Jazz Artists of the Day – Lee Konitz and Pharoah Sanders on their shared birthday – October 13th!!

Two iconic jazz saxophone players share October 13th as their birthdays. one, alto sax player Lee Konitz, is considered one of the main figures in the cool jazz movement, although Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings throughout his career. The other, tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders is an important figure in the development of free jazz. Konitz recorded with Miles Davis  in 1949 and 1950 tracks that became the Birth of the Cool album. From Wikipedia.. The presence of Konitz and other white musicians in the group angered some black jazz players, many of whom were unemployed at the time, but Davis…

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Dexter Gordon aka “Sophisticated Giant” born Feb.27,1923!!

   Dexter Gordon – Saxophone (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990)   Dexter Gordon was born on this day February 27 in 1923.Aside from the facts that he was jazz tenor saxophonist and starred in Round Midnight I don’t know much about Dexter’s music, so I figured his birthday is a good day to go exploring.. At Wikipedia I read….. He was among the earliest tenor players to adapt the bebop musical language of people such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the instrument. His studio and live performance career spanned over 40 years. Gordon’s height was 6 feet 6 inches (198 cm), so he was…

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Today in Music – Jan 29, 1968 – Noel Lorica – Jazz Guitarist and Vet is born!!

Whenever I look down the list of Jazz artists birthdays for that day, I always keep a special eye out for guitarists. Today that eye landed on the name of Noel Lorica. Noel was born on this day in 1968 in Manila in the Philippines.. As an accomplished guitarist and Latin jazz artist he has received acclaim for his playing resulting in 21 Grammy Ballot entries! From his Biography at All About Jazz….. ….Born in Manila, Noel played in a rock band as a teenager, though his mother urged him to take piano lessons. But his love was always the…

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The Safari Starts with Anke Helfrich’s Birthday and my ADD Leads Me to New Jazz!!

   Ok so the Safari tonight started with a search for some jazz musicians born on the. The first name that caught my eye was right at the top of the list at the birthday list at All About Jazz – Anke Helfrich  a German pianist and, composer of modern jazz .  Helfrich grew up in Windhoek ( Namibia ) and Weinheim , where she took piano lessons. After initial successes as a national award winner at ” Youth jazzes “(1987) she studied in Freiburg and from 1989 on the” Amsterdamse Hooge School voor de Kunsten “inHilversum at Elkerbout Henk and Rob Madna . Due to their excellent statements she received a scholarship that her additional…

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This Date in Music – Nov 10, 1947 – Happy Birthday, Greg Lake!

On this day in 1947 English musician, songwriter, producer and founding member of King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer Gregory Stuart “Greg” Lake was born. Greg Lake and I go back a long way Greg is 4 years my senior so,  while I was a 17-year-old high school student, Greg was invited by  his  high school friend guitarist Robert Fripp, to join King Crimson. Fripp asked Lake a fellow guitarist asked Lake to switch to bass and to take on the role of lead singer. Lake agreed and as they say the rest is history!! So my first introduction to Lake’s…

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