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Phil Urso
Phil Urso (2 October 1925, Jersey City, New Jersey — 7 April 2008, Denver, Colorado) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and composer known for his association with trumpeter Chet Baker. Urso learned clarinet as a child and switched to tenor sax while in high school. He served in the Navy during World War II and then moved to New York City in 1947. There he played with Elliot Lawrence (1948–50), Woody Herman (1950-51), Terry Gibbs, Miles Davis (1952), Oscar Pettiford (1953), Jimmy Dorsey, and Bob Brookmeyer (1954). In 1955, he first began working with Chet Baker, and was a prominent contributor to Baker's Pacific Jazz releases in 1956. Urso and Baker would collaborate sporadically for some 30 years.Jack, Gordon (2004) ''Fifties Jazz Talk: An Oral Retrospective'', p. 20 ...
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Carl Saunders
Carl Saunders (August 2, 1942 – February 25, 2023) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator who performed with such luminaries as Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich, Bill Holman, Clare Fischer, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé, and Paul Anka. Career Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Saunders' first five years performing were mostly spent on the road. His uncle was trumpeter Bobby Sherwood, who led the popular Sherwood Orchestra that had hits such as "Elks Parade" and "Sherwood's Forest." Saunders's mother Gail (Bobby's sister) sang for the Sherwood Orchestra and Stan Kenton. When Saunders was five, he and his mother settled in Los Angeles, living with his aunt Caroline and her husband, saxophonist Dave Pell. Saunders heard records by the Dave Pell Octet and was influenced by the style and phrasing of trumpeter Don Fagerquist. Saunders began playing trumpet in the seventh grade and discovered that he had a natural ability, learning to play by ear without ever having ...
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Leonard Feather
Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Biography Feather was born in London, England, into an upper middle-class Jewish family. He learned to play the piano and clarinet without formal training and started writing about jazz and film by his late teens. At the age of twenty-one, Feather made his first visit to the United States, and after working in the UK and the US as a record producer finally settled in New York City in 1939, where he lived until moving to Los Angeles in 1960. Feather was co-editor of ''Metronome'' magazine and served as chief jazz critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' until his death. Feather made a significant contribution to the development of jazz broadcasting in Britain, first devising three ''Evergreens of Jazz'' programmes broadcast in August and September 1936, using George Scott-Wood and His Six Swingers. ...
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Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne. History AllMusic was launched as ''All Music Guide'' by Michael Erlewine, a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as CDs replaced LPs as the dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard. After buying it he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he researched using metadata to create a music guide. In 1990, in Big Rapids, Michigan, he founded ''All Music Guide' ...
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The New Oscar Pettiford Sextet
''The New Oscar Pettiford Sextet'' is an album by bassist/cellist and composer Oscar Pettiford which was recorded in late 1953 and first issued on the Debut label as a 10-inch LP. The material on the original album was rereleased on Fantasy in 1964 with additional material as ''My Little Cello''. Reception The Allmusic review by Rick Anderson states: "most noteworthy of all is the quality of his compositions. 'Pendulum at Falcon's Lair' is a piece of world-class bebop writing, while 'Tamalpais Love Song' is almost classical in its structure, achieving a counterintuitive combination of complexity and simple beauty". In ''JazzTimes'', Duck Baker wrote: "This 1953 date is a highly-arranged, lightly-swinging affair that features nice soloing".Baker, DJazzTimes Review May 2000 Track listing ''All compositions by Oscar Pettiford, except where noted.'' # "The Pendulum at Falcon's Lair" - 4:44 # "Tamalpais Love Song" - 3:52 # "Jack, the Fieldstalker" - 4:34 # "Stockholm Sweetnin'" (Qu ...
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Art Pepper
Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982) was an American alto saxophonist and very occasional tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. Active in West Coast jazz, Pepper came to prominence in Stan Kenton's big band. He was known for his emotionally charged performances and several stylistic shifts throughout his career, and was described by critic Scott Yanow as having "attained his goal of becoming the world's great altoist" at the time of his death. Early life Art Pepper was born in Gardena, California, United States.Dupuis, Robert. "Art Pepper." ''Contemporary Musicians: Profiles of the People in Music.'' Vol. 18. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1997. 164-67. Print. His mother was a 14-year-old runaway; his father, a merchant seaman. Both were violent alcoholics, and when Pepper was still quite young, he was sent to live with his paternal grandmother. He expressed early musical interest and talent, and he was given lessons. He began playing clarinet at nine, switc ...
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Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz—Mulligan was also a significant arranger, working with Claude Thornhill, Miles Davis, Stan Kenton, and others. His pianoless quartet of the early 1950s with trumpeter Chet Baker is still regarded as one of the best cool jazz groups. Mulligan was also a skilled pianist and played several other reed instruments. Several of his compositions, such as "Walkin' Shoes" and "Five Brothers", have become standards. Biography Early life and career Gerry Mulligan was born in Queens Village, Queens, New York, United States, the son of George and Louise Mulligan. His father was a Wilmington, Delaware native of Irish descent; his mother a Philadelphia native of half-Irish and half-German desce ...
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Jerry Fielding
Jerry Fielding (born Joshua Itzhak Feldman; June 17, 1922 – February 17, 1980)Redman, Nick"Fielding, Jerry" Jackson, Kenneth T.; Markoe, Karen E.; Markoe, Arnold (1995). ''Dictionary of American Biography; Supplement 10: 1976–1980''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 238-239. . was an American jazz musician, arranger, band leader, and film composer who emerged in the 1960s after a decade on the blacklist to create boldly diverse and evocative Oscar-nominated scores, primarily for gritty, often brutally savage, films in western and crime action genres, including the Sam Peckinpah movies ''The Wild Bunch'' (1969) and '' Straw Dogs'' (1971). Childhood and education Jerry Fielding was born as Joshua Itzhak Feldman in Pittsburgh, to Hiram Harris Feldman and Esther Feldman, both Russian-born American Jews. By no later than 1930, "Joshua Itzhak" had been discarded once and for all, as evidenced by both the 1930 US Census and the recollections, published more than seven deca ...
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The Hi-Lo's
The Hi-Lo's were a vocal quartet formed in 1953, who achieved their greatest fame in the late 1950s and 1960s. The group's name is a reference to their extreme vocal and physical ranges (Bob Strasen and Bob Morse were tall, Gene Puerling and Clark Burroughs were short). History The group consisted of Gene Puerling (bass-baritone or fourth voice, arranger, leader, and occasional soloist), Bob Strasen (baritone or third voice), Bob Morse (baritone or second voice and frequent soloist) and Clark Burroughs (tenor or first voice/lead). In 1959, Bob Strasen left the group after he began losing his voice to unknown causes. After Strasen's departure, Bob Morse switched to the Baritone or third part, and tenor Don Shelton sang the second part. They were occasionally supported by Frank Sinatra. Clare Fischer was their pianist for years and occasionally wrote arrangements for the group. The Hi-Lo's recorded the theme song to the 1956 television series ''Noah's Ark''. They were also featur ...
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Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several eras in the history of jazz. Armstrong was born and raised in New Orleans. Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an inventive trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. Around 1922, he followed his mentor, Joe "King" Oliver, to Chicago to play in the . In Chicago, he spent time with other popular jazz musicians, reconnecting with his friend Bix Beiderbecke and spending time with Hoagy Carmichael and Lil Hardin. He earned a reputation at "cutting contests", and his fame reached band leader Fletcher Henderson. Henderson persuaded Armstrong to come to New York City, where he became a featured and musically influential band soloist ...
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Baby Breeze
''Baby Breeze'' is an album by trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker which was recorded in 1964 and released on the Limelight label.Mercury Records collection
accessed May 26, 2017
Enciclopedia del Jazz: Chet Baker
accessed May 26, 2017


Reception

The review by Ken Dryden states: "Although Chet Baker's recordings from late in his life varied dramatically in quality, this series of studio sessions is a high point in his career. After having his trumpet stolen, he plays beautifully with a borr ...
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The Most Important Jazz Album Of 1964/65
''The Most Important Jazz Album of 1964/65'' is an album by trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker which was recorded in 1964 and released on the Colpix label.Edwards, D. and Callahan, MAlbum Discography, Part 1: (SCP-400 Popular Music Series) accessed May 26, 2017Enciclopedia del Jazz: Chet Baker
accessed May 26, 2017


Reception

The review by Matt Collar states: "the icon of '50s cool attempted to reinvigorate his career and showcase his musical growth by enlisting the sensitive piano chops of Hal Galper and old collaborator tenor saxophonist Phil Urso. The new sideman, combined with a heavy dose of