begun his professional playing career. While other Southern California teenagers tuned in to rock n' roll, Bruce hung out with Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Stan Getz records until he could play their sound. By the age of twenty, Bruce was composing music for "The Merv Griffin Show." He remembers handing Plas Johnson and Ray Brown his tunes and was encouraged by their positive reaction.

Today Dr. Bruce resides in Culver City, CA and has been busy in 2008 promoting his fifth jazz album, Invitation (Pacific Coast Jazz), performed by the Bruce Eskovitz Jazz Orchestra (BEJO), an exciting nine-piece ensemble featuring some of the best jazz musicians in Los Angeles. Previous albums include: Regions, again with the Bruce Eskovitz Jazz Orchestra, Bruce Eskovitz/Bill Mays, Conversations (Azica), One for Newk (KOCH Jazz), a tribute to Sonny Rollins which received a 5 star rating. Newk (KOCH Jazz), a tribute to Sonny Rollins which received a 5 star rating in The All Music Guide to Jazz (www.allmusic.com).
















received a 5 star rating. Today he is promoting Album #6, One For Newk II (Pacific Coast Jazz), a technically updated version of the 1995 album. One For Newk (original and II) features some of the most respected musicians in the jazz arena today: Bill Mays on piano, Ray Drummond on bass, Larance Marable on drums, Charlie Shoemake on vibes, and a guest appearance by saxophone great Ernie Watts on the classic "Tenor Madness.”

Dr. Bruce Eskovitz is in demand as a jazz artist on the L.A. jazz club scene where he appears regularly at Catalina Bar and Grill, Charlie O’s, Steamers, Jax Bar and Grill, The Santa Barbara Jazz Festival, Beverly Hills Affaire in the Garden, The Lighthouse, Café 322, Industry Café & Jazz and Cava.

Dr. Bruce has performed and recorded with many great and diverse artists, including Joe Cocker, Natalie Cole, Freddie Hubbard, Doc Severinsen, Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney, Jimmy Webb, Bill Watrous, Elliot Smith, Dwight Yoakum, Jane Monheit, The Fifth Dimension, Rita Moreno, Jack Jones, Bobby Vinton, Shari Lewis, Ernie Watts, and many other celebrities. He plays soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, flutes and clarinets. Some of his other compositional and performance credentials include the Los Angeles productions of "Beatlemania" and "Timbuktu," countless records and jingles, The John Davidson Show, The Danny Gans Show, The Ebony/Jet Celebrity Showcase, the ABC TV show Santa Barbara, Ollie Mitchell's Sunday Band, Frank Capp’s Juggernaut, and "The New American Orchestra." He is currently fronting his band BEJO (Bruce Eskovitz Jazz Orchestra) featuring some of the best jazz musicians in Los Angeles.

Dr. Bruce’s career as an educator boasts several major accomplishments: he is Director of the Instrumental Music Program at the prestigious Windward School in West Los Angeles. Previously he was a full time lecturer at The University of Southern California where he directed the Jazz Ensemble Program, taught jazz theory, as well as saxophone and jazz improvisation; he founded the award winning Jazz Music Studies Program at Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, CA, where he maintains his role as Artist-in-Residence. Dr. Bruce is also active as a clinician and soloist.

Dr. Bruce holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California in Jazz Composition, a Masters degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelors of Arts degree in Music from California State University Northridge.


For booking information, please email Dr. Bruce at drbruce@bruceeskovitz.com.






Design by Gary Oberparleiter

KARRIN ALISON

©Andrea Canter

I recall that the last time Karrin Allyson performed at the Dakota in April 2008, I thought it was the best set I had heard from her yet, and that was certainly saying something given her long history of engaging performances.

But now, her opening set on Tuesday was surely the best I have heard from her yet. I don’t think I am losing my powers of discrimination or succumbing to the “halo effect.” I think, as good as she is, she just keeps moving forward. And regardless of material—in advance celebration of the release of her Best of Karrin Allyson on Concord, Karrin’s set covered familiar selections from her diverse repertoire, nothing we had not heard before, yet everything sounded as if she was giving it an inaugural performance. And of course that is the hallmark of a top artist.

There may be many clues to her trajectory in analyses of her intonation, phrasing, song selection, etc. But to me the key is a growing confidence and enjoyment in performing. I recall one of the first times I heard Karrin at the Dakota, she was distracted by the auto focus beam of a new digital camera, by clanking silverware; she seemed intense to a point of inhibition. Each year she returns with more joy. Her performances now are not only fun for the audience, they seem to be fun for Karrin Allyson. At the same time, the gigs seem less like gigs and more like musical conversations among friends. Which they clearly are. This week, instrumentation was pared down to guitar and bass, along with Karrin’s own accompaniment on piano for part of the set. (I heard that for the second set, pianist Laura Caviani accompanied her pal Karrin on a couple of tunes, marking Laura’s first stage appearance since cutting her hand badly in a car accident in May. Bravo!)

Without drums, with longtime cohorts Rob Fleemans and Larry Kohout, Karrin was truly home. You could hear it in every note, from her stellar blues (“I Ain’t Got Nothing But the Blues”) and Jimmy Webb’s “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress” (one that she has not recorded), to her bilingual romps (including the always-requested “Patout” as well as Jobim’s “A Felicidade” and “Double Rainbow), to the wryly humorous “Robert Frost” (digging back to Collage) to her heart-rending Elton John ballad, “And So It Goes.” Unflappable, unassuming, unfettered. Nothing but the “best of.”

She’ll undoubtedly return next year. Undoubtedly I will repeat myself.
Photo: Karrin Allyson at the Dakota on June 23, 2009. (Photo by Andrea Canter.)
Posted by Canterjazz at 8:56 PM

BOB McHUGH

Biography


Born: July 20, 1946

Bob McHugh has been playing jazz clubs,festivals,halls,private parties, and restaurants in the NY metro area for over forty years. Be it solo,duo,trio or big band Bob has done it. His styles include, but are not limited to jazz,rock,and fusion. Bob has recorded three albums for Outstanding Records,and has also recorded on Alliance, Perception and Lunge Music. Some of the people he has recorded with are Ray Mantilla, Rich Austin, Raul Paonessa, Ron Naspo, Earl Sauls, Kevin McCarthy, Vinnie Cutro, Tony Signa, Tommy La Bella, Jackie Jones, MNB, Medoosa, David Humm Trio, and Jon Kline, Johnny Guitar & The Pick Ups and has worked with Joe Morello, Bill Crow, Andrew Cyrille, Lisle Atkinson, Eliot Zigmond, Lou Grassi, Bob DeVos, Vince Mazzilli and Max Weinberg and many more.

Bob has been a commisioned composer for the NJMTA , The National Federation of Music Clubs, The New Your State School Music Association and has piano pieces published by Manduca Music Publications and The Voice of the Rockies and was the house pianist at the Stony Hill Inn in Hackensack,N.J.from 1993 till 2006. He has been voted favorite artist on Sky Jazz.com , Anima Jazz in Italy and has been a guest on Around New York on WNYC, Mozart To Motorhead , Anything Goes with Lise Avery on WFDU, afternoon jazz with Dr.Ken Rabac on WUCF, and a showcase artist on allaboutjazz.com and can be heard on internet and PBS stations such as jazz excursion.com. His bio is published in Marquis Who's Who in America, and he has recieved an ASCAP award every year since 1989. In 2007 Bob was featured in ASCAP jazz podcast #4, and been working with The Music Kitchen in Calf. and had one of his compositions used in a Sprint radio spot in Asia.

Home: Pompton Lakes, NJ

Press Quotes

Feeling like you missed something? You did if you missed Bob McHughs' MANHATTAN SUNRISE. This '94 recording is an excellent choice for your jazz collection. --Stephen Koch, All About Jazz

Bob McHugh is one of the finest contempary jazz pianists and composers recording today and gives us an exceptional collection of songs in his AMERICAN CLASSICS. It is a CD collection that will find its way to the hearts of the jazz listening aduience quickly. Unique, fresh, inventive, and enjoyable are words that best describe the solo piano of Bob McHugh in this collection. These jazz performances are among the best found anywhere. --Lee Prosser, jazzreview.com

Awards
Commisioned composer NJMTA in 1998 and 1999, ASCAP popular award, winner of jazz poll on Sky Jazz,inclued in Marqus Who's Who in Entertainment and Who's Who in America.

BILLY ROSS

ABOUT BILLY ROSS

“Anyone who plays a Gene Ammons—Sonny Stitt tune is a friend of mine,” record producer Bob Weinstock told Billy Ross after hearing the multi-woodwind player and his group perform at a North Miami shopping mall in 1994. Weinstock, the founder of Prestige Records, had once produced Ammons and Stitt, as well as Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and countless others. Ross, not knowing that Weinstock hadn’t supervised a session in over three decades, told him of his dream of recording a tribute to his late friend Getz.

That fortuitous meeting led to Weinstock’s long-overdue return to producing (for Fantasy, Inc., the Berkeley, California company to which Weinstock had sold Prestige in 1972) and to The Sound, Ross’s recording debut as the sole leader of his own group. The Sound, a loving tribute to Getz, was issued on Fantasy’s Milestone label later in 1994. Now comes Ross’s tribute to the late Woody Herman’s legendary First Herd (the first major swing band to have embraced elements of bop), Woody, on Fantasy’s Contemporary label. Whereas The Sound was Ross’s idea, Woody was Weinstock’s, yet Weinstock this time took the role of executive producer and let Ross and his longtime cohort, pianist-arranger Mike Levine, produce the sessions themselves.

Although Ross was born on April 12, 1948—over a year after Herman disbanded the First Herd—the Hollywood, Florida-based musician was an ideal choice for Weinstock’s project. Ross had been a member of three subsequent Herman Herds—in 1967-68, 1978-79, and 1980-82—sitting in a sax section that had previously held such tenor giants as Getz, Ammons, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, and Flip Phillips.

Woody, which features new treatments of such First Herd favorites as “Apple Honey,” “Bijou,” “Northwest Passage,” “Laura,” “Keen and Peachy,” and “Woodchoppers’ Ball,” is a dazzling display of Ross’s virtuosity on soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones, clarinet, and flutes. (He plays bass, alto, and C flutes on the Latin-tinged “Everywhere,” composed by First Herd trombonist Bill Harris.) Ross does not hog all the solo space for himself, however, and leaves plenty of room for other leading South Florida musicians, including trumpeter Ira Sullivan, flugelhornist-trumpeter Pete Minger, tenor saxophonist Turk Mauro (another Weinstock discovery and Milestone recording artist), and such ex--Hermanites as tenor saxophonist Frank Tiberi and baritone saxophonist Mike Brignola. And for a Ross-Levine blues original titled “For the First Herd,” they recruited 83-year-old saxophonist Flip Phillips, the First Herd’s star tenor soloist. Arrangers Levine, Gary Lindsay, Larry Warrilow, and Willie Sanchez give fresh readings to the Herman classics throughout, in both intimate small-group and expansive little-big-band settings.

Billy Ross was born into a show business family in Brooklyn. His parents, Larry Ross and the late Sonia Zomina, performed as a song-and-dance team in New York’s Catskill Mountains before becoming Broadway, motion picture, and television actors. Billy himself began acting at age 8, at first appearing in commercials, later playing small roles in such films as Love with the Proper Stranger and The Way We Were.

He took up the clarinet at age 9 and later studied under Joe Allard at the Juilliard School of Music. When Ross was 12, his parents brought him to Brooklyn’s Fox Theater to hear the Miles Davis Sextet. John Coltrane, then a member of the Davis band, left an especially lasting impression. Two years later, Ross heard and met Stan Getz at Basin Street East.

“He always inspired me, and he always took time to talk to me,” Ross says of Getz. “He said to me, ‘Don’t think about playing a style. Play what you feel.’ I don’t try to copy his playing. After all those years of hearing him play, I just sort of absorbed it and the kind of spirit that he had. I want to instill that in people—that kind of peace that he had. There was something really remarkable—he had this relaxing peace that he gave others. With so much frantic music out there, I think sometimes I like to portray music that’s nice and relaxing. I’m kind of hyper sometimes, and the only time I get to relax is when I play.”

Ross turned professional at 14, spending summers playing at hotels in the Catskills, where he eventually backed such headliners as Lena Horne, Vic Damone, and Hines, Hines, and Dad. Back home in New York City, he joined a lab band that played arrangements from the Count Basie, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and Gerry Mulligan big bands. “I got to read all those arrangements,” he recalls, “so by the time I was 17 years old, I could read anything.”

After a stint with Machito’s Afro-Cuban orchestra, Ross joined the Herman band at age 18. He had replaced Sal Nistico, but six months later, Nistico returned to reclaim his chair. Ross then rejoined Machito and later played with the Latin orchestras of Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez. In 1970, he went to Australia to visit his aunt and, within three days, was hired as first flutist in the Australian Broadcasting Recording Orchestra.

Homesick for the U.S., Ross moved to Miami Beach, where his parents had settled, and was accepted with a full scholarship to the University of Miami School of Music, from which he graduated in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in studio music and jazz. While there, he played and toured with the award-winning University of Miami Jazz Band, which included, among other notables, guitarist Pat Metheny. In 1981, Metheny contributed to an album on the Head First label by the Ross-Levine Band, a group Ross co-led with pianist Mike Levine.

Ross returned to the Herman band in 1978 and again in 1980. He was featured primarily on flute and piccolo, but in 1981 recorded an album with the orchestra titled Live at the Concord Jazz Festival that found him playing a blistering tenor solo on Bill Holman’s “Midnight Run.” Ross recalls that Stan Getz, who appeared as a special guest on the album, was impressed.

Since leaving Herman for the final time in 1982, Ross has been among the most in-demand studio musicians in South Florida. Among his many credits are record dates with James Brown, Millie Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Julio Iglesias, Duffy Jackson, and Melton Mustafa; tours with Marvin Gaye, Michel Legrand, Frank Sinatra, and Mel Tormé; and club engagements with Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr., Lou Rawls, and Nancy Wilson. For the past nine years, Ross has been a member of the house band of Sabado Gigante, a Spanish-language variety show filmed at Univision in Miami and viewed by 140 million people worldwide.

Although steady, the Sabado Gigante gig affords Ross the time to pursue his first love—playing jazz—on weekends. With the release of The Sound, and now Woody, Billy Ross is bringing his relaxed yet intensely swinging style to jazz audiences around the world, carrying on the legacies of Stan Getz and Woody Herman, while making musical statements that are deeply personal and highly refreshing.

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Vincent Herring Biography

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Vincent Herring Biography Vincent has developed into a virtuoso with a voice that is uniquely intense and vigorous with energy and direction. He is considered one of the premier saxophonists of his generation. Vincent first toured Europe and the United States with Lionel Hampton’s big band in the early 1980’s. As he developed his musicianship he began to work with Nat Adderley a liaison that continued for nine years. Along the way he worked and / or recorded with Cedar Walton, Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Hayes, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, Horace Silver Quintet, Jack DeJohnette’s Special Edition, Larry Coryell, Steve Turre, The Mingus Big Band, Kenny Barron, Nancy Wilson, Dr. Billy Taylor, Carla Bley, and John Hicks. Other special concert and projects have included special guest soloist engagements with Wynton Marsalis at Lincoln Center. Vincent also appeared as a guest soloist at Carnegie Hall with John Faddis and The Carnegie Hall Big Band. While amassing these impressive credentials, Vincent continues to develop his own voice and style. In addition to the legends and peers he has worked with Vincent is inspired by a collage of diverse musical influences. Which is reflected in his original band called Earth Jazz Agents. Vincent is also involved in Jazz education. He is currently on staff at William Patterson University as well as conducting master classes and jazz workshops at Juilliard. Vincent has also conducted master classes on jazz improvising at Duke and Cornell Universities. Vincent has recorded 15 CD’s as a leader and can be heard on over 200 as a sideman.

This is where it all happened !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MONDAY, MAY 05, 2008

Postcard from San Francisco - The Spirit of KJAZ
For most of you, the radio call sign of KJAZ probably doesn't ring any bells. But, for me, having grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area, KJAZ was a monument, as much a part of our scene as the Golden Gate Bridge. From 1959 until it went off the air in 1994, KJAZ was was hailed as "The greatest jazz station in the world" by the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Ahmad Jamal, Carmen McRae, Tony Bennett, Stan Getz, Bill Cosby and Herbie Hancock. For much of that time, I couldn't hear it as I lived in Sacramento and San Jose, just out of reach of their signal. But whenever I was in reach, the radio was turned on and its wonderful music poured forth.
Now, KJAZ is back, not as a radio station or a poor imitation using the same call sign, but as an Internet radio station playing recorded tapes of the actual KJAZ programming from the true heyday of jazz music. What a special joy it is for me to hear the music and the familiar voices of the KJAZ disc jockeys from that era. It has been said you can't go home again...but I come close when I hear the music of KJAZ coming out through my computer speakers.
I don't expect you will have the same nostalgic feeling if you listen to it, but if you like good jazz, click on this link, sit back and enjoy what you hear. Like all radio stations, you won't love all the music they play. I definitely don't. But if you listen long enough, you will get the feel that special era when jazz ruled the airwaves over San Francisco and the greatest jazz musicians played in the jazz nightclubs in North Beach, like Basin Street West, The Blackhawk, and The Jazz Workshop. When I was old enough, I got to see so many great jazz artists live in these small, intimate clubs...artists like Dave Brubeck, Vince Guaraldi, Cal Tjader, Miles Davis, Jon Hendricks, Ahmad Jamal, George Shearing, Carmen McCrea, and yes, even Big Mama Willie May Thornton.
It was a special time.
POSTED BY J.R. CORKRUM AT 3:26 PM

Joseph (Jimmy) Rosenberg

(born 10th April 1980 in Helmond) is a Dutch musician (guitar), known for his virtuoso playing of jazz, string swing, and gypsy jazz.

He was formerly active in the gypsy environment (Sinti), inspired by his relative Stochelo Rosenberg after his release of the album "Seresta" (Hot Club Records, 1989). Jimmy Rosenberg's international reputation started with the British Channel 4 show (Django's Legacy, 1990) with the trio "The Gypsy Kids", who constisted of Falko Reinhart and Sani van Mullum. In 1995 he was in the trio together with Johnny Rosenberg on guitar and Rinus Steinbach on bass.Joseph (Jimmy) Rosenberg

With this group he toured in Oslo, New York and the Django festival in Paris until he pursued a solo career in 1997. Rosenberg has often taken part in the Norwegian Django Festival inOslo, his first attendance having been made at only twelve years of age.

In 2000 he made his debut at Carnegie Hall, as part of the Django Reinhardt Festival at Birdland, New York, where he has been an annual guest ever since. He has released many records, and has worked together with Norwegians such as Hot Club de Norvège, Ola Kvernberg, and Stian Carstensen. Internationally, he has worked and released records with Romane, Andreas Öberg, Jon Larsen, Bireli Lagrene, Angelo Debarre and Frank Vignola. He has also played with Willie Nelson.

Jimmy Rosenberg's problems with heavy drugs have prevented him from an international breakthrough, and he is now most of the time in hospitals or rehab^{[citation needed]}.

His father spent 8 years in prison and Jimmy himself spent 5 months in jail after a local fight and scuffle broke out.

His life is documented in the Dutch film "The Father, The Son, and the Talent" (2007).The film is a truthful account of Jimmys relationship with his father and his battle with drugs and shows many clips of the young Jimmy in action at various festivals. It also reveals just how highly Jimmy is regarded with many famous artists such as James Brown, Stevie Wonder and Willie Nelson inviting him to play guitar with them. Also in the film he describes what performing and playing means to him, " That feeling is beyond description. A lot of love goes into it. When I play at a concert after I've been very angry or very upset.. and I play it all out of my system, after the concert I feel as light as a feather. It was all gone and I felt happy and cheerful. And I would enjoy everything I did".

In his own words he describes himself by saying " I am man of emotions,I am a gentle person, I can be hurt easily, I am very vulnerable."

A Norwegian film "Jon og Jimmy" is yet to be released.

[edit]Discography

• The Gipsykids, Safari, 1992
• Swinging with Jimmy Rosenberg, Hot Club Records, HCRCD 82, 1993
• Sinti, Sinti, Sony, 1996
• Hot Shots - Hot Club de Norvège with Jimmy Rosenberg, Babik Reinhardt and Romane, Hot Club Records, HCRCD 102, 1997
• Jimmy Rosenberg with Bireli Lagrene and Angelo Debarre, Hot Club Records, HCRCD 117, 1998
• Hot Club De Norvege Swinging with Vertavo, Angelo & Jimmy, Hot Club Records, HCRCD 123, 2001
• Portrait of Jimmy Rosenberg – compilation, Hot Club Records, HCRCD 125, 1999
• Hot Club de Norvège featuring Ola Kvernberg & Jimmy Rosenberg, Hot Club Records, HCRCD 130, 2003
• Hot Club de Suede with Jimmy Rusenberg, Hot Club Records, HCRCD 144, 2003
• Djangos Tiger, with Swede Andreas Öberg Hot Club Records, HCRCD 146, 2003
• Trio CD, Hot Club Records, 2004
• Rose Room, with Stian Carstensen, 2005 -- nominated for Spellemannprisen 2005
• Swinging with Jimmy Rosenberg, with, among others, «Jimmys Suite» (four tracks) by Jon Larsen, Hot Club Records, HCRCD153, 2006
• Jimmy Rosenberg is Back (DVD), 2007.
• The Best Of, compilation Hot Club Records, HCRCD 219, 2008