Wednesday, November 20, 2013

A00002 - Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Tenor Saxophonist


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Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre
Also known asKalaparush Ahrah Difda[1]
Born
Maurice Benford McIntyre[1]

March 24, 1936
Clarksville, Arkansas, U.S.
DiedNovember 9, 2013 (aged 77)
The Bronx, New York, U.S.
GenresJazz
InstrumentsTenor saxophone, woodwind instruments
Years active1960s–2013 [2]
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Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre (March 24, 1936 – November 9, 2013)[3] was an American free jazz tenor saxophonist.[4]

Biography

McIntyre, who was born in Clarksville, Arkansas, United States,[5] but raised in Chicago, Illinois, studied at the Chicago College of Music, and during the 1960s began playing with musicians such as Malachi Favors, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Roscoe Mitchell.[5] Along with them he became a member of the ensemble Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in 1965.[5] His first solo record appeared in 1969.[5] During this time he also recorded as a session musician for Delmark Records, playing with George Freeman, J. B. Hutto, and Little Milton, among others.[5]

That year, McIntyre was convicted of drug offences and served his sentence in Lexington, Kentucky.

McIntyre moved to New York City in the 1970s, playing at Sam Rivers's Rivbea Studios and teaching at Karl Berger's Creative Studio.[4] He and Muhal Richard Abrams toured Europe several times.[4] After his 1981 live album, McIntyre recorded very little, playing on the streets and in the subways of New York.[3] His next major appearance on record was not until 1998, with Pheeroan akLaff and Michael Logan;[4] the following year, he played with many AACM ensemble members on the album Bright Moments.[4] He continued to release as a leader into the 2000s.[6]

He died in November 2013, in The Bronx, New York, at the age of 77.[1]

Discography

As leader

As sideman

With Muhal Richard Abrams

With Ethnic Heritage Ensemble

  • Welcome (Leo, 1982)

With George Freeman

With Leroy Jenkins

With Roscoe Mitchell

References

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Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre (March 24, 1936 – November 9, 2013) was an American free jazz tenor saxophonist.
McIntyre, who was born in Clarksville, Arkansas but raised in Chicago, studied at the Chicago College of Music, and during the 1960s began playing with musicians such as Malachi Favors, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Roscoe Mitchell. Along with them he became a member of the ensemble Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in the mid-1960s. His first solo record appeared in 1969. During this time he also recorded as a session musician for Delmark Records, playing with George Freeman, J.B. Hutto, and Little Milton, among others.
McIntyre moved to New York City in the 1970s, playing at Sam Rivers' Riveba Studios and teaching at Karl Berger's Creative Studio. He and Muhal Richard Abrams toured Europe several times. After his 1981 live album, McIntyre recorded very little, playing on the streets and in the subways of New York. His next major appearance on record was not until 1998, with Pheeroan akLaff and Michael Logan. The following year, he played with many AACM ensemble members on the album Bright Moments. He continued to release as a leader into the 2000s.
The discography of Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre reads as follows:
As leader
  • Humility in the Light of the Creator (Delmark Records, 1969)
  • Forces and Feelings (Delmark, 1970)
  • Peace and Blessings (Black Saint Records, 1979)
  • Ram's Run (Cadence Jazz, 1981)
  • Dream Of... (CIMP, 1998)
  • South Eastern (CIMP, 2002)
  • The Moment (Entropy Stereo, 2003)
  • Morning Song (Delmark, 2004)
  • Paths to Glory (CIMP, 2004)
  • Extremes (CIMP, 2007)
As sideman
With Muhal Richard Abrams
  • Levels and Degrees of Light (Delmark, 1968)

With Roscoe Mitchell
  • Sound (Delmark, 1966)
With Ethnic Heritage Ensemble
  • Welcome (Leo Records, 1982)
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Monday, November 11, 2013

A00001 - Frank Wess, Basie Band Saxophonist and Flutist

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Frank Wess
Frank Wess (left) and Jimmy Owens, 1977
Frank Wess (left) and Jimmy Owens, 1977
Background information
Born
Frank Wellington Wess

January 4, 1922
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
DiedOctober 30, 2013 (aged 91)
New York, U.S.
GenresJazz
OccupationMusician
InstrumentsSaxophone, flute
Years active1950s – 2013
LabelsCommodore, Savoy, Pablo, Progressive, Concord

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Frank Wellington Wess (January 4, 1922 – October 30, 2013)[1] was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. He was renowned for his extensive solo work; however, he was also remembered for his time playing with Count Basie's band during the early 1950s into the early 1960s. Critic Scott Yanow described him as one of the premier proteges of Lester Young, and a leading jazz flutist of his era—using the latter instrument to bring new colors to Basie's music.[2]

Early life

Wess was born in Kansas City, Missouri.[3] Since he was young, Wess grew up listening to music. His mother was one of his major influences as she would take him to watch performers like Roland Hayes and Ida Cox. While speaking to his father, who was a school principal in Oklahoma, on a separate occasion, he discovered that his mother had wanted him to become a musician for a long time. Up until that pivotal moment, Wess had viewed his interactions with his mother as bonding where she emphasized the importance of being aware of culture. Before realizing that jazz was his calling, he had other interests. To name a few, Wess aspired to be a cabinetmaker and then a dentist.

Wess grew up loving the saxophone, specifically the tenor saxophone and alto saxophone. He had asked his mother for one since he was young, and she would always tell him, "Wait till you're ten years old."[3] He believed that this life truly started when he turned ten years old as that marked the start of his lengthy music career. Wess was drawn to the instrument as it was "closely related to the human voice."[3] In his eyes, the saxophone was an instrument that was relatively easy to learn, but difficult to master. In an interview with the National Endowment for the Arts, he said, "...if you can play it, it sounds good, you know. Lots of instruments, you put a whole lot into it and it still doesn't sound too good."[3] When he began playing the saxophone, he took influence from the sound of the horn.

Wess began with classical music training and played in Oklahoma in high school. He would travel around with the All-State High School Orchestra to perform.[4] In 1935, Wess and his family moved to Washington D.C. At this time, he had not been playing any longer as burnout had gotten the best of him, causing him to grow "tired of the music."[4] Having that significant change in scenery revitalized and rekindled Wess's passion for playing music. During lunch time at his high school, students would host jam sessions in the orchestra. Billy Taylor was a student at his high school during that period of time. These sessions lit up that spark in Wess that made him start playing again. He experienced a shift in preferences as he opted to begin playing jazz. To be more specific, he played a big band style of jazz.

Living in Washington D.C. put him in proximity to Baltimore, Maryland, a city that marked a turning point in his young career. During the summer of 1938, Wess performed at a club in Baltimore with a group called the Hardy Brothers. He had two opening numbers in the same week, which gave him a boost of confidence. The next week, he performed another opening number at the Royal Theater, which only gave him more confidence to keep going.

World War II and The 1940s

In 1941, Wess became a member of the U.S. Army.[5] His ROTC bandleader had been recruiting eligible young people who could play music professionally. He would serve as an assistant bandleader that played a variety of music - Viennese waltzes, vaudeville, classical and marching band to name a few. It was a 17-piece swing band, and they were sent to Africa in 1942. During that tour, they performed in Dakar, Casablanca, Monrovia, Tlemcen, and Algiers. During their first gig, they played for a group of Americans, Germans, and British. The highlight of Wess's time with the Army Band was accompanying Josephine Baker on tours for the Allied Power's troops.

Shortly upon returning from his time in the Army in 1944, Wess joined the Billy Eckstine and his orchestra. They had known each other before Wess went off to the War. At one point, Wess went to go see Eckstine at the theater; during this interaction, Eckstine said, "look, my tenor player is going into the army. Come on with me."[4] This interaction was fortunate for Wess, as this orchestra was legendary for being the first big band that played a new style of jazz known as bebop. Moreover, Billy Eckstine's Orchestra included pioneers for this new style of jazz: Fats Navarro, Miles Davis, Howard McGhee, Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons, Leo Parker, Tommy Potter, Art Blakely. However, this stint did not last for too long as the orchestra disbanded in 1947.

As a result of the disbanding of the Billy Eckstine Orchestra, Wess would proceed to play with the orchestras of Eddie Heywood, Lucky Millinder, and Bullmoose Jackson. Like with Eckstine, these stints were also short-lived as by 1949, Wess burned out again from the stress of being on the road for so much time. In addition, he was fed up with the maltreatment from society during this time due to his race. As a result, Wess would move back to Washington D.C. to enroll at the Modern School of Music in pursuit of a Bachelor's of Music degree. During this time, he re-discovered the flute. In high school, Wess's orchestra teacher gave him a flute, but he did not have anyone to teach him how to properly play it. However, this school had teachers from the National Symphony, so this represented a chance to learn the flute.

Count Basie and The "New Testament" Band

Because of Wess's time with Billy Eckstine, he had the opportunity to interact with Count Basie. Eckstine had recommended Wess to Basie, who tried recruiting Wess for several years. However, Wess consistently refused to join the band as he did not want to engage in long tours, which would force him to leave college — when he was attending college in the first place to expand his career options and avoid touring.

At the end of Wess’s education, Basie called him and said he could help get Wess more exposure. Wess's only condition was that he needed a salary, and Basie agreed.

Wess played a pivotal role in the formation of Count Basie's orchestra as he recruited the following musicians: Thad Jones, Bill Hughes, Eddie Jones, Al Aarons, and Eric Dixon. Together, this group of legendary musicians formed Count Basie's "New Testament" band. Throughout the years, other musicians came and went. Wess's versatility as an artist allowed him to play the flute, alto saxophone, and tenor saxophone. Basie's leadership style was unorthodox as he never rehearsed with the band, but rather, he would just sit and listen. Wess and his fellow musicians were the ones who decided on the arrangements. However, this approach to leadership allowed Basie to be aware of everything. He would have an eye on everything and knew what was occurring in the musicians' personal lives. While many could not comprehend Basie's approach, this allowed the members of the band to truly get to know each other so they could stay around long enough so that it translated into cohesive music pieces.

During his time with Count Basie's band, Wess developed a close connection with Frank Foster. There was a lot of interplay between both of the musicians in the various performances, with the song “Two Franks” being their showpiece. Their collaboration and flourishing friendship displayed how Basie's leadership style had encouraged the musicians to form a deeper connection with each other.

When it came to instrumentation, Wess opted for the tenor saxophone and flute. This was critical in helping establish the swing in the orchestra's music, a component that Count Basie highly valued. For Wess, he felt that swing was important for anyone who wanted to play jazz. There had to be a constant pulse throughout the song. The musicians have to truly play together; they need to hear each other so that their instincts can help guide them on how to play next. Again, having that sort of connection points back to how Count Basie had led the band. In 1957, Wess willingly changed to playing the alto saxophone as the band had added Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis.

In 1964, Wess left Count Basie's band.

Post Count Basie

Following Wess's departure from the "New Testament" band, this marked a new stage in his career. He turned to Broadway and television as his next career path.[6] For Broadway, Wess was a part of the pit bands for the shows Golden Boy, Chicago, Annie, and Sugar Babies. On television, he would play for The Dick Cavett Show, The David Frost Show, and The Sammy Davis Show, among others.

Wess continued to play outside of musicals and television shows. He became a sideman who was often in high demand by all sorts of musicians. It is estimated "that between 1964 and 2011, he participated in sessions with around 150 different artists or ensembles, from Benny Carter to Jaco Pastorius and from Annie Ross to Diana Ross."[5] He was also a leader and co-leader for numerous sessions for the and Savoy record labels. Often, he would actually record sessions with his former band mates from his time with Count Basie, especially with Frank Foster. Together, they recorded two albums: Two for the Blues and Frankly Speaking. Both utilized the tenor saxophone, but played with such contrasting styles. Foster utilized a more aggressive approach while Wess focused on sounding more lyrical.

Wess was a part of some additional partnerships. He was a key part of The New York Jazz Quartet along with Sir Roland Hanna on the piano, George Mraz or Ron Carter on the bass, and either Ben Riley, Richard Pratt, or Grady Tate on drums. Wess's key was to always find a venture to keep him occupied.

At the age of 89 Frank recorded an album named Magic 101.[4] This album comprised seven songs played by Wess's quartet that included pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Kenny Davis, and drummer Winard Harper. Wess played the tenor saxophone throughout the song, showcasing a slower side of jazz.

The album began with a song named "Say It Isn't So," that showcased the swing that Wess had built his legacy on during his time with Count Basie. The second song, "The Very Thought of You," was a stark contrast to how the program started as leaned towards a ballad. The third song, "Pretty Lady," and the fourth one, "Come Rain or Come Shine," go down the blues path as they focused more on raw emotion. The next song, "Easy Living," was a way of showing the late night in a city.[7] The album then moves to "Blue Monk," to pick up the tempo and bring vibrancy to the atmosphere. Wess brought back a steady swing throughout the duration of this song. The album end's with Wess's solo saxophone rendition of Duke Ellington's "All Too Soon," where he created an intimate feeling for the listeners.

Death

On October 30, 2013, at the age of 91, Wess died in a taxi on "his way to get a dialysis treatment,"[8] after suffering a sudden heart attack in the cab. He had still been playing music with his friends a month before his death, although his health had been in decline for months. His last public concert was in April of that year in New York at the 54 Below Club. He was survived by his partner, Sara Tsutsumi, two daughters (Michele Kane and Francine Wess), two grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Marc Loehrwald, a saxophone player, said that music had been Wess's life. He loved having the opportunity to play with other musicians, and he would try to invite young and moved musicians to his house for a jam session. Wess ensured that his legacy lived far beyond than the confines of his own family.

Discography

As leader

With the New York Jazz Quartet

As sideman

With Toshiko Akiyoshi

With Manny Albam

With Lorez Alexandria

With Gene Ammons

With Dorothy Ashby

With Count Basie

With Count Basie Orchestra

With Benny Carter

With Ron Carter

With Kenny Clarke

With Hank Crawford

With Dameronia

With Charles Earland

With Harry Edison

With Frank Foster

With Gene Harris

With Johnny Hartman

With Coleman Hawkins

With Johnny Hodges

With Bobby Hutcherson

With Milt Jackson

With J. J. Johnson

With Elvin Jones

With Etta Jones

With Quincy Jones

With Thad Jones

With Dick Katz

With Yusef Lateef

With Junior Mance

With Arif Mardin

With Les McCann

With Jimmy McGriff

With Charles McPherson

With Helen Merrill

With Oliver Nelson

With David Newman

With Joe Newman

With Chico O'Farrill

With Houston Person

With Buddy Rich

With A. K. Salim

With Woody Shaw

With Zoot Sims

  • Passion Flower: Zoot Sims Plays Duke Ellington (1979) [9]

With Melvin Sparks

With Leon Spencer

With Dakota Staton

With Billy Taylor

With Earl Washington

  • Earl Washington All-Stars (Workshop, 1962)

With Charles Williams

With Gerald Wilson

With Lem Winchester

References

  1.  Yardley, William (3 November 2013). "Frank Wess, 91, Saxophonist and Flutist With the Basie Band, Dies". The New York Times.
  2.  "Frank Wess Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More ..." AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  3.  "Frank Wess". NEA Jazz Masters. National Endowment for the Arts. 2007. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  4.  Lazarus, Riel (2005-04-05). "Frank Wess: The Message of Swing article". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  5.  "Frank Wess". Noal Cohen's Jazz History Website. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
  6.  Kugler, R. Anthony (2014). Contemporary Black Biography (Vol 116 ed.). pp. 159–161.
  7.  davesumner (2013-12-02). "Frank Wess – "Magic 101"". Bird is the Worm. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  8.  Colker, David (2013-11-01). "Frank Wess dies at 91; key player in major jazz ensembles". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  9.  "Zoot Sims Discography". Jazzdisco.org. Retrieved 2013-11-03.

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Frank Wess, 91, Saxophonist and Flutist With the Basie Band, Dies

Steve Berman/The New York Times
From left, Frank Wess, playing tenor sax, with Joe Wilder and Benny Powell in 2004.
By 
Published: November 3, 2013
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Frank Wess, who helped popularize the flute as a jazz instrument in the 1950s and ’60s with the Count Basie Orchestra, where he was also a standout saxophone soloist, died on Wednesday in Manhattan. He was 91.
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The cause was a heart attack related to kidney failure, said his longtime companion, Sara Tsutsumi.
Mr. Wess was not the first flutist in jazz. But his tonally rich and technically deft flute solos enjoyed an unusually prominent platform: the front row of the powerhouse Basie ensemble.
Mr. Wess had been studying flute at the Modern School of Music in Washington when Basie asked him to join a big band he had formed in 1952 to highlight new compositions and arrangements, many of them by Neal Hefti. It became known as Basie’s “New Testament” band, to distinguish it from the equally impressive and popular big band he had led in the ’30s and ’40s.
Mr. Wess, who had earlier played with bands led by Billy Eckstine and others, initially resisted, saying he was weary of the road and wanted to finish school. But Basie kept calling.
“And at about the end of my school year, he called again and said he thought he could get me more exposure than I had,” Mr. Wess recalled in a 2005 interview with the website All About Jazz. “That struck a chord in me. I said, ‘Maybe that’s what I need.’ ”
He joined in 1953 and was an immediate success. Mr. Wess would play tenor saxophone for a few tunes, swapping solos with his fellow tenor player Frank Foster, then switch to flute on the next song. Beginning in 1959, he was voted best jazz flutist for five years in a row in Down Beat magazine’s critics’ poll.
The critic Gary Giddins called that Basie band “the most irreproachable virtuoso ensemble ever to work the dance-band idiom.”
Mr. Wess left Basie in 1964 and moved to New York. There, he played with a band led by the trumpeter Clark Terry and alongside the pianist Roland Hanna in the New York Jazz Quartet. He also led groups of his own and played on television (he was a member of the “Dick Cavett Show” orchestra), in recording studios and in the pit of Broadway musicals.
In the 1980s, he and Mr. Foster formed a quintet, Two Franks, that stayed together for two decades. Mr. Wess also led a big band that toured Japan and featured many Basie alumni, including the trumpeter Harry Edison, the trombonist Benny Powell and the saxophonist Billy Mitchell.
In 2007, he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.
He released several albums as a leader and continued to record and perform until earlier this year. He released “Magic 101,” featuring the pianist Kenny Barron, in June. “Magic 201” is to be released in February.
“Retire?” he said in response to a question from All About Jazz. “To what? I’ve never done anything else in my life. I never had a 9 to 5, or none of that — I wouldn’t even know where to start. So you just do what you know how to do.”
Frank Wellington Wess was born on Jan. 4, 1922, in Kansas City, Mo. His father was a school principal, and his mother was a teacher who encouraged him to learn music. When he was a boy, she took him to hear the classical tenor Roland Hayes and the blues singer Ida Cox. He received his first instrument, a saxophone, when he was 10.
He trained as a classical musician early on — on saxophone, not flute. He played in a state high school orchestra in Oklahoma, where the family had moved. The family later moved again, to Washington, where met the pianist Billy Taylor in high school. The two became lifelong friends, and Mr. Wess appears on the 1959 recording “Billy Taylor With Four Flutes.”
In addition to Ms. Tsutsumi, his survivors include two daughters, Francine and Michelle; two grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
He played tenor saxophone and clarinet in an Army band during World War II. Afterward, he played in the Eckstine orchestra before he began studying flute in 1949 at the Modern School. He studied under Wallace Mann of the National Symphony in Washington as well as with Harold Bennett, the longtime principal flutist for the Metropolitan Opera. And a few years later, Count Basie called.
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