Obit of the Day

Obit of the Day: Jazz Legend Dave Brubeck

Famed jazz pianist Dave Brubeck died on December 5, 2012 - the day before his 92nd birthday. Brubeck, who is best known for his performance of “Take Five” (written by Paul Desmond) from Time Out (1959) which became the first million-selling jazz album, was at the forefront of modern jazz. (He would be featured on over 100 albums during his career.)

He formed his quartet in 1951 and became the first jazz artist to be featured on the cover of Time magazine. Prior to World War II Brubeck was headed for a career as a veterinarian at the University of the Pacific. However his professor told him “Brubeck, your mind’s not here. It’s across the lawn in the conservatory. Please go there. Stop wasting my time and yours.” He transferred to the music program, only to be threatened with expulsion because he couldn’t read music. (He was allowed to graduate as long as he promised to never teach piano.)

Brubeck, whose mother was a classically trained piano teacher, first made his mark during World War II when he served under General George S. Patton, mainly as a musician. He was part of “The Wolfpack” the only integrated band in the armed services. (Following the war he would challenge societal norms, often performing at black jazz clubs in the South.)

Later Brubeck would be honored at the Kennedy Center, play for Mikhail Gorbachev, and received both a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (he received four Grammy nominations in his career but never won; Time Out was never nominated) and a BBC Jazz Lifetime Achievement Award.

Note: In March 2011, the drummer on “Take Five”, Joe Morello, was featured on Obit of the Day.

Sources: Chicago Tribune, Spinner, Metrolyrics.com and Wikipedia

(“Take Five” and the album Time Out are copyright of Columbia/Legacy Records, 2009)

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Obit of the Day (Historical): Jelly Roll Morton (1941)

Jelly Roll Morton invented jazz. At least that’s what he would tell folks. And no one could prove him wrong. A prodigy at the piano, young Morton (born Ferdinand Joseph LeMothe) was playing brothels in his hometown of New Orleans by the age of fourteen.

While playing in whorehouses, Morton was living with his great-grandmother, a fervent Christian. He told her that he was working nights as a watchman. In order to hide his identity he took on the name “Jelly Roll” Morton. “Jelly roll” was slang for the female genitalia. True story. It didn’t work anyway and Morton was found out and thrown out of his grandmother’s house.

Morton would wander the south for the next decade-and-a-half honing his skills on the piano, and arranging and writing songs that would become the foundation of jazz. Combining ragtime and blues, Morton developed his singular sound with songs like “Jelly Roll Blues” (when the sheet music was printed in 1915, 11 years after it was composed, it became the first jazz song ever published), “New Orleans Blues,” and “King Porter Stomp.”

It wasn’t until Morton arrived in Chicago in 1923 that he had the opportunity to record any of his music. The recordings he made with his now-famous band, “The Red Hot Peppers,” for the Victor label are considered classics of early jazz.

In the 1930’s, like so many during the Great Depression, Jelly Roll Morton suffered set-back after set-back. By the end of the decade he was playing piano, serving as the bouncer and bartending at a dive bar in Washington, D.C. (Luckily for us, folklorist Alan Lomax took the opportunity to interview Morton for over eight hours while they were both in D.C. and placed the entire recording in the Library of Congress.)

After suffering severe stab wounds during a bar fight in D.C., Morton was convinced by his wife Mabel to leave the nation’s capital. Unfortunately his health never quite recovered and he died on July 10, 1941 in Los Angeles at the age of 55.

Sources: wikipedia.org, redhotjazz.com, and jazzstudiesonline.org

(The song I selected in unusual in that it is not just straight music but features Morton talking about the difference between St. Louis ragtime, created by Scott Joplin, and New Orleans ragtime, as arranged by Morton himself. The song “Maple Leaf Rag” is one of the classics of ragtime music. The song is part of the Library of Congress’ collection, the whole of which can be found here.)

Obit of the Day: “The Father of Australian Jazz”

When the Bee Gees were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame in 1997, they shared the stage with an 82 year-old man who was setting the standard for Australian jazz 20 years before their group was formed.

Graeme Bell was a classically trained pianist who found himself becoming a star as a bandleader and composer of jazz, Dixieland, and ragtime. He put together Australia’s first “big band,” the Australian Jazz Band, which was the first from the country to tour Europe. Bell would also lead the first Western jazz band into China.

Bell was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1978. To gauge the influence Bell had on Australian jazz, you needn’t look further than the Australian Jazz Awards which hand out “Bells” to the winners.

Graeme Bell who would continue to perform at the age of 90, died at the age of 97.

(Graeme Bell - A Compilation of His Recordings, 1947-2007 is copyright Newmarket Music, 2008.)

Obit of the Day: Duke Ellington’s Soprano

When Kathryn McDonald’s friend heard that jazz legend Duke Ellington was visiting Chicago, she encouraged Kathryn to audition. Ms. McDonald agreed but doubted that Ellington wanted a soprano. Luckily for her, she was wrong. McDonald, who performed as Kay Davis, became one of the Duke’s three great female soloists alongside Joya Sherrill and Maria Ellington*.

Kay Davis sang with Duke Ellington’s orchestra from 1944 to 1950 and left following Ellington’s tour of Europe. Her voice is heard on several Ellington hits including “Transblucency” (above), “On a Turquoise Cloud,” and “Violet Blue.” Davis’ voice is often heard singing without words - another instrument in Ellington’s orchestra.

Prior to joining Ellington, Davis received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from Northwestern University, where as a black student she could attend classes but not live in the dorms. After retiring from singing she lived with her husband in Chicago and then Florida. She trained at Cordon Bleu becoming an incomparable home chef.

She was 92.

(Duke Ellington: The Complete RCA Victor Mid-Forties Recordings is copyright of BMG Entertainment, 2000)