Didier Lockwood, Violin, 1956, Calais, France
Didier was encouraged to study music by his father, who taught at the Conservatory in Calais, and he began formal training in Paris. In 1973 he and his brother, Francis, a keyboard player, formed a jazz-rock group. During this period he also worked with another jazz-rock group, Magma. He performed withsome of the top people in jazz; Staphane Grappelli, Gordon Beck, Tony Williams, and Daniel Humair, and from 1975 he appeared with most of them at various jazz festivals. Throughout the 1970s he continued to play in many diverse contexts. In the 1980s he led a swinging group of his own touring Europe and also performing frequently in the States. bLockwood's playing is in the tradition of Grappelli and Michel Warlop.
Matt Dennis, Writer/arranger, 1914, Seattle, WA
Matt's parents were vaudeville artists, and coming from this background he began studying piano from an early age. One of his first gigs was in 1933, playing piano in Horace Heidt's dance band. For most of the '30s he played piano and sang in Hollywood nightclubs. He was also working as a vocal coach for band singers during this period. In the early '40s he was writing and arranging for Tommy Dorsey where he wrote a number of songs that were performed by Frank Sinatra who was also with the band at that time. Some of these songs became huge hits. During the second world war he performed briefly with Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band. After the war he worked mainly as a nightclub entertainer, and issued severa recordings under his own name. He also arranged music for radio programs and appeared in films and on television.
Ike Carpenter, Piano, 1920, Durham, NC
Sergio Mendez, Piano, 1941, Niteroi, Brazil
