Isaac Day Jr. (1925 – 1958), better known as Ike Day, was a Chicago-based hard bop and bebop jazz drummer.
Life
Referred to as “legendary” by many jazz musicians, including Andrew Hill, very little is known about Day except for a few specific dates when he played with Tom Archia and his All Stars, with Gail Brockman, Andrew "Goon" Gardner or John "Flaps" Dungee,
Gene Ammons
Eugene "Jug" Ammons (April 14, 1925 – August 6, 1974), also known as "The Boss", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. The son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons is remembered for his accessible music, steeped in soul and ...
,
Claude McLin
Claude McLin (December 27, 1925 – July 21, 1995) was an American
Jo Jo Adams
Joel Adams (c. 1918 – February 27, 1988), sometimes credited as Doctor Jo Jo Adams, was an American jump blues singer, comedian, dancer, and MC, who recorded in the 1940s and 1950s.
Career
He was born in a rural area of Alabama, an ...
Macomba Lounge The Macomba Lounge, at 3905 South Cottage Grove, Chicago, was an after-hours music club owned by Leonard Chess from 1946 to October 1950, when it burned down.
Chess had invested the money made from his two liquor stores into refurbishing an old eat ...
, in 1948, where both
Kenny Dorham
McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention or public ...
Duke Groner
Edward "Duke" Groner (March 24, 1908 – November 7, 1992)Kenan Heise, "Chicago jazzman Duke Groner, 84," ''Chicago Tribune'', November 10, 1992, page 8.Heise, Kenan, "Obituaries: Chicago Jazzman Duke Groner, 84," ''Chicago Tribune'', November 10 ...
Louie Bellson
Louie Bellson (born Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni, July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009), often seen in sources as Louis Bellson, although he himself preferred the spelling Louie, was an American jazz drummer. He was a composer, ...
.
Ike Day started playing professionally in April 1943, at around the age of 17, when he filed a contract with the Musicians Union for a 12-week contract at the Bar o' Music. After a month, however, he was suspended by the Commissioner of Police for bad behaviour.Campbell, Robert L. and Robert Pruter, George R. White, Tom Kelly, George Paulus “The Aristocrat Label” Retrieved July 5, 2013.
In April 1944, he was in a band led by Jesse Miller performing at Joe's Deluxe Club, with Albert Atkinson (sax),
Kermit Scott
Theodore Kermit Scott Jr. (October 18, 1936 – May 26, 2008) was an American counselor and professor of philosophy, was a childhood friend of Muppets creator Jim Henson who was incorrectly presumed to be the namesake of Kermit the Frog.
Biograp ...
(tenor sax), Argonne Thornton (piano), Walter Buchanan (bass).
He also recorded a Gene Ammons/Christine Chatman session for
Aristocrat
The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...
on February 28, 1949, released as ''Jug and Sonny'' (Chess LP 1445), ''The Soulful Saxophone of Gene Ammons'' (Chess LP 1442) and ''Gene Ammons – Early Visions'' (Cadet 2CA 60038).)
In 1950 he led a trio featuring
Sonny Rollins
Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a ...
and Vernon Bivel just before Rollins was convicted on a drugs charge and sentenced to eight months.
Johnny Griffin
John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...
recalls that Buddy Rich hired Day to join his big band and that
Slim Gaillard
Bulee "Slim" Gaillard (January 9, 1911 – February 26, 1991), also known as McVouty, was an American jazz singer and songwriter who played piano, guitar, vibraphone, and tenor saxophone.
Gaillard was noted for his comedic vocalese singing ...
took him to New York in the late 1940s, where he played at Minton's. Griffin also called on him to substitute Philly Joe Jones in the Joe Morris-Johnny Griffin band. and refers to Day playing as a duo with
Wilbur Ware
Wilbur Bernard Ware (September 8, 1923 – September 9, 1979) was an American jazz double bassist.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 674. Oxford University Press He was a regular bassist for t ...
, double bassist Richard Davis recalls jamming with Ware and Day and
Ahmad Jamal
Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones, July 2, 1930) is an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and educator. For six decades, he has been one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz.
Biography Early life
Jamal was born Fr ...
Ike Day was admired by many other drummers, including Tommy Hunter (Sun Ra Arkestra), Roy Haynes and
Vernel Fournier
Vernel Anthony Fournier (July 30, 1928 – November 4, 2000) and, from 1975, known as Amir Rushdan, was an American jazz drummer probably best known for his work with Ahmad Jamal from 1956 to 1962.
Biography
Fournier was born in New Orleans, ...
,
Feather, Leonard
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 u ...
,
Gitler, Ira
Ira Gitler (December 18, 1928 – February 23, 2019) was an American jazz historian and journalist. The co-author of ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' with Leonard Feather—the most recent edition appeared in 1999—he wrote hundreds of ...
Wilbur Campbell
Wilbur may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Wilbur, Indiana, an unincorporated town
* Wilbur, Trenton, New Jersey, a neighborhood in the city of Trenton
* Wilbur, Oregon, an unincorporated community
* Wilbur, Washington, a small farming t ...
Art Blakey
Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s.
Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...
had expressed their admiration for Day, as did
Joe Segal
Jazz Showcase is one of the oldest jazz clubs in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1947 by NEA Jazz Master Joe Segal, whose son Wayne now owns and operates the venue. Segal's various showcases have served as a launch pad for a number of career jazz mu ...
in his liner notes to Johnny Griffin's debut solo album on Blue Note, ''
Introducing Johnny Griffin
''Introducing Johnny Griffin'' is the debut album by jazz tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, released by Blue Note Records, Blue Note in February 1957. It was recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack on April 17, 1956.
Track listing
# "M ...
''.
Jo Jones
Jonathan David Samuel Jones (October 7, 1911 – September 3, 1985) was an American jazz drummer. A band leader and pioneer in jazz percussion, Jones anchored the Count Basie Orchestra rhythm section from 1934 to 1948. He was sometimes k ...
described him as "one of the greatest drummers who ever lived". Likewise, Sonny Rollins also refers to Day as one of the finest musicians he ever worked with.
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
:1949: Gene Ammons/Christine Chatman session for
Aristocrat
The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...
released as ''Jug and Sonny'' (Chess LP 1445), ''The Soulful Saxophone of Gene Ammons'' (Chess LP 1442) and ''Gene Ammons – Early Visions'' (Cadet 2CA 60038).