105th birthday of Sun Ra

(Born 22 May 1914, Birmingham, Alabama, US)

Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe

Pianist, bandleader, prolific composer whose output, arrangements and The Arkestra’s performances are influenced profoundly by Kemetic philosophical, astronomical and aesthetic conceptions

(Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra, “Space aura” [personnel: Sun Ra, piano, George Hudson, trumpet; percussion; Marshall Allen, alto saxophone, bells; John Gilmore, tenor saxophone, percussion; Ronnie Boykins, bass, percussion; Jon Hardy, drums; recorded: Saturn, Chicago, US, [?] October 1960])

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91st birthday of Johnny Griffin

(Born 24 April 1928, Chicago, US)

VERY DISTINGUISHED tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader

(Thelonious Monk Quartet, “In walked Bud” [personnel: Monk, piano; Griffin, tenor saxophone; Ahmed Abdul-Malik, bass; Roy Haynes, drums; recorded: live, Five Spot Café, New York, US, 7 August 1958])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

86th birthday of Oliver Nelson

(Born 4 June 1932, St Louis, Missouri, US)

BANDLEADER, prolific arranger and producer, composer, especially the classic The Blues and the Abstract Truth (February 1961), featuring multiinstrumentalist Eric Dolphy, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, pianist Bill Evans, baritone saxophonist George Barrow, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Roy Haynes

(Oliver Nelson Septet, “Yearnin’” [personnel: Nelson, reeds; Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Eric Dolphy, alto saxophone; George Barrow, baritone saxophone; Bill Evans, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Roy Haynes, drums; recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, US, 23 February 1961])

(Oliver Nelson Septet, “Cascades” [personnel and recording details as above])

(Oliver Nelson Septet, “Stolen moments” – [personnel and recording details as above except Nelson, tenor saxophone; Dolphy, flute]) 

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92nd birthday of Miles Davis

(Born 26 May 1926, Alton, Illinois, US)

Trumpeter, composer, bandleader, innovative musical genius whose First Great Quintet/Sextet (1955-1958) and Second Great Quintet (1964-1968) as well as the later independent careers of each and everyone in these ensembles – tenor saxophonists John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter, altoist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, pianists Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock, bassists Paul Chambers and Ron Carter, and drummers Jimmy Cobb and Tony Williams  – play a critically contributing role in the phenomenal growth and transformation of jazz during this historic epoch of African American freedom mission
(Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe)

(Miles Davis & John Coltrane, Live in Stockholm 1960, “All blues”/“The theme” [personnel: Davis, trumpet; Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Wynton Kelly, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Jimmy Cobb, drums; recorded: live, Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden, 22 March 1960])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

81st birthday of Archie Shepp

(Born 24 May 1937, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US)

Tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, unrelenting freedom exponent, academic

(Archie Shepp Sextet, “Syeeda’s song flute” [personnel: Shepp, tenor saxophone; Alan Shorter, fluegelhorn; Roswell Rudd, trombone; John Tchicai, alto saxophone; Reggie Workman, bass; Charles Moffett, drums; recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, US, 10 August 1964])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

104th birthday of Sun Ra

(Born 22 May 1914, Birmingham, Alabama, US)

Pianist, bandleader, prolific composer whose output, arrangements and The Arkestra’s performances are influenced profoundly by Kemetic philosophical, astronomical and aesthetic conceptions

(Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra, “Space aura” [personnel: Sun Ra, piano, George Hudson, trumpet; percussion; Marshall Allen, alto saxophone, bells; John Gilmore, tenor saxophone, percussion; Ronnie Boykins, bass, percussion; Jon Hardy, drums; recorded: Saturn, Chicago, US, [?] October 1960])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

87th birthday of Dewey Redman

(Born 17 May 1931, Fort Worth, Texas, US)

VERSATILE tenor saxophonist, composer and bandleader, collaborates with a number of distinguished artists (especially alto saxophonists Ornette Coleman and Prince Lasha, trumpeter Don Cherry, pianists Cecil Taylor and Keith Jarrett, guitarist Pat Metheny, bassist Charlie Haden, drummers Ed Blackwell, Paul Motian, Charles Moffett, Elvin Jones) in groundbreaking recordings (1960s-1990s), plays in the celebrated Jarrett’s American Quartet of the 1970s particularly in the ensemble’s exquisite composition, The Survivors’ Suite (1976), father of the equally brilliant and accomplished tenorist Joshua Redman

(Ornette Coleman Septet, “Happy house” [personnel: Coleman, alto saxophone; Don Cherry, pocket trumpet; Bobby Bradford, trumpet; Redman, tenor saxophone, musette; Charlie Haden, bass; Billy Higgins, drums; Ed Blackwell, drums; recorded: Columbia Studios E, New York, UK, 9 September 1971])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

81st birthday of Ron Carter

(Born 4 May 1937, Ferndale, Michigan, US)

BASSIST, cellist, composer, bandleader, academic, arguably the most recorded jazz bassist and member of Miles Davis Second Great Quintet, 1963-1968 *****(Davis, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock, piano; Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums)

(Miles Davis Quintet plays Ron Carter’s composition, “RJ” [personnel: Davis, trumpet; Shorter, tenor saxophone; Hancock, piano; Carter, bass; Williams, drums; recorded: Columbia Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, US, 20 January 1965])

*****Miles Davis First Great Quintet (1955-1958, full personnel: Davis, trumpet; John Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Red Garland, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums)

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82nd birthday of John Tchicai

(Born 28 April 1936, Copenhagen, Denmark)

INGENIOUS alto (and tenor) saxophonist, composer, bandleader, one of the most outstandingly ethereal soloists in the repertoire

(The New York Contemporary Five plays Bill Dixon’s composition, “Trio” – [personnel: Archie Shepp, tenor saxophone; Don Cherry, pocket trumpet;  Tchicai, alto saxophone; Don Moore, bass; JC Moses, drums [recorded: live, Jazzhus Montmarte, Copenhagen, Denmark, 15 November 1963][note particularly Tchicai’s ethereal solo - first - at this session])

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119th birthday of Duke Ellington

(Born 29 April 1899, Washington, DC, United States)

Pianist and bandleader and one of the preeminent composers of the 20th century

(1. Two masters at work: Duke Ellington & John Coltrane, “Take the Coltrane”) [personnel: Ellington, piano; Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Jimmy Garrison, bass; Elvin Jones, drums; recorded: Van Gelder Stdudios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, US, 26 September 1962)]) 

(2. Three masters at work: Duke Ellington Trio, “Fleurette Africaine” {“African flower”} [personnel: Ellington, piano; Charles Mingus, bass; Max Roach, drums; recorded: Sound Makers Studios, (New York, US, 17 September 1962)])

(3. Three masters at work: Duke Ellington Trio, “Warm valley” [personnel: Ellington, piano; Mingus, bass; Roach, drums; recording and other details as in“2”  above])

(4. Three masters at work: Duke Ellington Trio, “Money jungle” [personnel: Ellington, piano; Mingus, bass; Roach, drums; recording and other details as in “2” above])

 Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

90th birthday of Johnny Griffin

(Born 24 April 1928, Chicago, US)

VERY DISTINGUISHED tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader

(Thelonious Monk Quartet, “In walked Bud” [personnel: Monk, piano; Griffin, tenor saxophone; Ahmed Abdul-Malik, bass; Roy Haynes, drums; recorded: live, Five Spot Café, New York, US, 7 August 1958])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

80th birthday of Freddie Hubbard

(Born 7 April 1938, Indianapolis, US)

VERSATILE trumpeter, composer, bandleader, occupies the trumpet chair of the influential Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers for most of the first-half of the 1960s, and plays in a number of seminal sessions in bands led by tenor saxophonists John Coltrane (especially Africa/Brass, Olé Coltrane, Ascension), Wayne Shorter, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson and Tina Brooks, alto saxophonists Jackie McLean, Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy, pianists Andrew Hill and Herbie Hancock, and trombonist JJ Johnson

(Freddie Hubbard Sextet, “Bob’s place” [personnel: Hubbard, trumpet; Curtis Fuller, trombone; John Gilmore, tenor saxophone; Tommy Flanagan, piano; Art Davis, bass; Louis Hayes, drums; recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Englewoods Cliffs, NJ, US, 2 July 1962])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

83rd birthday of George Coleman

(Born 8 March 1935, Memphis, US)

Distinguished tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, educator

(Wynton Kelly Trio with George Coleman, “Mr PC”  [Kelly, piano; Coleman, tenor saxophone; Paul McLure, bass; Jimmy Cobb, drums; recorded, live, Left Bank Jazz Society, Baltimore, Maryland, US, 22 September 1968])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

72nd birthday of Tony Williams

(Born 12 December 1945, Chicago,US)

BRILLIANT DRUMMER, composer and bandleader, child prodigy who, in 1963, just 17, joins the Miles Davis Second Great Quintet (full personnel: Davis, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Williams, drums)

(1. Tony Williams Quartet, “Extras” [personnel: Williams, drums; Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone {takes first tenor solo}; Sam Rivers, tenor saxophone {takes second tenor solo}; Gary Peacock, bass; recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, US, 12 August 1965])

(2. Tony Williams Quartet, “Tee” [personnel and recording details as in “1” above with tenor solo: Wayne Shorter])

(3. Tony Williams Quartet, “Love song” [personnel and recording details as in “1” above with tenor solo by Sam Rivers; piano solos in all selected compositions are of course by Herbie Hancock and the bass’s is by Gary Peacock])

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80th birthday of Alice Coltrane

(Born 27 August 1937, Detroit, United States)

PERSPICUOUS harpist, pianist, organist, bandleader and versatile composer whose output includes the ethereal masterpiece, Ptah, the El Daoud (personnel: Coltrane, piano, harp; Joe Henderson, tenor saxophone; Pharoah Sanders, tenor saxophone; Ron Carter, bass; Ben Riley, drums [recorded: Coltrane home studio, Dix Hills, New York, US, 26 January 1970])

Twitter@HerbertEkweEkwe

92nd birthday of Mal Waldron

(Born 16 August 1925, New York, US)

VERSATILE composer, bandleader and pianist with a distinctive minimalist approach, producing, during a career stretching 50 years, over 100 albums under his leadership and over 60 as accompanist in bands elsewhere especially those led by luminaries Holiday, Lincoln, Mingus, Ammons, Burrell, Coltrane, Roach, Dolphy and Little

(Mal Waldron Quintet, “The Seagulls of Kristiansund” [personnel: Waldron, piano; Woody Shaw, trumpet; Charlie Rouse, tenor saxophone; Reggie Workman, bass; Ed Blackwell, drums; recorded: live, The Village Vanguard, New York, US, 16 September 1986]) 

Twitter@HerbertEkweEkwe

92nd birthday of Oscar Peterson

(Born 15 August 1925, Montreal, Canada)

AWARD winning pianist, bandleader and composer (including the freedom-quest classic, “Hymn to freedom”) whose resplendent duo (piano, bass/guitar/piano/trumpet/voice) and trio ensembles (piano, bass, drums) establish an authoritative space in the jazz repertoire for well over 50 years starting from the late 1940s

(Oscar Peterson Trio, “Hymn to freedom” [personnel: Peterson, piano; Ray Brown, bass; Ed Thigpen; recorded: live, DR VT, Holbaek, Denmark, 2 May 1964])

Twitter@HerbertEkweEkwe

82nd birthday of Rahsaan Roland Kirk

(Born 7 August 1935, Columbus, Ohio, US)

CELEBRATED multiinstrumentalist, composer, bandleader and freedom quest exemplar who often plays more than one tenor saxophone in addition to some other wind instrument simultaneously

(Mingus at Carnegie Hall, “C jam blues” [Charles Mingus, bass; Jon Faddis, trumpet; Charles McPherson, alto saxophone; John Handy, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone; George Adams, tenor saxophone; Rahsaan Roland Kirk, tenor saxophone, stritch; Hamiet Bluiett, baritone saxophone; Don Pullen, piano; Dannie Richmond, drums; recorded: live, Carnegie Hall, New York, US, 19 January 1974])

Twitter@HerbertEkweEkwe

87th birthday of Hank Mobley

(Born 7 July 1930, Eastman, Georgia, US)

Tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, with an impressive recording career beginning in the mid-1950s and spanning two decades

(Hank Mobley Quartet, “Dig dis” [personnel: Mobley, tenor saxophone; Wynton Kelly, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Art Blakey, drums; recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, US, 7 February 1960])

 Twitter@HerbertEkweEkwe

85th birthday of Oliver Nelson

(Born 4 June 1932, St Louis, Missouri, US)

Bandleader, prolific arranger and producer, composer, especially the classic The Blues and the Abstract Truth (February 1961), featuring multiinstrumentalist Eric Dolphy, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, pianist Bill Evans, baritone saxophonist George Barrow, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Roy Haynes

(Oliver Nelson Quintet, “Six and four” [personnel: Nelson, alto saxophone {first solo take}; Eric Dolphy, alto saxophone {second solo following Nelson and before Wyands}; Richard Wyands, piano; George Duvivier, bass; Roy Haynes, drums; recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, US, 1 March 1961]) 

(Oliver Nelson Septet, “Stolen moments” – personnel: Nelson, tenor saxophone; Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Eric Dolphy, alto saxophone, flute; George Barrow, baritone saxophone; Bill Evans, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Roy Haynes, drums [recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, US, 23 February 1961])

Twitter@HerbertEkweEkwe