WAER Black History Jazz & Blues Focus February 2010

WAER is focusing on black jazz and blues greats in celebration of Black History Month.
Each weekday we'll spotlight an African-American artist that has made a significant contribution to the art of jazz.

Monday 2/1

Stanley Turrentine

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Stanley Turrentine. This saxophonist was known as "Mister T" long before the TV star of that name became famous. Turrentine, a native of Pittsburgh, was born in 1934. He began playing with blues and R & B groups, and started out with a strong Illinois Jacquet influence. Turrentine played for Ray Charles in the early 1950s, and replaced John Coltrane in the Earl Bostic band in 1953. After a time in the Army, he played in Max Roach's band, and married organist Shirley Scott in 1960, recording with her often and remaining friends with her even after their divorce some years later. Also in 1960, Turrentine made the first of several recordings with organist Jimmy Smith, and began recording for Blue Note as a solo act and as a member of The Three Sounds. However, he returned to a soul-jazz style in his later years, and was a big influence on the young artists of the acid-jazz movement. Turrentine remained as an active performer and recording artist until his death in 2000 of a stroke. Stanley Turrentine is very fondly remembered by fans of soul-jazz and acid-jazz, and the critical disapproval he got in the 1970s is largely forgotten. Meanwhile, his recordings are an inspiration to a new generation of jazz fans and musicians who have come to love his bluesy, funky style.

Tuesday, 2/2

Dexter Gordon

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Dexter Gordon, who was born in Los Angeles in 1923. Gordon was around jazz from childhood, since his father was a doctor with such famous patients as Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton. Gordon started on clarinet, but switched to the saxophone, and while in school was in bands with classmates Chico Hamilton and Buddy Collette. Gordon's first big break was with Lionel Hampton's band in 1940, and by 1943 he was making his first recordings as a leader. After working with Louis Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson, Gordon joined the Billy Eckstine big band, a great cradle of bebop. By 1945, Gordon was working with Charlie Parker, and also made his first recording with Wardell Gray, his partner in many epic tenor sax "battles." Gordon was often known as "LTD," which stands for "Long Tall Dexter," due to his great height. Unfortunately, Gordon was addicted to heroin for some years, and spent a few years in prison for a drug conviction. While in prison, Gordon was in a film called "Unchained," where he played a musician in the prison band. After Gordon served his time, he acted in the play "The Connection," for which he also furnished music. He then spent 15 years living and performing in Europe, where he often played with other American expatriates such as Bud Powell, Kenny Drew Sr., and Bobby Hutcherson. He also made many recordings for the Blue Note and Steeplechase labels. When Gordon returned to the U.S. in 1976, he played a celebrated concert at the Village Vanguard that was released as the album "Homecoming." This acoustic session was a departure from the fusion and pop-crossover styles popular in the 1970s, and helped pave the way for a resurgence of acoustic jazz with older players and the new generation of "young lions." In 1986, Gordon was the star of the film "'Round Midnight," in which he played a jazz musician; the role was based loosely on his life, as well as Bud Powell and Lester Young. The film was a hit, and Gordon was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor. After this film, Gordon was much better-known to the general public. However, Gordon had cancer in his last years, and he died in 1990. However, Dexter Gordon will be remembered for his strong playing style, his role in the rise of bebop, his part in the revival of acoustic jazz, and for his moving role in "'Round Midnight."

Wednesday 2/3

Dianne Reeves

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Dianne Reeves.  Reeves was born in Detroit in 1956, but grew up in Denver.  She was discovered by Clark Terry while singing in her high school's big band.  After college, she worked in Los Angeles recording studios with Lenny White, Billy Childs and others, and then toured internationally with Sergio Mendes.   In 1987, she was the first singer signed to the revived Blue Note record label, and her career took off.  She is a fine singer of standards, but has also penned such originals as the inspiring "Better Days," a popular tribute to the grandmother who helped raise her.  Reeves has sung with many orchestras, and she was the first creative chair for jazz in the history of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  Reeves is the only singer to have won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for three consecutive recordings, and her most recent one When You Know was released in 2008. She also appeared on the soundtrack to the film "Good Night, and Good Luck."  Reeves is one of the best jazz vocalists of our time, and her rich voice and virtuosity make her stand out on recordings, on stage, and in films.  On October 23^rd, Dianne Reeves will celebrate her 54^th birthday.

Thursday 2/4

Ray Charles

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Ray Charles. He was born Ray Charles Robinson in Albany, Georgia in 1930, and became blind at the age of six due to childhood glaucoma. Charles learned to sing and play many instruments in a school for the blind, and gained early performing experience in Florida and Seattle. His early style was rather like that of Nat "King" Cole, but he soon developed a soulful sound all his own in both his singing and his piano playing. Charles made his first recordings in the late 1940s, and within a few years his sound caught on, especially with his hit song "I Got a Woman" in 1955. Charles' unique style had elements of gospel, R & B, jazz and blues, and it stayed his own even when he tried other kinds of music. Although much of his work has been in such styles as R & B, country, and mainstream pop, Charles recorded a lot of jazz as well, and worked with such jazz stars as Betty Carter, Milt Jackson, Tony Bennett and David "Fathead" Newman. Charles' unmistakable gospel-influenced voice has been an inspiration to singers in music ranging from soul to rock and pop. Despite increasing health problems, Charles continued to perform and record as long as possible, and his final album, a set of duets called "Genius Loves Company," won multiple Grammys a few months after his death in June of 2004.  In late 2006, there was even a new Ray Charles CD in which his vocals from live concerts were combined with backings by the Count Basie Orchestra, so Charles continues to keep old fans and attract new ones through his recordings.  On December 7, 2007, Ray Charles Plaza was opened in his hometown of Albany, Georgia with a revolving, lighted bronze sculpture of Charles seated at a piano.  Ray Charles was often known in life as "The Genius," and he will certainly keep that title for his great contributions to American music.

Friday 2/5

Ella Fitzgerald

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Ella Fitzgerald. Ella was born in 1917 in Newport News, Virginia, and mostly grew up in Yonkers, New York. Ella started out in very tough circumstances, and was homeless as a teenager after her mother died and she had to escape from an abusive stepfather. Fitzgerald won one of the famous amateur contests at New York's Apollo Theatre in 1934, and became popular when she became the vocalist with Chick Webb's big band. After Webb died, Ella took over the band until she went solo in 1941. In 1946, she began working with Norman Granz's "Jazz at the Philharmonic," where she learned about the new bebop style from such colleagues as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and bassist Ray Brown, who was her husband for a few years. Some other developments that broadened Ella's career included a series of songbook albums with the work of various composers, and a switch to Norman Granz's management and his Verve recording label. Ella became one of the most popular singers in jazz history due to her great scat singing, sweet-toned voice, and immaculate diction and musicianship. Sadly, problems with diabetes, vision and high blood pressure took their toll on Fitzgerald's health, and also affected her voice, so that she had to cut back her activities in later years. She decided not to appear in public again after her feet had to be amputated due to diabetic complications. However, when Ella Fitzgerald died in 1996, the tributes from all over the world showed that she had not been forgotten, and her many fine recordings will ensure that she continue to be remembered as the "First Lady of Song."

Monday 2/8

Count Basie

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of William "Count" Basie. Basie was born in 1904 in Red Bank, New Jersey. Basie played in vaudeville as a young man, and became stranded in Kansas City when his troupe broke up in 1927. It was a blessing in disguise, for Basie stayed there and became part of several bands, including Walter Page's Blue Devils and the Bennie Moten band. After Moten died in 1935, Basie worked as a single, and then formed a band that included many of Moten's former musicians. This band had such legends as saxophonist Lester Young, drummer Jo Jones, and vocalist Jimmy Rushing. Basie's famous "splank" style of light piano and rhythm accompaniment gave the band its special sound, providing just enough of a framework to let the band swing. The young Basie band was soon heard on radio broadcasts from Kansas City by listeners all over the Midwest, and Basie got his nickname of "Count" from a radio announcer who thought he should have a title like Duke Ellington or Earl Hines. The Basie band soon became a household name, enjoying great popularity during the big band era. When big bands declined after World War II, Basie led small groups for a few years. However, he formed a new big band in 1952, and this band took off thanks to recordings and touring around the world. The band's new vocalist, Joe Williams, also added to the Basie band's appeal. The famous 1956 Basie recording of "April in Paris" was a Top 40 hit, even at a time when rock and roll was starting to capture public fancy. The band won many awards and continued recording and touring, and also backed Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and other singers in several popular albums. In Basie's later years, he had serious problems with his health that resulted in several hospitalizations, but he continued to lead the band and play piano from a wheelchair until his death in 1984. Since Basie's death, the Count Basie Orchestra has continued under several directors, and it continues to tour and record, including the famous Basie standards and some newer pieces. Thanks to the continued existence of the band, and the many great recordings he left behind, Count Basie will be remembered as one of the great big band leaders.

Tuesday 2/9

Coleman Hawkins

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Coleman Hawkins.  This Missouri native, also known by the nicknames "Bean" and "Hawk," was born in 1904.  Hawkins started on the saxophone when he was only 9, at a time when it was still largely considered a novelty instrument. When he was 17, blues singer Mamie Smith hired him for her band. His first big break in jazz was being hired by Fletcher Henderson in 1924. When Louis Armstrong joined Henderson's band the same year, Hawkins learned a lot from him, and the style that resulted helped make the saxophone into one of the major jazz instruments. Hawkins played in Europe for five years in the 1930s, and after he returned to America in 1939, he made a famous record of "Body and Soul" that became THE model for later jazz solos on all instruments. When bebop came in the 1940s, Hawkins encouraged and hired such young musicians as Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, and led the very first bop recording session. Although later trends encouraged a cooler sound than his, Hawkins kept up with the times with such projects as a bossa nova album and working with Jazz at the Philharmonic.  He was also very influential on the young Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. Sadly, his last years were marred by alcoholism, but he continued to play until shortly before his death in 1969.  There is a story that a young saxophonist heard Hawkins and said to an older colleague, "He scares me, man!" The older musician answered, "He's supposed to scare you. That's what he's there for."  That may sum up Coleman Hawkins; "Bean's" formidable skills as an improviser and his work to establish the importance of the jazz soloist certainly put rivals on their mettle, and also insured his place in the history of American music.

Wednesday 2/10

Dinah Washington

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Dinah Washington. Ruth Lee Jones started in music as a teenager singing gospel, but then began singing and playing piano in nightclubs. Lionel Hampton hired her as a vocalist and changed her name to Dinah Washington. She soon became a star in jazz and R & B, and earned the nickname of "Queen of the Blues." Dinah Washington also branched out into mainstream pop with great success. She died at only 39, but was a great influence on later singers such as Nancy Wilson, Diane Schuur, and her own godchild Patti Austin. Dinah Washington's powerful, honest style and versatility have kept her as "The Queen" in the hearts of her many fans nearly 40 years after her passing.

Thursday 2/11

Wes Montgomery

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Wes Montgomery. This Indianapolis native taught himself guitar at the age of 18, and gained his signature sound by using his thumb instead of a pick. After touring with Lionel Hampton for two years, Montgomery came back home, and for years he worked a day job to support his family and played jazz at night. In the late 1950s, he recorded with his brothers: Buddy Montgomery played vibes and Monk Montgomery played bass. After several other albums, he caught on with "The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery," recorded in 1960, and played as a leader for the rest of his career. Late in his career, Montgomery made a number of recordings for the A & M label with strings and woodwinds, which bothered jazz purists but which also got radio airplay, brought new fans to jazz and helped provide for his family. Montgomery's new fans also came to his live shows, which had as much jazz as they ever did. Years of overwork took their toll, and Wes died at only 43 in 1968 of a heart attack. However, Wes Montgomery continues to have many loyal fans and is highly influential among guitarists almost four decades.

Friday 2/12

Charles Mingus

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Charles Mingus. Mingus was born in an Army camp in Nogales, Arizona in 1922, and was raised in the Watts section of Los Angeles. Although Mingus' stepmother only allowed gospel music in their home, he heard the Duke Ellington band one day while tuning his father's crystal set radio, and became hooked on jazz. Mingus tried learning a few instruments from an early age, but settled on the bass in his teens after studying with both jazz and classical bassists. As a young professional, Mingus worked with Barney Bigard and Louis Armstrong, and gained his first fame while with vibraphonist Red Norvo. He even worked with Duke Ellington for a short time, but his legendary temper got the better of him, and Mingus became the only musician that Ellington ever personally fired from his band! He eventually founded Debut Records, and was bassist for the legendary "Jazz at Massey Hall" concert that was recorded for that label. Mingus also came into his own as a composer with such works as "Goodbye Porkpie Hat," "Better Get Hit In Your Soul," "The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady," and the posthumously released "Epitaph." Using both large and small groups, Mingus recorded such legendary albums as "Pithecanthropus Erectus," "Mingus Ah Um," and "Oh Yeah." However, the strain of coping with financial problems, racism and the failure of his Jazz Artists Guild undermined Mingus' mental health, and he left the music business for three years and went into therapy. He returned to performing in 1969 to earn some badly-needed money, and got a boost in the form of a Guggenheim Fellowship in composition and the purchase of the Debut Records master tapes by the Fantasy label. Mingus also formed a new group with young musicians, married his devoted second wife Sue, and was honored at the White House. Towards the end of his life, working from a wheelchair, Mingus continued to compose and also did his last project, a collaboration with Joni Mitchell. Mingus died in Mexico in 1979, but thanks to the efforts of Sue Mingus, his music lives on. She has helped to establish repertory groups such as Mingus Dynasty and the Mingus Big Band. Younger jazz musicians have also learned much from Mingus' pathbreaking compositions. Charles Mingus will be remembered for his music and for his integrity as long as there is jazz.

Monday 2/15

Max Roach

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Max Roach. Born in North Carolina in 1924, Max Roach was a jazz percussionist, drummer and composer. He was one of the first drummers (along with Kenny Clarke) to play in the bebop style, and performed in bands led by Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins, Bud Powell, and Miles Davis. Roach played on many of Parker's most important records, including the Savoy 1945 session, a turning point in recorded jazz. n 1952, Roach co-founded Debut Records with bassist Charles Mingus. This label released a record of a concert, billed and widely considered as "the greatest concert ever," called Jazz at Massey Hall, featuring Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Mingus and Roach. Also released on this label was the groundbreaking bass-and-drum free improvisation, Percussion Discussion. In 1954, he formed a quintet featuring trumpeter Clifford Brown, tenor saxophonist Harold Land, pianist Richie Powell (brother of Bud Powell), and bassist George Morrow, though Land left the following year and Sonny Rollins replaced him. The group was a prime example of the hard bop style also played by Art Blakey and Horace Silver. Tragically, this group was to be short-lived; Brown and Powell were killed in a car accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in June 1956. Not content to expand on the musical territory he had already become known for, Roach spent the decades of the 1980s and 1990s continually finding new forms of musical expression and presentation. Roach even surprised his fans by performing in a hip hop concert, featuring the artist-rapper Fab Five Freddy and the New York Break Dancers. He expressed the insight that there was a strong kinship between the outpouring of expression of these young black artists and the art he had pursued all his life. Max Roach passed away in the early morning on August 16, 2007 in Manhattan. He was survived by five children: sons Daryl and Raoul, and daughters Maxine, Ayo and Dara. Over 1900 people attended his funeral at Riverside Church in Manhattan, New York City on August 24, 2007.

Tuesday 2/16

Kermit Ruffins

WAER salutes Black History Month and Fat Tuesday with the music of Kermit Ruffins.  He is a New Orleans native, who was born in 1964.  Ruffins grew up hearing the black pop music of the 1970s and 80s.  Although he played trumpet as a teenager, he didn't decide to go into jazz until he was 19, when he heard the music of Louis Armstrong.  Like many New Orleans musicians, Ruffins started out playing for tips for the tourists in Jackson Square.  He soon showed great skill and charm when playing and singing the music of his hometown, and in the 1980s he formed the Rebirth Brass Band with some of his friends from high school.  The Rebirth Brass Band soon became nationally known among jazz fans.   In 1992, Ruffins began his current group, the Barbecue Swingers, which got its name from Ruffins' practice of setting up a grill and barbecuing for the band, club employees, and listeners during breaks between sets.  Ruffins also started recording for the now-defunct Justice label in the early 1990s, and has since made a number of CDs for Basin Street Records.  Ruffins had his own nightclub in New Orleans, but closed it after tourism in New Orleans fell off following the 9/11 attacks.  Since then, Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers have brought their modern-day New Orleans sound to listeners all over North America, featuring both classics and original compositions.  Many listeners and critics have compared Kermit Ruffins to his great predecessor Louis Armstrong, and while nobody can ever take the place of "Pops," Ruffins brings a similar love of life and positive energy to his lively concerts and recordings. On April 14, 2007, Kermit married his fiancée Karen “Juicee” James onstage during his performance at the New Orleans French Quarter Festival.  Kermit Ruffins will celebrate his 46^th birthday on December 19^th.

Wednesday 2/17

Nancy Wilson

    WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Nancy Wilson.  Wilson was born on February 20, 1937, and grew up in the Columbus, Ohio area.  At 15, Wilson won a talent show and got her own local TV show. Her musical influences included Dinah Washington and Little Jimmy Scott. While trying to break into singing, Wilson worked days as a secretary, and sang with the Rusty Bryant band and other jazz musicians.  When Cannonball Adderley heard her while in Columbus, he told Wilson to get in touch with him if she ever came to New York, which she did in 1959.  She soon gained a reputation in jazz circles, and recorded classic albums with her mentor Cannonball Adderley , George Shearing, Gerald Wilson and others. She also ventured successfully into mainstream pop and R & B music and had her own award-winning network TV show, while continuing to sing jazz. She has also acted on such TV series as "Hawaii 5-0" and "The Cosby Show," and has hosted National Public Radio's "Jazz Profiles" series heard on many public radio stations.  In 2004, Wilson was named an NEA Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 2007 she won a Grammy for her album "Turned To Blue" adding to the Grammys she won in 2005 for "R.S.V.P." and 1964 for "How Glad I Am."  Wilson has cut back on her concert appearances, but still records for the MCG Jazz label. At the Hollywood Bowl in August 2007, Nancy celebrated her 70th birthday with an all star event that featured a performance from her longtime friend Ramsey Lewis.  Nancy Wilson continues to be known for her combination of soulfulness and glamour, and appeals to lovers of both jazz and pop across several generations. On February 20th, Nancy Wilson celebrates her 73rd birthday.

Thursday 2/18

Benny Carter

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Benny Carter. This saxophonist, trumpeter, clarinetist, pianist, composer, arranger, singer and bandleader was active in jazz from the late 1920s to the late 1990s. Carter was born in New York City in 1907, and was mostly self-taught on the trumpet and on the saxophone. He made his first recording at 20, and had his first big band when he was just 21. At the same time, he was writing arrangements for Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson. He wrote such jazz standards as "When Lights Are Low," "Blues In My Heart," "Key Largo," and "Cow Cow Boogie." In 1935, he moved to Europe for several years, and was an arranger for the BBC's radio dance orchestra. He relocated to Los Angeles in 1943 so he could write music for films, and appeared as a trumpeter in the movie "Stormy Weather." Despite racism in Hollywood, Carter helped open the doors for black musicians in the film and TV industries. Over the years, Carter stayed in jazz and continued to play, record and lead groups. He also arranged for many singers, including Lou Rawls, Mel Torme, Peggy Lee, and even The Judds! Carter was active up into his 90s, and one of his projects in his later years was two CDs of his songs, featuring such singers as Dianne Reeves, Jon Hendricks, and Diana Krall. Carter was a Kennedy Center Honors winner in 1996. He also won a Grammy for his "Harlem Renaissance Suite" in 1992, and for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Soloist in 1994 for "Prelude to a Kiss." By the time Benny Carter died at age 95 in 2003, he was one of the most revered figures in jazz, and he will certainly be remembered thanks to his many compositions and recordings.

Friday 2/19

Roy Haynes

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Roy Haynes.  One of the few jazz musicians alive today whose roots touch the origins of jazz itself, the drum legend has been hard swinging since 1944, when he made his professional debut at the age of seventeen in his native Boston. In the last sixty years, Roy Owen Haynes has shaped some of the most important recordings in Jazz history, transforming the role of the percussionist from timekeeper to front-line collaborator. Haynes began his full time professional career in 1945. From 1947 to 1949 he worked with saxophonist Lester Young, and from 1949 to 1952 was a member of saxophonist Charlie Parker’s quintet. He also recorded at the time with pianist Bud Powell and saxophonists Wardell Gray, and Stan Getz. From 1953 to 1958 he toured with singer Sarah Vaughan. Haynes went on to work with more experimental musicians, like saxophonists John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy, and pianists Chick Corea and Andrew Hill.  Haynes has recorded or performed with Gary Burton, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Jackie McLean, Pat Metheny, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and many others. He has also led his own groups, some performing under the name Hip Ensemble. His most recent recordings as a leader are Fountain of Youth and Whereas, both of which have been nominated for a Grammy Award. He continues to perform worldwide.  His son Graham Haynes is a cornetist. His son, Craig Haynes, grandson, Marcus Gilmore, and nephew Christopher Haynes are all drummers. Roy's influence on the rock world has also been apparent in recent years, with a tribute song recorded by Jim Keltner and Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones, and recent on-stage appearances with The Allman Brothers Band and Page McConnell of Phish.  He was inducted into the Down Beat Magazine Hall of Fame in 2004.  Haynes also appeared in the game Grand Theft Auto IV, as the host of the jazz radio station, JNR.  A 3 CD/1 DVD boxed set entitled A Life in Time - The Roy Haynes Story was released by Dreyfus Jazz in October 2007. The set chronicles highlights from Roy's career from 1949-2006, including recordings with Parker, Vaughan, Davis, Monk, Corea, Metheny and his own Hip Ensemble and Fountain of Youth quartet.  On March 13^th, Roy Haynes will celebrate his 85^th birthday.

Monday 2/22

Quincy Jones

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Quincy Jones. Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. is an American music impresario, conductor, record producer, musical arranger, film composer and trumpeter. Throughout the 50s, Jones successfully toured all over Europe with a number of jazz orchestras. In 1956, Quincy toured as musical director with the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band. In the 1960s, Jones worked as an arranger for some of the most important artists of the era, including Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald & Dinah Washington. Jones's solo recordings also garnered acclaim, including Walking in Space, You've Got It Bad, Girl, Body Heat, Mellow Madness, and I Heard That.  He is well known for his 1962 song "Soul Bossa Nova", which originated on the Big Band Bossa Nova album. "Soul Bossa Nova" was a theme for the 1998 World Cup, the Canadian game show Definition, the Woody Allen film Take The Money And Run and the Mike Myers movie Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery.  Jones's 1981 album The Dude  yielded multiple hit singles, including "Just Once" and "One Hundred Ways," both of which featured James Ingram on lead vocals and marked Ingram's first hit singles.  In 1985, Jones scored the Steven Spielberg film adaptation of The Color Purple. He and Jerry Goldsmith are the only composers besides John Williams to have scored a theatrical Spielberg film. After the 1985 American Music Awards ceremony, Jones used his influence to draw most major American recording artists of the day into a studio to lay down the track "We Are The World" to raise money for the victims of Ethiopia's famine.  Starting in the late 1970s, Jones tried to convince Miles Davis to re-perform the music he had played on several classic albums that had been arranged by Gil Evans in the 1960s. Davis had always refused, citing a desire not to revisit the past. In 1991, Davis, then suffering from pneumonia relented and agreed to perform the music at a concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The resulting album from the recording, Miles & Quincy: Live At Montreux, was Davis' last released album and is considered an artistic triumph. During five decades in the entertainment industry, Jones has earned 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991. He is best known as the producer of two of the top-selling records of all time: the album Thriller, by pop icon Michael Jackson, which sold 104 million copies worldwide, and the charity song We Are the World. In 1968, Jones and his songwriting partner Bob Russell became the first African-Americans to be nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Original Song category. That same year, he became the first African-American to be nominated twice within the same year when he was nominated for Best Original Score for his work on the music of In Cold Blood. Jones was also the first African-American to be nominated as a producer in the category of Best Picture (in 1986, for The Color Purple). He is tied with sound designer Willie D. Burton as the most Oscar-nominated African-American, each of them having seven nominations.  On March 14th, Quincy Jones will celebrate his 77th birthday.

Tuesday 2/23

Nina Simone

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Nina Simone. She was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon on February 21, 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina one of eight children in a poor family.   Simone originally went to the Juilliard School of Music to study classical piano, which was rare for a black musician at the time, but had to play in nightclubs to support herself. Simone began singing when a club owner would only hire her if she both sang and played. She came up with a unique style that combined jazz with classical, soul, folk and blues influences. Simone's emotional singing style, strong statements against racism and oppression, and strong personality made her a star. Simone kept on despite problems with racism, mental and physical illness, and unhappiness in her personal life.  On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C.more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Simone.  Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities from the University of Massachusetts and Malcolm X College.  She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her. Only two days before her death, Simone was awarded an honorary diploma by the Curtis Institute, the school that had turned her down at the start of her career. Late in her career, Simone became known to a new generation when her famous recording of "My Baby Just Cares For Me" was used in a perfume commercial, and she even returned for occasional American appearances after years as an expatriate in Europe and Africa. Nina Simone died in April of 2003 after years of poor health, but her great artistic integrity will ensure that she'll be remembered as long as people can hear her recordings. Plans for a Nina Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005.  The movie will be largely based on Nina’s 1992 autobiography I Put A Spell On You. Singer Mary J. Blige will play the lead role and the movie is scheduled for a 2012 release.

Wednesday 2/24

David "Fathead" Newman

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of David "Fathead" Newman. Newman was born in Corsicana, Texas on February 24th, 1933, and grew up in Dallas. He got his nickname from a music teacher, who called him a "fathead" when he didn't understand something in class. However, Newman must have learned something, since he soon got jobs playing after school, and got a scholarship to study theology and music. After two years of college, Newman left school to go on the road with Buster Smith, and he toured in the South and sometimes in California. While on tour with Smith, Newman met Ray Charles, and when Charles formed his own band in 1954, he invited Newman to join it. Before long, Newman was the band's star saxophonist, and he worked with Charles for 12 years. With Charles' support, Newman made his first album as a leader in 1959. After returning to Dallas for two years, Newman went back to New York, where he worked with Eddie Harris, Red Garland, and other jazz and R & B stars. In addition to his U.S. appearances, he made tours of Europe and Asia. Newman was a very busy studio musician, recording with everyone from Aretha Franklin to Herbie Mann's "Family of Mann." However, as Newman matured, he decided to concentrate on his solo career, and has done many CDs over the past two decades, in addition to making many live and TV appearances. He was also one of many fine jazz musicians who appeared in Robert Altman's film "Kansas City," which is not surprising, since many have commented over the years that Newman was handsome enough to be a film star. Newman never forgot his roots, though, and after the death of his friend and mentor Ray Charles, he recorded the moving CD called "I Remember Brother Ray." On January 20th, 2009, David "Fathead" Newman died at the age of 75. There was a musical memorial celebration of David's life at St. Peter's Jazz Ministry in New York City in March of 2009 that was attended by hundreds of jazz musicians.

Thursday 2/25

Louis Armstrong

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of Louis Armstrong, who was called "the beginning and end of music in America" by his good friend Bing Crosby. Armstrong's humble roots in New Orleans are well-known; he got his first cornet with the help of a junk dealer he worked for as a child. Armstrong eventually switched from cornet to trumpet and made pioneering recordings as a leader of studio groups known as the Hot Five and Hot Seven. He soon made his mark as one of the greatest innovators and most virtuosic trumpeters in jazz history. Armstrong eventually became a bandleader himself, and also became a singer who helped popularize scat singing; his freewheeling style changed the sound of popular singing forever. After spending a few years in Europe, Armstrong returned to the U.S. and, under the management of Joe Glaser, became one of the most popular musicians and entertainers in the country. He led a big band and often appeared on radio and in films. When the big-band era ended after World War II, Armstrong started playing with smaller "All-Stars" groups that emphasized a traditional New Orleans style. He made international State Department tours as a goodwill ambassador, and also stood up for civil rights in the 1950s at a time when many other entertainment figures were not yet ready to take a stand. Armstrong had a huge pop hit in 1964 with "Hello, Dolly," and guest-starred in Barbra Streisand's movie of that hit musical. He also had such pop hits as "What a Wonderful World," which became a hit again years after his death in the film "Good Morning, Vietnam." Age and ill health forced Armstrong to cut back on performing in his last years, but he was planning yet another tour when he died in 1971. Although Louis Armstrong's career as a popular entertainer didn't please some jazz purists, he nonetheless laid many of the foundations for what jazz became. Dizzy Gillespie said it best when he said of Louis Armstrong, "No him--no me."

Friday 2/26

John Coltrane

WAER salutes Black History Month with the music of John Coltrane. This North Carolina native learned to play clarinet and saxophone in community and high school bands. After graduating from high school, he moved to Philadephia to join his family that was already there, and studied music and played in local clubs until he went into the U.S. Navy. While stationed in Hawaii, he kept playing and made his first recording with a group of other sailors. After his return to Philadelphia, he worked for several bands, and switched to the tenor sax. He remained with Dizzy Gillespie from 1949 to 1951, but a drug problem made him hard to deal with, and he was fired several times by Miles Davis and other leaders before he finally gave up drugs and became more reliable. He made his first record as a leader in 1957, and soon rejoined Miles Davis, becoming part of the sextet that recorded "Milestones" and "Kind of Blue." His own projects became the subject of controversy for what became known as "sheets of sound". However, he also enjoyed popular success with such recordings as "My Favorite Things," "Ballads," and recordings with Duke Ellington and Johnny Hartman. His later playing included a great deal of free jazz, long solos and influences from world music from Africa and India. He died of liver cancer when he was only 40, but his willingness to take musical chances and his emotionally powerful playing will inspire both musicians and listeners as long as there is jazz.