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Opening Night (album)
''Opening Night'' is a big band jazz recording of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra playing at the Village Vanguard club in New York City in February 1966. This was the first performance of the group at this club although the recording was not released until 2000.Ken Dryden, Allmusic link Accessed 2008 April 29. A 50-year tradition for Monday nights at the Village Vanguard began from this first evening for the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra which later became the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and eventually the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Resonance Records released what they term an "official release", approved by the Jones and Lewis estates, in 2016. Track listing ''All tracks composed by Thad Jones, except as indicated.'' # ''Introduction (Mel Lewis & Alan Grant)'' – 1:50 # "Big Dipper" – 5:10 # "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" ( Van Heusen, Burke) – 3:47 # "Once Around" – 12:37 # "All My Yesterdays" – 4:08 # "Morning Reverend" – 4:50 # "Low Down" – 4:25 # "Lover M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra
The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra was a jazz big band formed by trumpeter Thad Jones and drummer Mel Lewis in New York in 1965.Lisik/Allen. 50 Years at the Village Vanguard:Thad Jone, Mel Lewis and the Village Vanguard Orchestra. Sky Deck Music, 2017. pp. 8-9 The band performed for twelve years in its original incarnation, including a 1972 tour of the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War. The collaboration ended in 1978 with Jones suddenly moving to Copenhagen, Denmark, after which the band became the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. Since the death of Lewis in 1990 it has been known as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. They have maintained a Monday-night residency at the Village Vanguard jazz club in New York for five decades.Wong, Herb. ''The Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra'', Jazz Education Journal, Nov./Dec. 2003, Vol. 36, #3, pp. 42-46. The band won Grammy Awards for the album '' Live in Munich'' in 1978 and for the album ''Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard'' in 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mel Lewis
Melvin Sokoloff (May 10, 1929 – February 2, 1990), known professionally as Mel Lewis, was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author. He received fourteen Grammy Award nominations. Biography Early years Lewis was born in Buffalo, New York, to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents Samuel and Mildred Sokoloff. He started playing professionally as a teen, eventually joining Stan Kenton in 1954. His musical career brought him to Los Angeles in 1957 and New York City in 1963.''All Music Guide to Jazz''. Yanow, Scott (1996). Miller Freeman Books. Career In 1966 in New York, he teamed up with Thad Jones to lead the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. The group started as informal jam sessions with the top studio and jazz musicians of the city, but eventually began performing regularly on Monday nights at the famed venue, the Village Vanguard. In 1979, the band won a Grammy for their album '' Live in Munich''. Like all of the musicians in the band, it was only a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garnett Brown
Garnett Brown (January 31, 1936 – October 9, 2021) was a jazz trombonist who worked with The Crusaders, Herbie Hancock, Lionel Hampton, Earth Wind and Fire and others. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, he graduated from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and later studied film scoring and electronic music at UCLA. In 1974 he won the ''Down Beat'' Reader's poll for trombonist, and appears on the classic 1976 recording '' Bobby Bland and B.B. King Together Again...Live''. He did some work in film and television composition due to his training in the field. In 1989 he was the conductor and orchestrator for ''Harlem Nights''. Coincident with Kenny Burrell joining UCLA as Director of Jazz Studies in 1996, Brown co-led UCLA Jazz Ensemble I with John Clayton. Married Anna Brown with two children Ariana Brown and Miranda Brown-Muir and three grandchildren Luca Muir, Francesca Muir and Alessandra Muir. At the time of his death, he was retired and had been diagnosed with dementia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Brookmeyer
Robert Edward "Bob" Brookmeyer (December 19, 1929 – December 15, 2011) was an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of Gerry Mulligan's quartet from 1954 to 1957. He later worked with Jimmy Giuffre, before rejoining Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band. He garnered 8 Grammy Award nominations during his lifetime. Biography Brookmeyer was born on December 19, 1929 Kansas City, Missouri. He was the only child of Elmer Edward Brookmeyer and Mayme Seifert. Brookmeyer began playing professionally in his teens. He attended the Kansas City Conservatory of Music, but did not graduate. He played piano in big bands led by Tex Beneke and Ray McKinley, but concentrated on valve trombone from when he moved to the Claude Thornhill orchestra in the early 1950s. He was part of small groups led by Stan Getz, Jimmy Giuffre, and Gerry Mulligan in the 1950s. During the 1950s and 1960 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Nottingham
James Edward Nottingham, Jr. (December 15, 1925 – November 16, 1978), also known as Sir James, was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He was born in New York, United States, and started performing professionally in 1943 in Brooklyn with Cecil Payne and Max Roach. He served in the Navy in 1944-45, where he played in Willie Smith's band. It was while working with Lionel Hampton (1945–47), that he earned his reputation as a high-note player. Following this, in 1947 he worked with Charlie Barnet, Lucky Millinder (and again c. 1950), Count Basie (1948–50), and Herbie Fields. He played Latin jazz from 1951–53, and was hired by CBS as a staff musician in 1954. He worked for more than 20 years at CBS, and played jazz music in his spare time, co-leading a band with Budd Johnson (1962),Yanow, Scott (2002)"Nottingham, Jimmy."''Grove Music Online''. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 3 December 2022. and as a sideman with many orchestras, including those of Dizzy G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Owens (jazz)
Jimmy Owens (born December 9, 1943) is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, lecturer, and educator. He has played with Lionel Hampton, Charles Mingus, Hank Crawford, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Herbie Mann, among many others. Since 1969, he has led his own group, Jimmy Owens Plus. Biography Jimmy Owens was born in New York City, New York, United States. He is a jazz trumpeter and, in addition, plays the flugelhorn. He is also a composer, lecturer, arranger and music education consultant, harnessing more than 45 years of musical experience. Owens does not have an enormous number of recordings as a leader; however, his career was instead nourished through session work with groups and band leaders.“Jimmy Owens.” AllMusic. Accessed on April 23, 2012. His encounter with music encompasses a vast range of in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snooky Young
Eugene Edward "Snooky" Young (February 3, 1919 – May 11, 2011) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds. Biography Young was lead trumpeter of the Jimmie Lunceford band from 1939 to 1942. He played with Count Basie (three stints totalling eight years), Gerald Wilson and Lionel Hampton, among others, and was an original member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band. His longest engagement was with NBC, where, as a studio trumpeter, he joined The Tonight Show Band, ''The Tonight Show'' Band in 1967 and remained with them until 1992, when the band was replaced by a new, smaller group. He was part of the touring ensemble, the "Now Generation Brass" that traveled with Doc Severinsen, an ensemble that included other jazz greats such as reed man Lew Tabackin, drummer Ed Shaughnessy, saxophonist & arranger Tommy Newsom as well as singer Robert Ozn. Young went on to performing live concert d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pepper Adams
Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III (October 8, 1930 – September 10, 1986) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 42 pieces, was the leader on eighteen albums spanning 28 years, and participated in 600 sessions as a sideman. He worked with an array of musicians, and had especially fruitful collaborations with trumpeter Donald Byrd and as a member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band. Biography Early life Pepper Adams was born in Highland Park, Michigan, to father Park Adams II, who worked as the manager of a furniture store, and mother Cleo Marie Coyle. Both of his parents were college graduates, with each spending some time at the University of Michigan. Due to the onset of the Great Depression, Adams' parents separated to allow his father to find work without geographic dependence. In the fall of 1931, Adams moved with his mother to his extended family's farm near Columbia City, Indiana, where food and support were more readily available. In 1933 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Daniels
Eddie Daniels (born October 19, 1941) is an American musician and composer. Although he is best known as a jazz clarinetist, he has also played saxophone and flute as well as classical music on clarinet. Early life, family and education Daniels was born in New York City to a Jewish family. His mother emigrated from Romania. He was raised in the Manhattan Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. He became interested in jazz as a teenager when he was impressed by the musicians accompanying singers, such as Frank Sinatra, on recordings. Daniels' first instrument was the alto saxophone. At the age of 13 he was also playing clarinet, and by the age of 15 he had played at the Newport Jazz Festival youth competition. Career Daniels has toured and recorded with a variety of bands, small groups and orchestras, and appeared on television many times. He has played with Bucky Pizzarelli, Freddie Hubbard, Billy Joel, Don Patterson, and Richard Davis. ''DownBeat'' gave Daniels th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Farrell
Joseph Carl Firrantello (December 16, 1937 – January 10, 1986), known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who primarily performed as a saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name on the CTI record label and for playing in the initial incarnation of Chick Corea's Return to Forever. Early life and education Farrell was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois. As a child, Farrell began playing the flute and clarinet. After graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1959, he moved to New York City to work as a freelance musician. Career He joined the Ralph Marterie Band in 1957 and later played with Maynard Ferguson and The Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis Orchestra. He also recorded with Charles Mingus, Andrew Hill, Jaki Byard, Players Association and Elvin Jones. After the death of John Coltrane, Elvin Jones formed a pianoless trio with Jimmy Garrison and Farrell, recording two albums for Blue Note in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerry Dodgion
Jerry Dodgion (born August 29, 1932) is an American jazz saxophonist and flautist. Dodgion was born in Richmond, California. He played alto sax in middle school and began working locally in the San Francisco area in the 1950s. He played in bands with Rudy Salvini, John Coppola/ Chuck Travis and Gerald Wilson and worked with the Vernon Alley Quartet, who accompanied Billie Holiday in 1955. He played with Gerald Wilson from 1953 to 1955, Benny Carter in the 1950s, Red Norvo from 1958 to 1961, Benny Goodman (for his 1962 tour of the Soviet Union), Oliver Nelson, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis (from 1965-1979), Herbie Hancock, Duke Pearson, Blue Mitchell, Count Basie, and Marian McPartland. Dodgion was married to drummer/singer Dottie Dodgion for 20 years. Dodgion had a long career as a sideman, recording up to 2004 only two dates as leader or co-leader: two tracks in 1955 for Fantasy Records with Sonny Clark on piano and an album in 1958 for World Pacific with Charlie Mariano. Dodgion's f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerome Richardson
Jerome Richardson (November 15, 1920 – June 23, 2000) was an American jazz musician, tenor saxophonist, and flute player, who also played soprano sax, alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto flute and piccolo. He played with Charles Mingus, Lionel Hampton, Billy Eckstine, The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Kenny Burrell, and later with Earl Hines' small band. Richardson was born in Oakland, California, and died in Englewood, New Jersey, of heart failure at the age of 79. Discography As leader * '' Midnight Oil'' (New Jazz, 1959) * '' Roamin' with Richardson'' (New Jazz, 1959) * ''Going to the Movies'' (United Artists, 1962) * '' Groove Merchant'' (Verve, 1967) * ''Jazz Station Runaway'' (TCB, 1997) As sideman * 1955: Oscar Pettiford: '' Another One'' (Bethlehem) * 1955: Kenny Clarke: ''Bohemia After Dark'' (Savoy) * 1955: Ernie Wilkins: '' Flutes & Reeds'' (Savoy) with Frank Wess * 1955: Nat Adderley: '' That's Nat'' (Savoy) * 1955: Sarah Vaughan: '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
