Tuesday 23 July 2013

Richie Kamuca born 23 July 1930


Richie Kamuca (July 23, 1930–July 22, 1977), was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.

Kamuca was born in Philadelphia, but like many players associated with West Coast jazz, he grew up in the East before moving west around the time that bebop changed the prevailing style of jazz. His early playing, in what is generally considered the Lester Young style, was done on tour with the big bands of Stan Kenton and Woody Herman, where he became a member of the later line-ups of Herman's Four Brothers saxophone section with Al Cohn and Bill Perkins.


               Here's "Early Bird" from above album (1957)  



Kamuca stayed on the West Coast playing with the smaller groups of Chet Baker, Maynard Ferguson, Shorty Rogers, and others. He was one of the Lighthouse All-Stars in 1957 and 1958, and recorded with Perkins, Art Pepper, Jimmy Rowles, Cy Touff and many others in those years, as well as leading recording sessions in his own right. 
 


 Kamuca was a member of the group Shelly Manne and His Men from 1959 through 1962, when he returned East and settled in New York. Here he worked with Gerry Mulligan, Gary McFarland, and Roy Eldridge before returning to the West Coast in 1972, where he recorded in the studios and performed with local groups and with Bill Berry's L.A. Big Band. In his later years (1977) before his death from cancer (the day before his 47th birthday), Richie Kamuca recorded three wonderful albums for Concord. .
(Info mainly Wikipedia)

1 comment:

boppinbob said...

For Bill Perkins with Art Pepper & Richie Kamuca – Just Friends (1957) go here:


http://novafile.com/fqkjshp4v2lx

01.Just Friends [05:17]
02.A Foggy Day [03:59]
03.All Of Me [04:33]
04.Diane-A-Flow [04:06]
05.Limehouse Blues [03:22]
06.What Is This Thing Called Love [05:45]
07.Solid De Silva [04:33]
08.Sweet And Lovely [05:13]
09.Zenobia [05:22]