mick laBriola

Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as “the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs”. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a wide variety of styles including blues, R&B, and traditional pop music, and gave herself the title of “Queen of the Blues”. She was a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Ruth Lee Jones was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to Alice and Ollie Jones, and moved to Chicago as a child. She became deeply involved in gospel music and played piano for the choir in St. Luke’s Baptist Church while still in elementary school. She sang gospel music in church and played piano, directing her church choirin her teens and was a member of the Sallie Martin Gospel Singers. When she joined the Sallie Martin group, she dropped out of Wendell Phillips High School. She sang lead with the first female gospel singers formed by Sallie Martin,who was co-founder of the Gospel Singers Convention. Her involvement with the gospel choir occurred after she won an amateur contest at Chicago’s Regal Theater where she sang “I Can’t Face the Music”. Early in the morning of December 14, 1963, Washington’s sixth husband, football great Dick “Night Train” Lane, went to sleep with Washington and awoke later to find her slumped over and not responsive. Dr. B. C. Ross pronounced her dead at the scene at age 39. An autopsy later showed a lethal combination of secobarbital and amobarbital, prescriptions for her insomnia and diet, which contributed to her death. She is buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.

Spanish guitarist and composer Manolo Sanlucar one of the innovative guitar masters of the 20th century such as Paco de Lucía or Tomatito, He passed away this Saturday at the age of 78.confirmed to the news agency EFE sources of the Town Hall of his hometown, Sanlúcar de Barrameda (south).

From the age of 13 he accompanied singers of all styles and was a reference in the world of flamencoamong others, he played with classical flamenco figures such as La Niña de los Peines, her artistic godmother, Pepe Pinto, Pepe Marchena or La Paquera de Jerez.

With more than twenty records, in 1988 he published Tauromagiaan example of the flamenco-bullfight union, dedicated to ten figures related to the world of bullfighting.

recorded together with Dew Sworn Y John Pena Lebrijano the first Andalusian opera, “gypsy gospel”, which he himself composed, performed, directed and produced.

Among his numerous performances, those at the Carnegie Hall Theater in New York in 1990 and his premiere in Japan of the symphonic work “Aljibe” (1992), with an excellent reception, stand out..

Philip William Seamen (28 August 1926 – 13 October 1972) was an English jazz drummer.

With a background in big band music, Seamen played and recorded in a wide range of musical contexts with virtually every key figure of 1950s and 1960s British jazz. Notable examples included Joe Harriott, Tubby Hayes, Stan Tracey, Ronnie Scott, Denny Termer, Dick Morrissey, Harold McNair, Don Rendell, Victor Feldman, Dizzy Reece, Tony Coe, Tony Lee, and George Chisholm, among others. Later in his career he worked with Alexis Korner and Georgie Fame, and had a spell with Ginger Baker’s Air Force, the leader of the band being Seamen’s foremost disciple. Addiction to alcohol and other drugs hampered his career.

Daniel Peter Seraphine (born August 28, 1948) is an American drummer, record producer, theatrical producer and film producer. He is best known as the original drummer and founding member of the rock band Chicago, a tenure which lasted from February 1967 to May 1990.

Daniel Peter Seraphine was born in Chicago to John and Mary Seraphine. The family lived in the Dunning neighborhood on Chicago’s northwest side. He started playing drums at the age of nine while attending St. Priscilla Catholic grade school. When he was 15 years old, Seraphine withdrew from Steinmetz High School. Outside of school he joined a local gang called the JPs.

In December 1965, after deciding to quit as a professional drummer, he was invited to join Jimmy Ford and the Executives, Dick Clark’s road band. Already in the band were Terry Kath on bass and Walter Parazaider on saxophone. After being let go from Jimmy Ford and the Executives when it merged with another local band, Little Artie and the Pharaohs (under the new name, The Mob) the three of them were invited to join a cover band called The Missing Links.

He studied privately with percussionist Bob Tilles at DePaul University, where future members of Chicago were also studying. Seraphine cites his influences as Buddy Rich, Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Grady Tate, Ringo Starr, Mitch Mitchell, and Hal Blaine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akhQtzIkbRo

Kenneth Sidney “Kenny” Drew (August 28, 1928 – August 4, 1993) was an American jazz pianist.

Drew was born in New York City, United States, and received piano lessons from the age of five. He attended the High School of Music & Art in Manhattan. Drew’s first recording, in 1950, was with Howard McGhee, and over the next two years he worked in bands led by Buddy DeFranco, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Charlie Parker, among others. After a brief period with his own trio in California, Drew returned to New York, playing with Dinah Washington, Johnny Griffin, Buddy Rich, and several others over the following few years. He led many recording sessions throughout the 1950s, and in 1957 appeared on John Coltrane‘s album, Blue Train.

Drew was one of the American jazz musicians who settled in Europe around this period: he moved to Paris in 1961 and to Copenhagen three years later. While he sacrificed much of the interest of the American jazz audience, he gained a wide following across Europe. Kenny Drew was a well-known figure on the Copenhagen jazz scene, recording many sessions with the Danish bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. “Living in Copenhagen, and travelling out from there,” Drew remarked, “I have probably worked in more different contexts than if I had stayed in New York where I might have got musically locked in with a set-group of musicians. This way, I have been able to keep my musical antennas in shape, while at the same time I have had more time to study and also get deeper into my own endeavors.

Warren Harding “Sonny” Sharrock (August 27, 1940 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. He was married to singer Linda Sharrock, with whom he recorded and performed.

One of only a few prominent guitarists who participated in the first wave of free jazz during the 1960s, Sharrock was known for his heavily chorded attack, highly amplified bursts of feedback, and use of aggressive sustain to achieve saxophone-like lines on guitar. His early work also features creative use of a slide.

He was born in Ossining, New York, United States. Sharrock began his musical career singing doo wop in his teen years. He collaborated with Pharoah Sanders and Alexander Solla in the late 1960s, appearing first on Sanders’s 1966 album, Tauhid. He made several appearances with flautist Herbie Mann, and an uncredited appearance on Miles Davis‘s A Tribute to Jack Johnson.

Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed “Pres” or “Prez”, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist.

Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie‘s orchestra, Young was one of the most influential players on his instrument. In contrast to many of his hard-driving peers, Young played with a relaxed, cool tone and used sophisticated harmonies, using what one critic called “a free-floating style, wheeling and diving like a gull, banking with low, funky riffs that pleased dancers and listeners alike”.

Known for his hip, introverted style, he invented or popularized much of the hipster jargon which came to be associated with the music.

Lester Young was born in Woodville, Mississippi, on August 27, 1909. to Lizetta Young (née Johnson), and Willis Handy Young, originally from Louisiana. Lester had two siblings – Leonidas Raymond, who became a drummer, and Irma Cornelia. He grew up in a musical family. His father was a teacher and band leader, and several other relatives performed professionally.

The jazz world lost another titan the morning of August, 25th as Joey DeFrancesco passed away at the young age of 51. Generally considered the best Hammond B3 organ player in the world, Joey DeFrancesco, born and raised in Philadelphia, worked early in his career with Miles Davis and later with such diverse artists as Van Morrison, Pharoah Sanders, and Diana Krall.  His talents ran beyond just the organ; he was an engaging multi-instrumentalist known for his trumpet playing and occasional singing. Recent live performances, including one just this past Tuesday at Baltimore’s famed Keystone Korner, and his latest album, More Music (2021)  featured DeFrancesco on tenor saxophone. With a gregarious personality and forward-thinking musical approach, DeFrancesco was a major force that will be sorely missed. He was one of the few, for example, who could get Van Morrison animated and actually induce laughs as heard on the two albums he and his band recorded with the Belfast soul man, You’re Driving Me Crazy (2018) and the The Prophet Speaks (2018).

DeFrancesco hails from a musical family as both his father and grandfather were musicians. Joey even played his grandfather’s tenor saxophonist on his most recent release, More Music. His brother, John, is a well-respected blues guitarist. DeFrancesco. Joey DeFrancesco was a 9-time winner of the Down Beat Critics Poll (organ) and won the Down Beat Readers Poll every year since 2005. DeFrancesco was an inaugural member of the Hammond Hall of Fame, inducted in 2013 along with other musicians that included Brian Auger, Billy Preston, Steve Winwood, and his mentor Jimmy Smith. was a four-time Grammy Award-nominee, with nominations in 2004, 2010, and 2020.  The latter references 2019’s In the Key of the Universe with Pharoah Sanders, Troy Roberts, Billy Hart, and Sammy Figueroa. The album was hailed by many outlets including this one as one of the year’s best. Also in 2020, DeFrancesco recorded with his best friend, Christian McBride, both of whom attended Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts. On the Grammy-nominated Christian McBride’s Big Band, For Jimmy, Wes, and Oliver, DeFrancesco also honors his mentor, Jimmy Smith.

DeFrancescoreleased more than 30 albums as a leader and recorded extensively as a side musician with such leading performers apart from those mentioned as Houston Person and John McLaughlin early in his career. He signed his first record deal at the age of 16 and over the years has recorded and toured internationally with David Sanborn, Arturo Sandoval, Larry Coryell, Frank Wess, Benny Golson, James Moody, Steve Gadd, Danny Gatton, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Cobb, George Benson, Pat Martino, Tony Monaco, John Scofield, Lee Ritenour, Joe Lovano, and done prominent session work with a wide variety of musicians including Ray Charles, Bette Midler, Janis Siegel, and Jimmy Smith.  He has left us way too soon.

Chris Curtis (born Christopher Crummey; 26 August 1941 – 28 February 2005) was an English drummer and singer who was best known for being with the 1960s beat band The Searchers. He originated the concept behind Deep Purple and formed the band in its original incarnation of ‘Roundabout’.

Born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1941, Curtis came to Liverpool when he was four and went to primary school where he met Mike Prendergast. He taught himself how to play the piano on the family instrument at 30 Florida Street in Bootle. He passed the 11-plus and went to St Mary’s College, Crosby, where he was taught violin although he wanted to play the double bass.

His father bought him a drum set during his late teens when he left school and he learned these in his spare time, when he was not selling prams at Swift’s Furniture store at Stanley Road, Liverpool. He developed a fascination for American music and particularly liked Fats Domino. He also grew the unusually long hair that would be his trademark in the early years.

In 1960 he met Prendergast soon after Norman McGarry, the Searcher’s second drummer, had left the band. He accepted an invitation to join the band for a gig at Wilson Hall, Garston and became the seventh member of The Searchers, replacing McGarry to join John McNally, Mike Prendergast and Tony Jackson. He adopted the name Chris Curtis after Jackson described him thus in a press interview, choosing the name from a Lee Curtis poster to avoid saying ‘crummey’.