Allegro
Requiem
Volume CI, No. 5May, 2001
Anthony Albano – Drums
Joseph Barsh – Piano
Leon Block – Guitar
Victor Borge – Piano
Laurent C. Eversley – Baritone Horn
Harold Feldman – Oboe
David Glazer – Clarinet
Robert Hohner – Percussion
Herbie Jones – Trumpet
Peter Kova – Accordion
John Lewis – Piano
Frank Mane – Saxophone
Frank C. Martenez – Bass
Max Murov – Drums
Irving Needleman – Alto Sax
Francis Palmer – Bass
John David Scott – Conductor
Irving Taylor – Saxophone
Mitchell Stern – Violin
David Glazer
David Glazer, 87, one of the foremost American clarinetists of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, died on March 4. He had been an 802 member for almost 50 years.
Mr. Glazer was born in Milwaukee and graduated from the University of Wisconsin. He continued his clarinet studies in Chicago and Boston, and attended the newly formed Berkshire Musical Center at Tanglewood, Mass., during the summers in the early 1940s, performing under Serge Koussevitsky.
Following service in World War II he played in the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell, and then joined the New York Woodwind Quintet, in which he played from 1951 until his retirement in 1985. He performed with numerous orchestras, chamber ensembles and soloists throughout the world, including performances with his brother, pianist Frank Glazer.
He had a distinguished teaching career, serving on the faculties of Mannes College, New York University, the State University at Stony Brook and the Lucy Moses School for Music and Dance.
He is survived by his wife Mia, stepsons Peter and Paul Brest, brothers Frank, Samuel, Max and Edward, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Herbie Jones
Herbie Jones, 74, a jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger and educator, and an 802 member for more than 40 years, died on March 19. Mr. Jones worked closely with Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, and made important contributions to the Ellington ensemble sound.
Born in Miami, he began arranging and playing professionally at age 14. He attended Florida A&M College, then moved to New York in 1950 to join the Lucky Millinder band. He studied arranging and composition with Eddie Barefield and others, and played with bands led by Andy Kirk, Buddy Johnson and Cab Calloway. Mr. Jones toured five continents with the Ellington band. After leaving the band, he became the first director of Arts and Culture, Inc., a New York City alternative school.
He is survived by daughters Jennifer and Priscilla, son Herbert, Jr., brother Benjamin and three granddaughters.
John Lewis
John Lewis, 80, the pianist and musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet, died on March 29. He had joined Local 802 in 1946.
Born in LaGrange, Ill., Mr. Lewis grew up in Albuquerque. He took his first piano lesson at age 7 and studied both music and anthropology at the University of New Mexico. While serving in the Army in Europe during World War II he met drummer Kenny Clarke. At Clarke’s urging, he moved to New York after his discharge in 1945 and submitted some arrangements to Dizzy Gillespie, who was forming a big band with Clarke as his drummer. Gillespie began using his arrangements and eventually hired him as the band’s pianist. After a few years with Gillespie Mr. Lewis became a busy freelance sideman, performing or recording with such artists as Charlie Parker, Lester Young and Ella Fitzgerald. In 1949 and 1950, he participated as pianist and arranger in a series of recordings with a nine- piece ensemble led by the trumpeter Miles Davis.
The Modern Jazz Quartet was born soon after. The group first recorded in 1952, as the Milt Jackson Quartet, but before the year was out it had changed its name and established its personality. The quartet’s other members were the vibraphonist Milt Jackson, the bassist Percy Heath and, for most of its existence, the drummer Connie Kay. Mr. Lewis contributed the bulk of the compositions and arrangements for the M.J.Q. Except for a seven-year break, it was a leading concert attraction from the mid-1950s to the late ’90s.
Mr. Lewis maintained a busy schedule during the quartet’s periodic hiatuses. He served as musical director of the Monterey Jazz Festival in California and later of the American Jazz Orchestra. He taught music at Harvard and the City College of New York and in the late 1950s was a founder of the Lenox College of Jazz in Massachusetts. He recorded widely. Many of his compositions became jazz standards, and he wrote music for symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles as well as the scores for several movies.
He is survived by his wife Mirjana, son Sasha, daughter Nina, sister Marylyn and three grandchildren.
Frank C. Martenez
Frank C. Martenez, 87, whose professional career was primarily as a bass player, though he was also adept at other instruments including piano and cello, died on Jan. 25. He had been an 802 member since 1946.
Mr. Martenez trained at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, as well as under cellist Janos Starker. He played and toured extensively with Vincent Lopez, Ray Anthony, Lester Lanin and Charlie Parker, as well as enjoying a stint with Tito Puente’s Orchestra. He traveled across the world while playing a number of concert tours with Carmen Cavallaro and, later, with Roger Williams.
Mr. Martenez played regularly with the studio band for various WOR radio programs, in several Broadway productions, and with the original production of the long-running Off-Broadway musical The Fantasticks, for which he also played on the original cast album.
He is survived by his daughter Angela and his former wife Maria.
Francis Palmer
Francis M. Palmer, 91, a bass player and a member of Local 8023 since 1941, died on Feb. 18.
Mr. Palmer was born in Hereford, Texas, and began his professional career immediately after graduating from high school. He performed with many of the big bands and popular leaders from the 1930s on, playing in celebrated New York clubs. He recorded and often toured with Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians.
He is survived by his wife Kathleen, son and daughter-in-law Carleton and Linda, grandson Eric and sister Elise.
Irving Taylor
Irving Taylor, 88, a jazz saxophonist and an 802 member since 1935, died on Jan. 25.
Born and educated in New York, he began studying alto saxophone at an early age. He later studied with tenor saxophonist Winton Thompson, and quickly became known for his own distinctive sound.
Among the musicians he played with, over the years, were Benny Carter, Russell Procope, Jimmy Lunceford, Louie Jordan, Harry “Sweet” Edison, Howard Johnson, George Kelly, Thelonious Monk, Milt Hinton and many more. He played at virtually every important club, including the Savoy Manor (with Machito’s Afro-Cuban Band), the Cotton Club, Minton’s Playhouse, the Renaissance, the Mayfair, the Golden Gate, Cinderella’s, the Tony Pastor Club in the Village, the Kit Kat, Small’s Paradise, the 845 Club, the Lenox Lounge, Club Baron and many more
To support his family, he worked in the New York City Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture, until retiring in 1987 with the rank of foreman.
Mr. Taylor was a founding member of the Friendly Fifties Club and of the Blue Notes Social Club, which he served for a time as president. In addition to music, he loved photography – which he studied at the New York Photography School – and golf.
He is survived by his daughter Barbara, aunt Marie, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.