Mezz Mezzrow, Clarinet, 1899, Chicago, IL
While Mezzrow was not a "formal" member of theAustin High Gang, he did work with them occasionally during the early 1920s. During the 1930s and '40s, Mezz more or less stayed in the New York area where he organized numerous sessions as well as performing. In 1937 he organized one of the first inter-racial bands to be recorded. He moved to Europe around 1951, where he continued working just as he did in New York--producing sessions and playing. Mezzrow wasn't what you would call one of the important clarinetists of his era, but he did write a book, "Really The Blues" that brought him a bit of fame. The book has been described as "the lurid tale of his life". His greatest contribution to jazz was the many worthwhile recording sessions he organized, particularly those with Sidney Bechet and the trumpeter Tommy Ladnier. During the last part of his life he seldom played in public, but he did offer his candid evaluations of other's jazz performances. Throughout his life, Mezzrow, like countless other musicians, was a diehard devotee of Louis Armstrong. Mezz Mezzrow died in 1972.
Lee Wiley, Singer, 1915, Fort Gibson, OK
It was during the 1930s that Lee made her home in New York City, where she performed at the Central Park Casino. Through this gig she was able to make appearances on radio with Paul Whitemen's Orchestra and with Willard Robison. Eventually, Lee was given her own radio program, and around this time she was also working with the composer Victor Young. Together they composed several songs--including "Got The South in My Soul", and "Any time, Any day, Any where". Wiley recorded songs by Gershwin, Porter, and Arlen that proved highly successful during her career. In the late '30s she stayed in New York and became associated with Eddie Condon and his groups. In 1943 Lee married the pianist Jess Stacy, and toured with his short-lived big band. She was the "star" vocalist at several of Condon's concerts at Town Hall, and continued to perform periodically with others into the 1970s. Wiley was among the first white singers to build on the stylistic advances made by Ethel Waters. Lee Wiley died in 1975.
Dave Samuels, Vibes, 1948, Waukegan, IL
While a student at the Berklee College of Music, Dave studied with Gary Burton and eventually taught percussion and jazz improvisation at the school. In the mid '70s he made his home in New York and began to tour with Gerry Mulligan and also performed and recorded with Carla Bley. During this period Dave and Dave Friedman , formed a duo in which they both performed on the vibes and marimba; they recorded with Harvie Swartz and Hubert Laws under Friedman's name. In 1977 Dave taught in workshops, made several foreign tours, and also performed and taught at the Manhattan School of Music. He continued to work with his own group, Double Image, and also played in the cooperative group, Gallery (from around 1980), and recorded with the band, Spyro Gyra. Dave toured with Spyro Gyra during the mid '80s and eventually became a permanent member of the group. During the same period he recorded with Art Lande, Anthony Davis, and Bobby McFerrin. Dave played the wonderful marimba solo on Spyro Gyra's "Morning Dance", from the album of the same name (1979).
Yusef Lateef, saxophone, 1920, Chatanooga, TN
Yusef and his family moved to Detroit when he was very young, and when he was around eighteen years old he took up the tenor saxophone, and was lucky enough to have Teddy Buckner as a teacher for a while. By 1946 he was playing in bands led by Lucky Millinder, Hot Lips Page, Roy Eldridge, and Herbie Fields. In 1948 Yusef moved again, this time to Chicago, where he played with Dizzy Gillespie for about a year. He then decided to continue his education, returning to Detroit where he enrolled at Wayne State University to study flute and composition. He changed his name from William Evans to Yusef Lateef in the mid '50s. During the latter part of the '50s he led several groups with sidemen such as Curtis Fuller and Wilbur Harden. In 1958, at the suggestion of Kenny Burrell, he began to work more and more with the flute. In 1959 Yusef made his move to New York where he worked with Charles Mingus, Donald Byrd, Cannonball Adderley, and Grant Green. He was always in demand to perform and record as a leader, and as a sideman during the following decades, and in the 1980s he decided to take a teaching position in Nigeria for several years. Lateef was known for his use of Asian and Middle Eastern instruments; among them werethe arghal (a double clarinet that sounds like a basoon) and the algaita (a West African oboe), and various flutes. In his constant pursuit of varied tone-colors he also played oboe and basoon, but he was primarily noted, above all, for his full, and forceful sound on the tenor saxophone and his beautiful solos on the flute. His later performances were characterized by a populist mysticism, as are his later recordings. In addition to his work in jazz, Yusef also paints and writes.
Abdullah Ibrahim, Piano, 1934, South Africa
Abdullah began playing the piano before he was ten years old, and around 1959, under the name Dollar Brand, he belonged to the Jazz Epistles with Hugh Masekela, the drummer Makaya Ntshoko, the alto saxist Kippie Moeketsi, and the trombonist Jonas Gwanga. The next year the group recorded the first South African jazz album, "Jazz Epistles: Verse 1". Owing to the dangerous political climate in South Africa around that time, and the lack of opportunities in jazz, Brand and his wife, the singer Sathima Bea Benjamin, decided to make their home in Zurich, in 1962. It was in Zurich that Duke Ellington heard a performance by Brand's trio and furthered his career by arranging an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1965. During the mid '60s Abdullah played with Elvin Jones, Don Cherry, Gato Barbieri, Ntshoko, and the bass player Johnny Gertze. His music began to show an important involvement in religion and politics after he converted to Islam in 1968, and the riots in Soweto, South Africa, in 1976, furthered his feelings. From the mid '70s he was known by his Muslim name. He returned to South Africa for a short time in 1976 to make some recordings, and then returned to New York where he finally settled. He later led a performance of the mixed-media opera "Kalahari Liberation" in Europe, and then formed a septet, Ekaya. Ibrahim's music is widely varied and draws on many sources: South African, popular music, African traditional music, and even the piano styles of Ellington and Thelonious Monk. His wonderful gifts as a soloist are complimented by a strong left hand technique, a percussive attack, and an African sense of rhythm. He is also a fine player of ballads.
