JAZZ ARTIST BIRTHDAY:

Red Rodney (1927) – Born Robert Roland Chudnick in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Red Rodney was a bop and hard bop trumpeter.  He became a professional musician at 15, working in the mid-1940s for Jerry Wald, Jimmy Dorsey, Georgie Auld, Elliott Lawrence, Benny Goodman, and Les Brown.  Rodney was inspired by hearing Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker to change his style to bebop, moving on to play with Claude Thornhill, Gene Krupa and Woody Herman. In 1949 he accepted an invitation from Charlie Parker to join his quintet. As the only white member of the group he was billed as Albino Red when playing in the racially segregated southern United States. In 1950, Rodney joined the Charlie Ventura band. He also recorded extensively.  In 1958, he left jazz because of diminishing opportunities, lack of acceptance as a white bebop trumpeter, and problems with the police about his drug addiction. He continued to work in other musical fields. Although Rodney continued to be paid well, he supported his drug habit through theft and fraud, eventually spending 27 months in prison. In the early 1970s, he was bankrupted by medical costs following a stroke and returned to jazz. Rodney also managed to give up drugs during the 1970s, although in 1975, he was incarcerated in Kentucky for drug offenses. While jailed, he gave music lessons to guitarist Wayne Kramer of the MC 5.  From 1980 to 1982, Rodney made five highly regarded albums with multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan. In these albums, he started to play post-bop jazz. He continued to work and record into the 1990s. Most notably, Rodney performed with The Rolling Stones' drummer, Charlie Watts, who created a tribute to Parker. Rodney provided an early showcase for saxophonist Chris Potter, who was a regular member of his working group and only 19 years old when Rodney recorded "Red Alert" in late 1990.  Red Rodney died on May 27, 1994.

JAZZ ALBUM RECORDED:

Anthony Braxton – New York, Fall 1974 (1974)
Track Listing:
1. Side One Cut One
2. Cut Two
3. Cut Three
4. Side Two Cut One
5. Cut Two
6. Cut Three

Review by Scott Yanow at Allmusic:
Anthony Braxton, who switches here between alto, flute, clarinet, soprano and contrabass clarinet, is heard interpreting six of his originals in a wide variety of settings. Most accessible are his three performances with a quartet also including trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Jerome Cooper. Braxton also adds violinist Leroy Jenkins to the group on one piece and has a duet with Richard Teitelbaum's moog synthesizer. However, the most historic performance is by an unaccompanied saxophone quartet consisting of Braxton, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake and Hamiet Bluiett. This band (with David Murray in Braxton's place) would soon emerge as The World Saxophone Quartet. The wide amount of variety on this set makes this album a perfect introduction to Anthony Braxton's potentially forbidding but logical music.



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    BLUES BITS & JAZZ JOTS 
    is a historical timeline for birthdays of blues and jazz artists and jazz album recording dates.  As our research progresses, we'll add more categories.  Look for updates each week, normally Mondays through Fridays, when we find something to share.

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