Giuseppe (Joe) Venuti (September 16, 1903 – August 14, 1978) was an Italian-American jazz musician and pioneer jazz violinist.
Joe Venuti claimed to have been born aboard a ship as his parents emigrated from Italy, though many believe he was simply born in Philadelphia. Later in life, he said he was born in Italy in 1896 and that he came to the U.S. in 1906.
Considered the father of jazz violin, he pioneered the use of string instruments in jazz along with the guitarist Eddie Lang, a childhood friend of his. Through the 1920s and early 1930s, Venuti and Lang made many recordings, as leader and as featured soloists. He and Lang became so well known for their 'hot' violin and guitar solos that on many commercial dance recordings they were hired do 12 or 24 bar duos towards the end of otherwise stock dance arrangements. In 1926, Venuti and Lang started recording for the OKeh label as a duet, followed by "Blue Four" combinations, which are considered milestone jazz recordings. Venuti also recorded a number of larger, more commercial dance records for OKeh under the name New Yorkers.
He worked with Benny Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers, Bing Crosby, Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden, the Boswell Sisters and most of the other important white jazz and semi-jazz figures of the late 1920s and early 1930s. However, following Lang's early death in 1933, his career began to wane, though he continued
performing through the 1930s, recording a series of excellent commercial dance records (usually containing a Venuti violin solo) for the dime store labels, OKeh and Columbia, as well as the occasional jazz small group sessions. He was also a strong early influence on western swing players like Cecil Brower, not to mention the fact that Lang and Venuti were the primary influences of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. (Many of the 1920's OKeh sides continue to sell through 1935, when ARC reissued selected sides on the 35 cent Vocalion label.)
Venuti was also a legendary practical joker (see Crosby's book). According to one source, every Christmas he sent Wingy Manone, a one-armed trumpet player, the same gift—one cufflink. He is said to have chewed up a violin he borrowed from bandleader Paul Whiteman, when still on stage after his own performance with Whiteman's band had finished.
After a period of relative obscurity in the 1940s and 1950s, Venuti played violin and other instruments with Jack Statham at the Desert Inn Hotel in Las Vegas. Statham headed several musical groups that played at the Desert Inn from late 1961 until 1965, including a Dixieland combo. Venuti was with him during that time, and was active with the Las Vegas Symphony Orchestra during the 1960s. He was 'rediscovered' in the late 1960s. In the 1970s, he established a musical relationship with tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims that resulted in three recordings. In 1976, he recorded an album of duets with pianist Earl Hines entitled Hot Sonatas. He also recorded an entire album with country-jazz musicians including mandolinist Jethro Burns (of Homer & Jethro), pedal steel guitarist Curly Chalker and former Bob Wills sideman and guitarist Eldon Shamblin. Venuti died in Seattle, Washington.
Giuseppe (Joe) Venuti ( * 16 de septiembre de 1903 – 14 de agosto de 1978) fue un músico de jazz estadounidense y un pionero violinista de jazz.
Venuti habría nacido a bordo del buque donde sus padres emigraban de Italia, aunque se cree que simplemente nació en Filadelfia.
Más tarde afirmaba haber nacido directamente en Italia en 1896 y haber llegado a EE.UU. en 1906. Considerado el padre del violín jazz, él fue el primero en usar instrumentos de cuerdas en el jazz con el guitarrista Eddie Lang, un amigo de la infancia.
En los 1920s y a principios de los 1930s, Venuti hizo muchas grabaciones como solista. Él trabajó con Benny Goodman, los Dorsey Brothers, Bing Crosby, Jack Teagarden, las Boswell Sisters y muchas otras importantes figuras del jazz en los años 20's y 30's. Lastimosamente su amigo Eddie Lang murió en 1933, con lo que su carrera se vino abajo. Ha sido una gran influencia para muchas intérpretes actuales de jazz.
Tras un período de olvido en los 1940s y 1950s, volvió a la fama en los 1960s. En los 1970s, empezó a trabajar con el saxofonista Zoot Sims con quien logró un éxito medio. Luego grabó un disco con Jethro Burns, Homer & Jethro), el guitarrista Curly Chalker y el músico Eldon Shamblin. Venuti murió en la ciudad de Seattle, Washington.
Wingy Manone (13 February 1900 – 9 July 1982) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, singer, and bandleader. His major recordings included "Tar Paper Stomp", "Nickel in the Slot", "Downright Disgusted Blues", "There'll Come a Time (Wait and See)", and "Tailgate Ramble".
Manone (pronounced "ma-KNOWN") was born Joseph Matthews Mannone in New Orleans, Louisiana. He lost an arm in a streetcar accident, which resulted in his nickname of "Wingy". He used a prosthesis, handling it so naturally and unnoticeably that his disability was not apparent to the public.
After playing trumpet and cornet professionally with various bands in his home town, he began to travel across America in the 1920s, working in Chicago, New York City, Texas, Mobile, Alabama, California, St. Louis, Missouri and other locations; he continued to travel widely throughout the United States and Canada for decades.
Manone was an esteemed musician who was frequently recruited for recording sessions. He plays on some early Benny Goodman records, for example, and fronted various pickup groups under pseudonyms like "The Cellar Boys." His style was similar to that of fellow New Orleans trumpeter Louis Prima: hot jazz with trumpet leads, punctuated by good-natured spoken patter in a pleasantly gravelly voice.
His hit records included "Tar Paper Stomp" (an original riff composition of 1929 that was later used as the basis for Glenn Miller's "In the Mood"), and a hot 1934 version of a sweet ballad of the time "The Isle of Capri", which was said to have annoyed the songwriters despite the royalties revenue it earned them.
Manone's group, like other bands, often recorded alternate versions of songs during the same sessions; Manone's vocals would be used for the American, Canadian, and British releases, and strictly instrumental versions would be intended for the international, non-English-speaking markets. Thus there is more than one version of many Wingy Manone hits. Among his better records are "San Antonio Stomp" (1934), "Send Me" (1936), and the novelty hit "The Broken Record" (1936). He and his band did regular recording and radio work through the 1930s, and appeared with Bing Crosby in the movie Rhythm on the River in 1940.
In 1943 he recorded several tunes as "Wingy Manone and His Cats"; that same year he performed in Soundies movie musicals. One of his Soundies reprised his recent hit "Rhythm on the River."
Wingy Manone's autobiography, Trumpet on the Wing, was published in 1948.
From the 1950s he was based mostly in California and Las Vegas, Nevada, although he also toured through the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe to appear at jazz festivals.
In 1957, he attempted to break the teenage rock & roll market with his version of Party Doll, the Buddy Knox hit. His version on Decca 30211 made #56 on Billboard's Pop chart and it received a UK release on Brunswick 05655.
Wingy Manone's compositions include "Tar Paper Stomp" (1930), "There'll Come a Time (Wait and See)" with Miff Mole, "Tailgate Ramble" with Johnny Mercer, "Stop the War (The Cats are Killin' Themselves)" (1941) on Bluebird, "Trying to Stop My Crying", "Downright Disgusted Blues" with Bud Freeman, "Swing Out" with Ben Pollack, "Send Me", "Nickel in the Slot" with Irving Mills, "Jumpy Nerves", "Mannone Blues", "Easy Like", "Strange Blues", "Swingin' at the Hickory House", "No Calling Card", "Where's the Waiter", "Walkin' the Streets (Till My Baby Comes Home)", and "Fare Thee Well".
He is survived by his son, Joseph Matthew Manone II and his three grandsons; Jimmy Manone who are both musicians, as well as Joseph Matthew Manone III and Jon Scott (Manone) Harris.
In 2008, his composition "There'll Come a Time (Wait and See)" with Miff Mole was used in the soundtrack to the Academy Award-nominated movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald from Tales of the Jazz Age. The movie was nominated for thirteen Oscars in 2009.
Wingy Manone fue un cornetista, trompetista, cantante, director de orquesta y compositor norteamericano de jazz tradicional y swing, nacido en Nueva Orleans, Luisiana, el 13 de febrero de 1900, y fallecido en Las Vegas, Nevada, el 9 de julio de 1982.
Según algunos autores,1 el sobrenombre de "Wingy" le viene de la pérdida de uno de sus brazos, a los nueve años de edad, en un accidente de tranvía. No obstante este grave percance, Manone logró dominar perfectamente su instrumento, en un estilo alejado de lo usual entre los trompetas blancos (cuyo modelo era Bix Beiderbecke) y muy apegado a la tradición hot.2 Sus primeros trabajos fueron con bandas de los riverboats del río Mississippi, entre 1920 y 1923. Después estuvo trabajando con diversas bandas blancas de Nueva Orleans o St. Louis (Crescent City Jazzers, Acadian Serenaders...), antes de emigrar a Chicago y tomar contacto con los músicos de la ciudad (Jimmy McPartland, Muggsy Spanier, etc), grabando varios discos entre 1927 y 1929, y realizando giras por los Estados Unidos. A partir de 1934 se instala en Nueva York y dirige su propia banda, grabando para Brunswick y RCA, incluyendo sesiones con Benny Goodman y Red Nichols, y haciendo diversas giras.
En 1940 se traslada a Hollywood para trabajar en los estudios de cine y televisión, además de colaborar regularmente con Bing Crosby, hasta 1955, año en que se traslada a Las Vegas. En lo sucesivo realizará solamente giras y actuaciones en festivales, con carácter esporádico.
Ha intervenido como actor en varias películas ("Rhythm of the river", 1940, y "Hi-ya sailor", 1943), y se publicó una autobiografía, en 1948.3 En 2001, un tema suyo incluido en la película El curioso caso de Benjamin Button, fue nominado a los Oscars.
Francis Joseph Julian "Muggsy" Spanier (November 9, 1906 – February 12, 1967) was a prominent white cornet player based in Chicago. He was renowned as the best trumpet/cornet in Chicago until Bix Beiderbecke entered the scene.
Muggsy led several traditional/"hot" jazz bands, most notably Muggsy Spanier and His Ragtime Band (which did not, in fact, play ragtime but, rather, "hot jazz" that would now be called Dixieland). This band set the style for all later attempts to play traditional jazz with a swing rhythm section. Its key members, apart from Muggsy, were: George Brunies - later Brunis - (trombone and vocals), Rodney Cless (clarinet), George Zack or Joe Bushkin (piano), Ray McKinstry, Nick Ciazza or Bernie Billings (tenor sax), and Bob Casey (bass). A number of competent but unmemorable drummers worked in the band.
The Ragtime Band's theme tune was "Relaxin' at the Touro", named for Touro Infirmary, the New Orleans hospital where Muggsy had been treated for a perforated ulcer early in 1938. He had been at the point of death when he was saved by one Dr. Alton Ochsner who drained the fluid and eased Muggsy's weakened breathing.
"Relaxin' At The Touro" is a fairly straightforward 12-bar blues, with a neat piano introduction and coda by Joe Bushkin. The pianist recalled, many years later: "When I finally joined Muggsy in Chicago (having left Bunny Berigan's failing big band) we met to talk it over at the Three Deuces, where Art Tatum was appearing. Muggsy was now playing opposite Fats Waller at the Sherman hotel and we worked out a kind of stage show for the two bands. Muggsy was a man of great integrity. We played a blues in C and I made up a little intro. After that I was listed as the co-composer of "Relaxin' at the Touro" (quoted by Richard B. Hadlock in the notes to the Bluebird CD 'Muggsy Spanier 1939 - The "Ragtime Band" Sessions', 07863 66550).
In his time, Muggsy made numerous Dixieland recordings that still serve as favorites today. Apart from the famous Ragtime Band, his other most important venture was the traditional band he co-led with pianist Earl Hines at the Club Hangover in San Francisco in the 1950s.
Although Muggsy's real name was Francis Joseph Julian Spanier, he acquired the nickname "Muggsy" either because of his youthful enthusiasm for a baseball hero ("Muggsy" McGraw), or because of his obsession with King Oliver and Louis Armstrong. He was known to have shadowed and "mugged" both of them, copying their styles and incorporating them into his own music. He was allowed, on at least one occasion, to sit in with King Oliver's band (with Louis Armstrong on second cornet) at the Lincoln Gardens, Chicago, in the early 1920s.
He ended his days in the 1960s, leading a traditional jazz band that included old friends like Joe Sullivan (piano), Pops Foster (bass) and Darnell Howard (clarinet). He was not a great technician or virtuoso, but he could lead a traditional ensemble with fire and guts. The (then) young pianist Joe Bushkin was in the Ragtime Band in 1939 and later said of Muggsy: "When he nailed something right, he stayed with it; he wouldn't fix it if it wasn't broke".
Muggsy Spanier fue un cornetista y trompetista norteamericano de jazz tradicional, nacido en Chicago, el 9 de noviembre de 1906, y fallecido en Sausalito (California), el 12 de febrero de 1967.
Siendo adolescente, toca con las bandas de Elmer Schoebel y Charlie Pierce, entre otras de su ciudad natal. Ya con 18 años, en 1924, comienza a grabar discos como líder de su propio grupo, los Bucktown Five. En 1938, se incorpora a la orquesta de Ray Miller, con quien actúa en radios y grabas varios discos. Ted Lewis, un director de orquesta de baile muy famoso en la época, lo contrata durante siete años, hasta 1936. Con la banda de Lewis, graba discos, realiza giras incluso por Europa y participa en un cortometraje.
Entre 1936 y 1938, toca con Ben Pollack y, después, forma su propio grupo, The Ragtime Band, una de las bandas más decisivas en el revival del dixieland de los años 1940. En los años 1950 y comienzos de los 60, vuelve a tocar con Bob Crosby y Ted Lewis, y mantiene en activo su grupo (en ocasiones, con formato de big band), tocando además frecuentemente con el pianista Earl Hines.
Spanier fue, como instrumentista, un aventajado alumno de King Oliver y Louis Armstrong, con un estilo muy negro, especialmente con la sordina, y representante principal del llamado Estilo Chicago.
Albert Edwin Condon (16 November 1905 – 4 August 1973), better known as Eddie Condon, was a jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in the so-called "Chicago school" of early Dixieland, he also played piano and sang on occasion.
Condon was born in Goodland, Indiana. After some time playing ukulele, he switched to banjo and was a professional musician by 1921. He was based in Chicago for most of the 1920s, and played with such jazz notables as Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden and Frank Teschemacher.
In 1928 Condon moved to New York City. He frequently arranged jazz sessions for various record labels, sometimes playing with the artists he brought to the recording studios, including Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller. He organised racially-integrated recording sessions - when these were still rare - with Waller, Armstrong and Henry 'Red' Allen. He played with the band of Red Nichols for a time. Later, from 1938 he had a long association with Milt Gabler's Commodore Records.
From the late 1930s on he was a regular at the Manhattan jazz club Nick's. The sophisticated variation on Dixieland music which Condon and his colleagues created there came to be nicknamed "Nicksieland." By this time, his regular circle of musical associates included Wild Bill Davison, Bobby Hackett, George Brunies, Edmond Hall and Pee Wee Russell. In 1939, he appeared with "Bobby Hacket and Band" in the Warner Brothers & Vitaphone film musical short-subject, "On the Air".
Condon also did a series of jazz radio broadcasts from New York's Town Hall during 1944-45 which were nationally popular. These recordings survive, and have been issued on the Jazzology label.
From 1945 through 1967 he ran his own New York jazz club, Eddie Condon's. In the 1950s Condon recorded a sequence of classic albums for Columbia Records. The musicians involved in these albums - and at Condon's club - included Wild Bill Davison, Bobby Hackett (cornet), Billy Butterfield (trumpet), Edmond Hall, Peanuts Hucko, Pee Wee Russell, Bob Wilber (clarinet), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity, (trombone), Bud Freeman (tenor sax), Gene Schroeder, Dick Carey, Ralph Sutton (piano), Bob Casey, Walter Page, Jack Lesberg, Al Hall (bass), George Wettling, Buzzy Drootin, Cliff Leeman (drums).
Condon toured Britain in 1957 with a band including Wild Bill Davison, Cutty Cutshall, Gene Schroeder and George Wettling. His last tour was in 1964, when he took a band to Australia and Japan. Condon's men, on that tour, were a roll-call of top mainstream jazz musicians: Buck Clayton (trumpet), Pee Wee Russell (clarinet), Vic Dickenson (trombone), Bud Freeman (tenor sax), Dick Carey (piano and alto horn), Jack Lesberg (bass), Cliff Leeman (drums), Jimmy Rushing (vocals). A nice touch was that Billy Banks, a vocalist who had recorded with Condon and Pee Wee Russell in 1932, and had lived in obscurity in Japan for many years, turned up at one of the 1964 concerts: Pee Wee asked him "have you got any more gigs?".
In 1948 his autobiography We Called It Music was published. The book has many interesting and entertaining anecdotes about musicians Condon worked with. Eddie Condon's Treasury of Jazz (1956) was a collection of articles by various writers co-edited by Condon and Richard Gehman.
A latter-day collaborator, clarinetist Kenny Davern, described a Condon gig: "It was always a thrill to get a call from Eddie and with a gig involved even more so. I remember eating beforehand with Bernie (Previn; trumpet) and Lou (McGarity; trombone) and everyone being in good spirits. There was a buzz on, we'd all had a taste and there was a great feel to the music."
Eddie Condon toured and appeared at jazz festivals through 1971. He died in New York City.
He is survived by his daughter Maggie Condon and his only grandchild Michael Repplier, who both live in Greenwich Village in New York City. It has been falsely reported that he has another grandson, Zach Condon, lead singer and instrumentalist of the band Beirut, but this is incorrect.
Eddie Condon fue un guitarrista, banjoista, cantante y director de orquesta estadounidense de jazz tradicional y swing, nacido en Goodland, Indiana, el 16 de noviembre de 1905, y fallecido en Nueva York el 4 de agosto de 1973.
Sus primeros contratos como profesional, con orquestas locales, lo fueron como intérprete de banjo y ukelele. Trasladado a Chicago, a comienzos de los [àños 1920]], tocó con Bix Beiderbecke y con otras bandas de la zona, más dedicadas al baile. Será con los "Mound City Blue Blowers" de Red McKenzie, con quienes realice sus primeras grabaciones (1928). Ese mismo año, grabará con Louis Armstrong y Fats Waller, durante una visita a Nueva York. Después trabajó con Red Nichols (1929) y nuevamente con la banda de McKenzie, con quienes estuvo hasta 1933.
En los años siguientes trabajará con grupos propios, junto a Joe Marsala (1936), Bobby Hackett (1937-38) y Bud Freeman (1939-40). En 1942 participa en la organización de las primeras jam sessions del New York Town Hall y, en 1945, abre su propio club en esta ciudad. Durante los años 1950 realiza numerosas giras por todo el mundo, permaneciendo después unos años apartado de la escena como consecuencia de varias operaciones graves. Sin embargo, vuelve con fuerza en 1970, junto a Roy Eldridge y Kai Winding, y en compañía del también guitarrista Jim Hall.
Condon es el prototipo de rítmica al Estilo Chicago, con un marcaje del ritmo esquemático y seguro, marcando los cuatro tiempos, sin apenas espacio para realizar solos. Músicos como Hackett decía de él que era el mejor guitarra rítmico del mundo.
Erskine Tate (January 14, 1895, Memphis, Tennessee - December 17, 1978, Chicago) was an American jazz violinist and bandleader.
Tate moved to Chicago in 1912 and was an early figure on the Chicago jazz scene, playing with his band, the Vendome Orchestra, at the Vendome Theater, which was located at 31st and State Street. The Vendome was a movie house, and Tate's band played during silent films; among its members were Louis Armstrong (trumpet), Freddie Keppard (cornet), Buster Bailey (saxophone), Jimmy Bertrand (drums), Ed Atkins (trombone), and Teddy Weatherford (piano), as well as Stomp Evans, Bob Shoffner, Punch Miller, Omer Simeon, Preston Jackson, Fats Waller, and Teddy Wilson. In the mid-1930s, Tate retired from active performance and became a music teacher.
Erskine Tate (14 de enero de 1895, Memphis, Tennessee - 17 de diciembre de 1978, Chicago) fue un violinista y director de orquesta de jazz norteamericano.
Tate se trasladó a Chicago en 1912, y fue una de las primeras figuras de la escena de jazz de la ciudad, tocando con su banda, la "Vendome Orchestra", formación que inicialmente tenía nueve miembros pero que acabó convirtiéndose en una big band de quince músicos. El teatro Vendome, en el que actuaban regularmente hasta 1928, tenía una sala de cine y la banda de Tate tocaba durante la proyección de películas mudas. Después sería banda residente de otros teatros de Chicago, como el "Metropolitan" o el "Michigan Theatre", hasta 1932. Entre los miembros estables de la banda, estuvieron Louis Armstrong (trompeta),
Freddie Keppard (corneta), Buster Bailey (clarinete y saxo), Jimmy Bertrand (batería), Ed Atkins (trombón), y Teddy Weatherford (piano). También tocaron con Tate, en sucesivas ediciones de la banda, Stomp Evans, Eddie South, Punch Miller, Omer Simeon, Preston Jackson, Fats Waller y Teddy Wilson. En 1945, Tate se retiró de la música activa y se dedicó a la enseñanza musical.
Paul Mares (June 15, 1900 – August 18, 1949), was an American early dixieland jazz cornet & trumpet player, and leader of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings.
Mares was born in New Orleans. His father, Joseph E. Mares, played cornet with the military band at the New Orleans lakefront and ran a fur and hide business.
Like many New Orleans cornetists of his generation, Joe Mares's main influence was "King" Joe Oliver.
About 1919 cornetist Abbie Brunies was offered a job playing in Chicago, and passed the offer on to Mares. (Brunies thought his New Orleans position of doubling driving a taxi-cab and playing music was more secure than prospects in Chicago.)
Mares established himself as a respected band leader over a group of wild and strong willed musicians, as The New Orleans Rhythm Kings (N.O.R.K.) became one of the best regarded bands in Chicago in the early 1920s.
In late 1924 Mares returned to New Orleans. He decided to play music on the side while taking over the running of his family fur & hide business. He ran the business well and with his prosperity purchased 3 homes for himself and his relatives in New Orleans' new suburb of Metairie, Louisiana. Mares's Metairie home was the site of a legendary jam-session in 1929 where Bix Beiderbecke and the other jazz playing members of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra jammed with the local New Orleans jazz musicians.
Mares also ran a restaurant in New Orleans called "The Chicago Bar-B-Q". In the early 1930s he returned to Chicago where he opened up his "New Orleans Bar-B-Q" there. The "P.M. New Orleans Bar-B-Q" became a gathering place for Chicago jazz musicians and home to numerous jam sessions, which Mares occasionally joined in.
In January 1935 Mares played trumpet on, and fronted, a recording session with a band called "Paul Mares and his Friars Society Orchestra" - a name that referred to the Friar's Inn club where the N.O.R.K. had first played in Chicago. The 1935 band included the white New Orleanian and N.O.R.K. veteran Santo Pecora on trombone, the black New Orleanian Omar Simeon on clarinet and the legendary Chicagoan altoist (who later gave up full-time music for the priesthood and became "Brother Matthew"), Boyce Brown.
Mares's last recording session for Okeh Records show his style had not remained static; he sounds more under the influence of Henry "Red" Allen than Joe Oliver.
Paul Mares died at the age of 49 of lung cancer, according to his brother Joe, caused by "smoking too many cigarettes".
Paul Mares (Nueva Orleans, Luisiana, 15 de junio de 1900 - Chicago, Illinois, 18 de agosto de a949) fue un cornetista, trompetista, compositor y director de orquesta de jazz norteamericano, encuadrado en el jazz tradicional.
Desde muy pronto (1917), comenzó a tocar en bandas de su ciudad natal, incorporándose en 1919 a orquestas de riverboats. emigra a chicago en 1921, y allí dirige la Friar's Inn Society Orchestra (también llamados New Orleans Rhythm Kings), junto con George Brunis, Leon Roppolo, Elmer Schoebel y Ben Pollack, entre otros, grabando varios discos entre 1922 y 1925, año en que se disolvió. Años más tarde, volverá a grabar (1935), antes de retirarse a un negoco de restauración.
Los críticos le consideran el primer estilista blanco de la trompeta, y sus discos ejercieron una considerable influencia en los músicos blancos de dixieland, incluido Bix Beiderbecke. Su banda fue de las primeras en incorporar un saxofón y en incluir pasajes con arreglos escritos, aunque seguían manteniendo la cohesión de la improvisación colectiva propia del hot de Nueva Orleans.
Lawrence James "Larry" Shields (September 13, 1893 - November 21, 1953) was an early American dixieland jazz clarinetist.
Shields was born into an Irish-American family in Uptown New Orleans, on the same block where jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden lived. Shields' family were musical; his brothers Harry, Pat (guitar), and Eddie (piano) all played music professionally.
Shields started playing clarinet when he was 14 and played with Papa Jack Laine's bands. He was one of the early New Orleans musicians to go to Chicago, first heading north in the summer of 1915 to join Bert Kelly's band, then with Tom Brown's band, before joining the Original Dixieland Jass Band in November 1916. The following year that band made the first jazz phonograph records, propelling Shield's playing to national prominence.
After leaving the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1921, he played with various bands in New York City (including briefly with Paul Whiteman) before moving to Los Angeles, California where he remained throughout the 1920s, leading his own band and appearing briefly in some Hollywood films.
In the 1930s Shields returned to Chicago and joined the reformed Original Dixieland Jazz Band. He then worked for a while at "Nick's" in New York before returning to play in New Orleans and later in California. He died in Los Angeles.
His playing, especially on phonograph records, was an important influence on later jazz clarinetists, including Benny Goodman. Larry Shields inspired Dink Johnson to begin playing the clarinet, in a 1950 interview with Floyd Levin he stated: "I was actually a drummer, you know. I had always wanted to play the clarinet since hearing Larry Shields with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
James Lawrence "Larry" Shields (13 sept 1893 a 21 nov 1953) fue uno de los primeros clarinetista de jazz dixieland.
Escudos nació en una familia irlandesa-americana en la zona residencial de Nueva Orleans, en la misma cuadra donde el jazz pionero Buddy Bolden vivió. De la familia de Shields fueron musicales; sus hermanos Harry, Pat (guitarra) y Eddie (piano) toda la música profesionalmente.
Escudos comenzó tocando el clarinete a los 14 años en grupos de Papa Jack Laine. Él fue uno de los primeros músicos de Nueva Orleans para ir a Chicago, primero hacia el norte en el verano de 1915 para unirse a la banda Bert Kelly, y luego con la banda de Tom Brown, antes de unirse a la banda original Dixieland Jass en noviembre de 1916. Al año siguiente, la banda hizo el primer fonógrafo discos de jazz, impulsando escudo está jugando a la prominencia nacional.
Después de salir de la Original Dixieland Jazz Band en 1921, tocó con varias bandas en Nueva York (incluyendo brevemente con Paul Whiteman) antes de mudarse a Los Angeles, California, donde permaneció a lo largo de la década de 1920, al frente de su propia banda y que aparece brevemente en algunos de Hollywood películas.
En la década de 1930 Escudos regresó a Chicago y se unió a la reforma Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Después trabajó durante un tiempo en "Nick" en Nueva York antes de volver a jugar en Nueva Orleans y luego en California. Murió en Los Angeles.
Su forma de tocar, sobre todo en discos fonográficos, fue una importante influencia en los clarinetistas de jazz posteriores, como Benny Goodman. Larry Shields inspirado Dink Johnson para comenzar a tocar el clarinete, en una entrevista en 1950 con Floyd Levin declaró: "Yo en realidad era un baterista, tú sabes que yo siempre había querido tocar el clarinete ya escuchar Larry Shields, con la Banda de Jazz Dixieland original
Dominic James "Nick" LaRocca (April 11, 1889 – February 22, 1961), was an early jazz cornetist and trumpeter and the leader of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. He is the composer of one of the most recorded jazz classics of all-time, "Tiger Rag". He was part of what is generally regarded as the first recorded jazz band, a band which recorded and released the first jazz recording, "Livery Stable Blues" in 1917.
Nick LaRocca was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of poor Sicilian immigrants. His father was Girolamo LaRocca of Salaparuta, Sicily and his mother was Vita De Nina of Poggioreale, Sicily. Young Nick was attracted to the music of the brass bands in New Orleans and covertly taught himself to play cornet against the wishes of his father who hoped his son would go into a more prestigious profession. LaRocca at first worked as an electrician, playing music on the side.
From around 1910 through 1916 he was a regular member of Papa Jack Laine's bands. While not considered as one of the most virtuosic or creative of the Laine players, he was well regarded for playing a solid lead with a strong lip which allowed him to play long parades without let up or to play several gigs in a row on the same day.
In 1916 he was chosen as a last-minute replacement for Frank Christian in Johnny Stein's band to play a job up in Chicago, Illinois. This band became the famous Original Dixieland Jass Band, making the first commercially issued jazz recordings in New York City in 1917. These recordings were hits and made the band into celebrities.
Soon other New Orleans musicians began following the O.D.J.B.'s path, arriving in New York to play jazz. LaRocca was uneasy about competition. Frank Christian recalled that LaRocca offered him $200 and a return railway ticket to go back home. After a band featuring New Orleans musicians Alcide Nunez, Tom Brown, and Ragbaby Stevens won a battle of the bands against the O.D.J.B., drummer Ragbaby found his drum heads all mysteriously slashed.
The band gave LaRocca the nickname "Joe Blade", and published a song called "Joe Blade, Sharp as a Tack".
LaRocca led this band on tours of England and the United States into the early 1920s, when he suffered a nervous breakdown. He returned to New Orleans and retired from music, going into the construction and contracting business. His chair in the band was taken by Henry Levine, a teenaged trumpeter devoted to traditional jazz stylings. Levine later led one of the house bands on NBC's radio series The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street.
In 1936 Nick LaRocca reunited the O.D.J.B. for a successful tour and more recordings. LaRocca proclaimed that he and his band were the inventors of the now nationally popular swing music. Personality conflicts broke up the band again the following year, and LaRocca again retired from music. He died in New Orleans in 1961.
In the 1950s he wrote numerous vehement letters to newspapers, radio, and television shows, stating that he was the true and sole inventor of jazz music, damaging his credibility and provoking a backlash against him and his reputation and career. He made obviously exaggerated claims that he was "The Creator of Jazz", "The Christopher Columbus of Music", and "The most lied about person in history since Jesus Christ". Jazz historians used this largely as a pretext to attack and dismiss him and his contributions to jazz.
When Tulane University established their Archive of New Orleans Jazz in 1958, LaRocca donated his large collection of papers related to the O.D.J.B. to Tulane, after adding numerous glosses in the margins.
At the same time, he worked with writer H.O. Brunn on the book The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. In the book LaRocca claimed that he founded the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1908. The book is dismissive of the other members of the O.D.J.B. It is perhaps kindest to clarinetist Larry Shields.
Those musicologists and historians who seek to accurately assess LaRocca's contributions to jazz are as much hindered as helped by LaRocca's own exaggerated statements. A small few, mostly in England, have taken LaRocca on his word, while a much larger segment of jazz historians have dismissed his biased and self-serving statements. LaRocca may have inadvertently done much damage to his own reputation. Nevertheless, musicologists and jazz historians can rely on the historical record and the evidence and do not have to go on self-serving statements.
A balanced assessment would have to acknowledge that Nick LaRocca was an important figure in taking jazz from a regional style to international popularity, the leader of the most influential jazz band of the period from 1917 to 1921, and a good player in a very early jazz style on records such as "Clarinet Marmalade".[2] LaRocca's playing and recordings were an important early influence on such later jazz trumpeters as Red Nichols, Bix Beiderbecke and Phil Napoleon. Nick LaRocca's 1917 composition "Tiger Rag" was covered by Louis Armstrong in several different versions throughout his career, while Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, and The Mills Brothers also recorded important and influential cover versions of the jazz standard. Additional information about Nick LaRocca and his biographer can be found in Salvatore Mugno's novel: "Il biografo di Nick LaRocca. Come entrare nelle storie del jazz", Besa Editrice, Nardò (Lecce), Italia, 2005.
Nick La Rocca fue un compositor, cornetista y trompetista norteamericano de jazz tradicional, nacido en Nueva Orleans (Luisiana), el 11 de abril de 1889, y fallecido en el mismo lugar, el 22 de febrero de 1961.
Funda su primera banda en su ciudad natal, en 1910, y después toca con el jovencísimo trombonista George Brunis y con la banda de Papa Jack Laine. En 1915, a instancias del propietario de un club, se traslada a Chicago, donde crea la Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Trasladados a Nueva York, en 1917 realiza sus primeras grabaciones para el sello Victor, a las que seguirán otras para el sello Columbia Records. Realiza una gira por el Reino Unido en 1919, y varias por Norteamérica, entre 1920 y 1925. Este año, deshace la banda y abandona temporalmente la música.
En 1936 vuelve a escena con la ODJB, realizando algunas grabaciones y actuaciones, pero en 1938 regresa a Nueva Orleans y deja definitivamente la música activa.
Merritt Brunies (December 25, 1895 - February 5, 1973), was an American jazz trombonist and cornetist.
Brunies was born into a well-known musical family in New Orleans, Louisiana; among its members were George Brunies and Albert Brunies. Merritt led his own band, The Original New Orleans Jazz Band, from 1916 to 1918; this ensemble did not record, but it existed before both Jimmy Durante's New Orleans Jazz Band and the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (the latter formed shortly afterward in 1916).
Following this, he formed another group which played at Friar's Inn in Chicago directly after the stint by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. He played regularly in New Orleans in the 1930s, and moved to Mississippi in 1946, where he played with his brothers in a Dixieland jazz band until his retirement. He died in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Merritt Brunies (diciembre 25to, 1895 hasta febrero 05, 1973), fue un trombonista de jazz estadounidense y la corneta.
Brunies nació en una familia de músicos bien conocidos en Nueva Orleans, Louisiana, y entre sus miembros estaban George Brunies y Brunies Albert. Merritt llevó a su propia banda, The Original Nueva Banda de Jazz de Orleans, desde 1916 hasta 1918, este conjunto no grabó, pero que existía antes de que ambos Jimmy Durante la New Orleans Jazz Band y la Original Dixieland Jazz Band (este último se formó poco después, en 1916) .
Después de esto, se formó otro grupo que jugó en el mesón del Fraile en Chicago inmediatamente después de la temporada por los Reyes de Nueva Orleans Rhythm. Él jugó con regularidad en Nueva Orleans en la década de 1930, y se trasladó a Mississippi en 1946, donde jugó con sus hermanos en una banda de jazz Dixieland hasta su jubilación. Murió en Biloxi, Mississippi.
George Brunies, aka Georg Brunis, (6 February 1902 – 19 November 1974) was a jazz trombonist who came to fame in the 1930s, and was part of the Dixieland revival. He was known as the "King of the Tailgate Trombone".
George Clarence Brunies was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on February 6, 1902 into a very musical family. His father led a family band, and his brothers Henry, Merritt, Richard, and Albert ("Abbie") all became noted professional musicians. By the age of 8 young George was already playing alto horn professionally in Papa Jack Laine's band. A few years later he switched to trombone. He played with many jazz, dance, and parade bands in New Orleans. He never learned to read music, but could quickly pick up tunes and invent a part for his instrument.
He first went to Chicago in 1919 with a band led by Ragbaby Stevens, then worked on riverboats going up and down the Mississippi River. In 1921 he returned to Chicago and joined a band of his New Orleans friends playing at the Friar's Inn; this was the band that became famous as the New Orleans Rhythm Kings.[1] Brunies's trombone style was influential to the young Chicago players, and his records were much copied. In this era Brunies was never bested; he could play anything any other trombonist could play as well or better. He would often end battles of the bands or "cutting contests" by outplaying other trombonists while operating the slide with his foot!
After the Rhythm Kings broke up in Chicago in 1924, Brunies joined the nationally famous Ted Lewis band, which he played with through 1934.
After some time with Louis Prima's band he landed a steady gig at the famous New York City jazz club Nick's through 1938. In 1939 he joined Muggsy Spanier's band, with whom he made some of his most famous recordings. The following year he returned to Nick's, where he remained through 1946. Brunies then worked with Eddie Condon.
In 1949 Brunies moved back to Chicago to lead his own band. Brunies often showed off his unusual technical abilities and bizarre sense of humor at the same time; for example he would lie on the floor and invite the largest person in the audience to sit on his chest while he played trombone.
On the advice of a numerologist, he changed his name to Georg Brunis in the 1960s in the belief that this would increase his good luck.
Georg Brunis died in Chicago on November 19, 1974.
George Brunis, fue un trombonista norteamericano de jazz tradicional, nacido en Nueva Orleans (Luisiana), el 6 de febrero de 1902, y fallecido en Chicago (Illinois), el 19 de noviembre de 1974.
Casi niño, tocó con Nick La Rocca y Papa Jack Laine y, después, ya adolescente, con Leon Roppolo, todo ello en su ciudad natal, antes de trasladarse a Chicago, en 1920. Allí, actuará con diversas bandas antes de formar parte de los New Orleans Rhythm Kings. Trabaja, en 1924, con Ted Lewis, en el circuito de baile, y permanece con él casi diez años. Instalado después en Nueva York, toca con Eddie Condon, Sharkey Bonano, Louis Prima, Bobby Hackett y otros músicos.
En 1938 se une a Muggsy Spanier, con quien permanece dos años y, tras tocar con varios grupos, vuelve con Ted Lewis. Alternará sus giras con Spanier, Condon y Art Hodes, a lo largo de los años 1940 y 50, junto a grabaciones con Sidney Bechet, entre otros. Una enfermedad grave, lo va apartando de la música en directo, hasta abandonar la escena a finales de los años 1960.
Albert "Abbie" Brunies (January 19, 1900 - October 2, 1978) was an American jazz cornetist.
Brunies came from a famous New Orleans musical family, which counted among its members George Brunies and Merritt Brunies. Brunies was the leader of the Halfway House Orchestra from 1919 to about 1927, playing at the Halfway House club in New Orleans. This ensemble recorded for Okeh Records in 1925. Among the musicians who played in this group were New Orleans Rhythm Kings members Charlie Cordella, Mickey Marcour, Leon Rappolo, Bill Eastwood, Joe Loyacano and Leo Adde. He played in New Orleans into the mid-1940s, after which time he moved to Biloxi, Mississippi. There he played with Merritt in the Brunie Brothers Dixieland Jazz Band. This ensemble recorded sparsely.
Albert "Abbie" Brunies (19 enero 1900-2 octubre 1978) fue un cornetista estadounidense de jazz.
Brunies provenía de una famosa familia musical de Nueva Orleans, que contaba entre sus miembros y George Brunies Brunies Merritt. Brunies era el líder de la Orquesta de Cámara de 1919 a mitad de camino alrededor de 1927, jugando en el club de Halfway House en Nueva Orleans. Este conjunto grabó para Okeh en 1925. Entre los músicos que tocaron en este grupo fueron New Orleans Rhythm Kings miembros Charlie Cordella, Marcour Mickey, Rappolo León, Eastwood Bill, Joe y Loyacano Adde Leo. Él jugó en Nueva Orleans en la década de 1940, tras lo cual se trasladó a Biloxi, Mississippi. Se presentó allí con Merritt en la banda de Dixieland Jazz Brunie hermanos. Este conjunto registró poco.
Achille Joseph Baquet (November 15, 1885 – November 20, 1956) was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist. He was an early musician on the New Orleans jazz scene.
Achille Baquet was raised in a musical family; his father, Theogene Baquet, led the Excelsior Brass Band, and his brothers, Harold and George, were both musicians, George being the most famous of the three. Achille was black, but was light-skinned, and was the only member of the family who was able to pass for white. He learned clarinet from Luis Tio, and played with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Papa Jack Laine's Reliance Brass Band, and the Happy Schilling Dance Orchestra. He was thought to have been a member of the Whiteway Jazz Band, but the membership of this ensemble has never been established definitively.
Baquet's credits as a composer include "Why Cry Blues", written with Jimmy Durante. He is also thought to have co-written "Livery Stable Blues" with Yellow Nunez.
Achille Joseph Baquet (15 noviembre 1885 a 20 noviembre 1956) fue un clarinetista de jazz estadounidense y el saxofonista. Fue un músico precoz en la escena del jazz de Nueva Orleans.
Achille Baquet fue criado en una familia musical, su padre, Theogene Baquet, llevó la banda de música Excelsior, y sus hermanos Harold y George, eran músicos, George es el más famoso de los tres. Aquiles era negro, pero era de piel clara, y era el único miembro de la familia que fue capaz de pasar por blancos. Él aprendió el clarinete de Luis tío, y jugó con la banda de jazz Dixieland original, banda Papa Jack Laine latón Reliance, y la Orquesta Feliz Schilling Dance. Él se cree que ha sido miembro de la Banda de Jazz Whiteway, pero los miembros de este conjunto nunca se ha establecido definitivamente.
Baquet los créditos como compositor: "¿Porqué blues Cry", escrito con Jimmy Durante. Él también se cree que han co-escrito "Blues Livery Stable" con amarillo Núñez.
Chink Abraham, better known as Chink Martin (June 10, 1886, New Orleans - January 7, 1981, New Orleans) was an American jazz tubist.
Martin played guitar in his youth before settling on tuba. He played with Papa Jack Laine's Reliance Brass Band around 1910, and worked in various other brass bands in the city in the 1910s. In 1923, he traveled to Chicago and played with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, as well as with the Halfway House Orchestra, the New Orleans Harmony Kings, and the New Orleans Swing Kings. In the 1930s, Martin worked as a staff musician at WSMB radio. He continued to play tuba for his entire career, though he also picked up double-bass (like many tubists) from the 1930s onward. He played with dozens of noted New Orleans jazz musicians, appearing on record with Sharkey Bonano, Santo Pecora, Pete Fountain, Al Hirt, and others, and released one album under his own name on Southland Records in 1963.
Grieta Abraham, mejor conocido como Chink Martin (10 de junio de 1886, Nueva Orleans - 7 de enero de 1981, Nueva Orleans) fue un tubista estadounidense de jazz.
Martin tocaba la guitarra en su juventud antes de decidirse por la tuba. Tocó con la banda de Papa Jack Laine dependencia de latón alrededor del año 1910, y trabajó en varias otras bandas de música en la ciudad en la década de 1910. En 1923, viajó a Chicago y jugó con los reyes de Nueva Orleans, Ritmo, así como con la Orquesta de Cámara A mitad de camino, el New Orleans Reyes armonía, y el New Orleans Reyes Swing. En la década de 1930, Martin trabajó como músico estable en la radio WSMB. Continuó jugando tuba durante toda su carrera, a pesar de que también se llevó el contrabajo (al igual que muchos tubists) a partir del 1930. Jugó con decenas de señalar los músicos de jazz de Nueva Orleans, que aparece en el registro con Sharkey Bonano, Pecora Santo, fuente de Pete, Al Hirt, y otros, y lanzó un álbum bajo su propio nombre en los expedientes de Southland en 1963.
George Vital "Papa Jack" Laine (September 21, 1873 – June 1, 1966) was a pioneering band leader in New Orleans in the years from the Spanish-American War to World War I.
Laine in 1906
Many of the New Orleans musicians who first spread jazz around the United States in the 1910s and 1920s got their start in the Laine bands. Laine was a drummer, but was more noted for his skills at arranging and booking bands. Laine's musicians included individuals from most of New Orleans' many ethnic groups—African American, English, French, German, Italian, Jewish, Latin American, Scottish etc. Laine started leading bands before the Jim Crow codes went into effect in New Orleans.
Even after segregation laws started demanding "whites" and "colored" be kept separate, Laine continued to hire light- and medium light-skinned African-American musicians, claiming that they were "Cuban" or "Mexican" if any segregationist tried to start trouble. Hence some musicians who played with black bands like those of Buddy Bolden and Joe "King" Oliver also played with Laine. Thus there was a wide cross-fertilization of musical ideas in the Laine organization.[citation needed]
Laine retired from the music booking business by 1920, but he was interviewed a number of times, providing first hand accounts of the early days of the development of New Orleans jazz
Papa Jack Laine, nacido George Vital, fue un batería y contrabajista norteamericano de jazz tradicional, que nació en Nueva Orleans (Luisiana), el 21 de septiembre de 1873, y falleció en la misma ciudad, el 1 de junio de 1966.
Hacia 1890 forma su primera banda, dedicada a tocar ragtime, a la que llama Reliance Band. El grupo obtiene un gran éxito, lo que le permite mantener la orquesta durante casi tres décadas. Entre los numerosos músicos que comenzaron con Laine, están Nick La Rocca y George Brunis.
En 1917 se retira de la música, sin llegar a grabar un sólo disco ni salir de su ciudad natal, convirtiéndose en una de las leyendas del jazz.
Lorenzo Tio Jr. (1893–1933) was a master clarinetist from New Orleans, as were his father Lorenzo Tio Sr. (1867–1908) and uncle Louis "Papa" Tio (1862–1922). Their method of playing the instrument (which involved the Albert system, a double-lip embouchure and soft reeds) was seminal in the development of the jazz solo.
The three Tios helped bring classical music theory to the ragtime, blues and jazz musicians of New Orleans; Lorenzo Jr. eventually played jazz himself. Lorenzo Sr. taught "Big Eye" Louis Nelson Delisle. Many reed players significant in early jazz studied with Lorenzo Tio Jr., including Sidney Bechet, Barney Bigard, Johnny Dodds, Omer Simeon, Louis Cottrell, Jr., Jimmie Noone and Albert Nicholas.
Lorenzo Tio Jr. also played oboe. He joined Manuel Perez's band in Chicago in 1916 and Armand J. Piron's from 1918 to 1928, and recorded with Piron, Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton and Clarence Williams.
Lorenzo Tio fue un clarinetista, oboista, saxofonista y arreglista norteamericano de jazz tradicional, nacido en Nueva Orleans (Luisiana) en 1884 y fallecido en Nueva York, el 24 de diciembre de 1933.
Hijo del también clarinetista Lorenzo Tio Hazeur, tocó con asiduidad, a partir de 1897, en la Lyre Symphony Orchestra (que dirigía su tío Louis Tio), con repertorio clásico, y sólo a partir de comienzos del siglo XX, se inició en el hot, a través de diversas formaciones de reducido tamaño. En 1910, se incorpora a la Onward Brass Band y comienza a dar clases de clarinete. Entre sus alumnos, se cuentan Johnny Dodds, Albert Nicholas, Barney Biggard, Jimmy Noone y algunos otros.
Después toca con la Tuxedo Brass Band de Papa Celestin (1913) y con Manuel Pérez, con quien se va a Chicago, en 1916. Más tarde, permanece varios meses en Nueva York (1923-1924), tocando con Armand J. Piron. Volverá a la gran ciudad unos meses antes de su muerte.
Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.
He was one of the first important soloists in jazz (beating cornetist and trumpeter Louis Armstrong to the recording studio by several months and later playing duets with Armstrong), and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist. Forceful delivery, well-constructed improvisations, and a distinctive, wide vibrato characterized Bechet's playing.
Bechet's erratic temperament hampered his career, however, and not until the late 1940s did he earn wide acclaim.
Bechet (pronounced BAH-shay by the family, most commonly pronounced buh-SHAY) was born in New Orleans to a middle-class Creole of Color family. Sidney's older brother Leonard Bechet (1877-1952) was a part time trombonist and bandleader. Sidney Bechet quickly learned to play several musical instruments kept around the house, mostly by teaching himself; he soon decided to focus on clarinet. At age six, Sidney started playing along with his brother's band at a family birthday party, debuting his talents to aclaim. Later in his youth, Bechet studied with such renowned Creole clarinetists as Lorenzo Tio, "Big Eye" Louis Nelson Delisle, and George Baquet. Soon after, Bechet would be found playing in many New Orleans ensembles, improvising with what was "acceptable" for jazz at that time (obbligatos, with scales and arpeggios, and "variating" the melody). These ensembles included parade work with Henry Allen's celebrated Brass Band, the Olympia Orchestra, and John Robichaux's "genteel" dance orchestra. In 1911-1912, he performed with Bunk Johnson in the Eagle Band of New Orleans, and in 1913-1914, with King Oliver in the Olympia Band.
Although Bechet spent his childhood and adolescence in New Orleans, from 1914-1917 he was touring and traveling, going as far north as Chicago, and frequently teaming up with another famous Creole musician, Freddie Keppard. In the spring of 1919, he traveled to New York, where he joined Will Marion Cook's Syncopated Orchestra. Soon after, the orchestra journeyed to Europe where, almost immediately upon arrival, they performed at the Royal Philharmonic Hall in London. The group was warmly received, and Bechet was especially popular, attracting attention near and far.
While in London, Bechet discovered the straight soprano saxophone, and quickly developed a style quite unlike his warm, reedy clarinet tone. His saxophone sound could be described as "emotional", "reckless", and "large". He would often use a very broad vibrato, similar to what was common for some New Orleans clarinetists at the time.
After being found guilty of assaulting a woman, Bechet was imprisoned in London from September 13 to 26, 1922. He was subsequently deported back to the USA, leaving Southampton on November 3 and arriving back in New York on November 13, 1922.
On July 30, 1923, he began recording some of his earliest surviving studio work. The session was led by Clarence Williams, a pianist and songwriter, better known at that time for his music publishing and record producing. Bechet recorded the "Wild Cat Blues" and "Kansas City Man Blues". "Wild Cat Blues" is in a multi-thematic ragtime tradition, with four themes, at sixteen bars each, and "Kansas City Man Blues" is a genuine 12-bar blues. Bechet interpreted and played each uniquely and with outstanding creativity and innovation for the time.
On September 15, 1925, Bechet and other members of the Revue Negre, including Josephine Baker, sailed to Europe, arriving at Cherbourg, France on September 22. The revue opened at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris on October 2. He then toured Europe with various bands, reaching as far as Russia in mid-1926. In 1928, he led his own small band at the famous Bricktop's Club in Montmartre, Paris.
Bechet was jailed in Paris, France, when a female passer-by was wounded during a shoot-out. After serving jail time, Bechet was deported. The most common version of the story, as related in Ken Burns' jazz documentary, reports that the initial shoot-out started when another musician/producer told Bechet that he was playing the wrong chord. Bechet challenged the man to a duel; critics assert, however, that Bechet was essentially ambushed by a rival musician.
After his release, Bechet relocated back to New York. Having arrived right after the stock market crash, Bechet joined up with Noble Sissle’s orchestra and traveled around Berlin and Russia. In 1932 he returned to New York City to lead a band with trumpeter Tommy Ladnier. The band performed at The Savoy, and consisted of six members. He went on to play with Lorenzo Tia, and also got to know Roy Eldridge, another trumpeter.
Over time it became progressively more difficult for Bechet to find jobs until eventually he started a tailor shop with Ladnier. During this time they had visits from various musicians, and played in the back of their shop. Throughout the 1940s Bechet played in several bands, but his financial situation did not change until the end of that decade.
By the end of the 1940s Bechet was getting tired of playing in the United States. His contract with Jazz Limited, a Chicago based record label, was limiting the events he could perform at, such as the 1948 ‘Festival of Europe’ in Nice. He also believed that jazz scene in the US had little left to offer him and was getting stale.
Bechet relocated to France in 1950 after performing as a soloist at the Paris Jazz Fair. His performance at the fair resulted in a surge in his popularity in France. Since then, Bechet had little problem finding well paid work in France. In 1953, he signed a recording contract with French Vogue, which lasted for the rest of his life. He recorded many hit tunes, including "Les Oignons," "Promenade aux Champ Elysees," and the international hit, "Petite Fleur." He also composed a classical ballet score in the late Romantic style of Tchaikovsky, called "La Nuit est sorciere" ("The Night Is a Witch"). He married Elisabeth Ziegler in Antibes, France in 1951. Existentialists in France called him "le dieu".
Shortly before his death in Paris, Sidney dictated his poetic autobiography, Treat It Gentle. He died from lung cancer on his sixty-second birthday.
[edit]Career highlights
Bechet successfully composed in jazz, pop-tune, and extended concert work forms. He knew how to read music, but chose not to due to his highly developed inner ear; he developed his own fingering system and he never played section parts in a big band or swing-style combo.[5] His recordings often have been reissued.
Some of the highlights of his career include 1923 sides with Louis Armstrong in "Clarence Williams Blue Five"; the 1932, 1940, 1941 "New Orleans Feetwarmers" sides; a 1938 "Tommy Ladnier Orchestra" session "Weary Blues", "Really the Blues"); a hit 1938 recording of "Summertime"; and various versions of his own composition, "Petite Fleur".
In 1939, Bechet co-led a group with pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith that recorded several early versions of what was later called "Latin Jazz", adapting traditional Meringue, Rhumba and Haitian songs to the jazz idiom.
Bechet in New York in 1947
On July 28, 1940, Sidney Bechet made a guest appearance on NBC Radio's The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street show, playing two of his show-pieces ("Shake It and Break It" and "St. Louis Blues") with Henry Levine's dixieland band. Levine invited Bechet into the RCA Victor recording studio (on 24th Street in New York City), where Bechet lent his soprano sax to Levine's traditional arrangement of "Muskrat Ramble." On April 18, 1941, as an early experiment in overdubbing at Victor, Bechet recorded a version of the pop song "The Sheik of Araby", playing six different instruments: clarinet, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, piano, bass, and drums. A theretofore unissued master of this recording was included in the 1965 LP Bechet of New Orleans, issued by RCA Victor as LPV-510. On the liner notes, George Hoeffer quotes Sidney as follows: "I started by playing The Sheik on piano, and played the drums while listening to the piano. I meant to play all the rhythm instruments, but got all mixed up and grabbed my soprano, then the bass, then the tenor saxophone, and finally finished up with the clarinet."
In 1944, 1946, and 1953 he recorded and performed in concert with Chicago Jazz Pianist and Vibraphonist Max Miller, private recordings which are part of the Max Miller archive and have never been released. These concerts and recordings are covered completely in John Chilton's great book on Bechet.
Bechet was an important influence on alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges, who studied with Bechet as a teenager.
In 1968, Bechet was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.
The New York Times music writer Robert Palmer wrote of Bechet that, "by combining the 'cry' of the blues players and the finesse of the Creoles into his 'own way,' Sidney Bechet created a style which moved the emotions even as it dazzled the mind.
Sidney Bechet (Nueva Orleans, Luisiana, Estados Unidos,14 de mayo de 1897 - París, 14 de mayo de 1959) fue un músico y compositor de jazz estadounidense. Intérprete de saxofón soprano y clarinete.
Nacido en Nueva Orleans el 14 de mayo de 1897, se inició con el clarinete a los 6 años de edad, siendo señalado por sus contemporáneos como un niño prodigio en aquel instrumento.
Integró varias bandas callejeras ("brass bands") de New Orleans. En 1917 se trasladó a Chicago, donde tocó con Freddie Keppard y Joe "King" Oliver entre otros.
En 1919 viajó a Europa junto con la Southern Syncopated Orchestra del director Will Marion Cook, dónde además de tocar clarinete, ejecutó en una pieza un pequeño acordeón. Sus presentaciones en Londres interpretando el Characteristic Blues llamaron la atención del director de orquesta Ernest Ansermet, quien le dedicó un elogiable pasaje en un artículo publicado en la revista especializada Revue Romande el cual, según se afirma, fue la primera crítica periodística sobre un músico de jazz: dónde se afirmaba "Sidney Bechet es un genio"
Estando en Londres se interesa por el saxofón soprano, instrumento que adopta y utiliza cada vez con más frecuencia que el clarinete, aunque siempre llevaba consigo un pequeño acordeón, con el cuál grabó sólo 2 piezas en 1924: "Wild Man Blues" e "Indiana".
De regreso en Estados Unidos en 1922, recaló en la ciudad de Nueva York, donde grabó su primer registro discográfico el 30 de julio de 1923, con la Clarence Williams Blue Five los temas Wild Cat Blues y Kansas City Man Blues.
Entre 1924 y 1925 realizó una serie de memorables grabaciones con Louis Armstrong, quien también se había integrado a los conjuntos de Clarence Williams dedicados a las grabaciones.
Integró la orquesta de la Revue Négre, que acompañó a París a Joséphine Baker en 1925, permaneciendo en Europa hasta 1931, visitando diversos países y pasando casi un año en una cárcel francesa en 1928, por involucrarse en una pelea entre músicos.
Tras aquel "receso" de 11 meses, siguió recorriendo Europa y regresó nuevamente a Estados Unidos, para participar brevemente en la orquesta de Nobble Sissle, y luego en 1932 formar junto al trompetista Tommy Ladnier un grupo llamado The New Orleans Feetwarmers, con el cual alcanzan a realizar sólo una sesión de grabaciones, pero con 6 títulos de notoria calidad (entre ellos Maple Leaf Rag). Luego de ello, y en medio de la crisis reinante en Estados Unidos, sumado a su escasa popularidad dada su ausencia tan prolongada del país, se ve en la necesidad de abrir una modesta sastrería en Harlem para sobrevivir.
Entre 1934 y 1938 se une nuevamente a Noble Sissle, en cuya orquesta va adquiriendo paulatinamente una participación creciente como solista (por ej. "Polka Dog Rag", 1934).
De 1938 en adelante, emprende una carrera como líder de agrupaciones diversas, enrolado dentro de la corriente del revival del jazz de Nueva Orleans, tocando y grabando en diferentes ciudades y circunstancias, produciendo abundante material en donde su saxofón soprano hacía las veces de voz líder de los conjuntos.
En 1939 realiza una serie de grabaciones para el recientemente creado sello discográfico Blue Note, de Alfred Lion, entre las que sobresale una excelente e innovadora vesión instrumental del clásico de George Gershwin "Summertime".
En 1941 realiza un experimento inédito para la época: una sesión en la que él interpreta seis instrumentos (clarinete, saxofón soprano, saxofón tenor, piano, contrabajo y batería), que son grabados uno sobre la pista del otro, para constituir la Sidney Bechet's one man band, el primer intento de grabación de un solo músico que se tenga noticia.
En 1949 viaja a Francia para participar del Festival de Jazz de París, en la Salle Pleyel. Sus interpretaciones cautivan al público francés y al año siguiente vuelve a París para establecerse allí definitivamente, convirtiéndose en una celebridad del movimiento de jazz tradicional francés, integrando las formaciones de los clarinetistas Claude Luter y André Reweliotty.
En 1951 contrae matrimonio con Elisabeth Ziegler (con quien había tenido una relación en Berlin en la década de 1920), en una ceremonia apoteósica que tuvo lugar en la villa de Juan-Les-Pins. Ese año compone uno de sus mayores éxitos, Petite Fleur (Pequeña Flor).
En 1954 nace su único hijo, Daniel, y después de casi 10 años de residencia permanente en Francia, con giras y presentaciones por toda Europa, varios discos de oro, y otros éxitos, cae enfermo de cáncer de pulmón hacia fines de 1958, falleciendo en París el 14 de mayo de 1959, el mismo día en que cumplía 62 años.
Thomas "Papa Mutt" Carey (1886–1948) was a New Orleans jazz trumpeter.
Carey was born in Hahnville, Louisiana, and moved to New Orleans with his family in his youth. His older brother Jack Carey was a trombone player and bandleader; Mutt was playing cornet in his brother's band by about 1912. Carey toured the vaudeville circuits in 1917. He worked with Kid Ory on and off through the 1910s, and went to California with Ory in late 1919, making his first recordings there about 1921.
When Ory moved to Chicago, Illinois, Carey took over leadership of the band which was based in Los Angeles, California through the 1930s. In 1944 he rejoined Ory, and helped revive interest in traditional jazz on the West Coast. He left Ory's band in 1947 to lead a group under his own name. He died in Elsinore, California, on September 3, 1948, aged 61.
Thomas Carey, conocido en el mundo del jazz tradicional como Papa Mutt Carey, fue un cornetista y trompetista norteamericano, nacido en Hahnville (Luisiana), un día no identificado de 1891, y fallecido en Elsinore (California), el 3 de septiembre de 1948.
Nacido en una familia musical, se inció con la batería, aunque se cambió pronto a la corneta, animado por su hermano mayor, Jack Carey, que tocaba el trombón. Es en la banda de su hermano, donde comienza a trabajar, en 1913, aunque muy rápidamente (1914) es captado por Kid Ory para su orquesta.
En 1917, tras el cierre de Storyville, como tantos otros, sube a Chicago, junto con Johnny Dodds, aunque regresa pronto. Sin embargo, en 1919, es llamado por Ory desde California, y Carey se va con él. Cuando el propio Ory se va a Chicago, Carey asume la dirección de la banda y permanece con ella hasta comienzo de los años 30, bajo el nombre de The Jeffersonians, trabajando con asiduidad en los estudios de Hollywood.
Después, con la crisis del hot, deja de tocar, salvo esporádicamente, hasta que, en 1944, Ory lo reengancha en su Dixieland Jubilee, hasta 1947, año en que participa junto con Louis Armstrong en el film Nueva Orleans. Seguirá tocando, con su propia banda, hasta su muerte, en 1948.
Oscar "Papa" Celestin (January 1, 1884 in Napoleonville, Louisiana – December 15, 1954) was an American jazz bandleader, trumpeter, cornetist and vocalist.
Celestin was born in Napoleonville, Louisiana, to a Creole family, son of a sugar-cane cutter. In his youth worked on rural Louisiana plantations. Eager for a better life, he worked as a cook for the Texas & Pacific Railroad, saved up money and brought used musical instruments. He played guitar and trombone before deciding on cornet as his main instrument. He took music lessons from Claiborne Williams, who traveled down the Bayou Lafourche from Donaldsonville. He played with the Algiers Brass Band by the early 1900s, and with various small town bands before moving to New Orleans in 1904, at age 20.
In New Orleans he played with the Imperial, Indiana, Henry Allen senior's Olympia Brass Bands, and Jack Carey's dance band; early in his career he was sometimes known as "Sonny" Celestin. About 1910 he landed a job as leader of the house band at the Tuxedo Dance Hall on North Franklin St. at the edge of Storyville.He kept the name "Tuxedo" for the name of the band after the Dance Hall closed. Dressing the band in tuxedos, the Tuxedo became one of the most popular bands hired for society functions, both black and white. For years Celestin co-led the Tuxedo Band with trombonist William Ridgely. They made their first recordings with the band during the Okeh Records field trip to New Orleans in 1925. Shortly after Ridgely and Celestin had a falling out and for about 5 years led competing "Tuxedo" bands. Celestin's Original Tuxedo Orchestra made an additional series of recordings for Columbia Records through the rest of the 1920s. In addition to the Tuxedo Orchestra, Celestin led the Tuxedo Brass Band, one of the top brass bands in the city. Such notables through the years were trombonist Bill Mathews, pianist Octave Crosby, drummer Christopher Goldston, cornetist Joe Oliver, trumpeter Mutt Carey, clarinetist Alphonse Picou, bassist Ricard Alexis and trumpeter Louis Armstrong played in the Original Tuxedo Orchestra with Celestin.
In 1932 Celestin was forced out of the business by depression economics, working in a shipyard until he got another band together after the World War II. The new Tuxedo Brass Band proved tremendously popular and was hailed as a key New Orleans tourist attraction. In 1953, Papa Celestin appeared leading his band in the big-budget travelogue Cinerama Holiday. His band became a regular feature at the Paddock Lounge on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, and made regular radio broadcasts, television appearance, and more recordings. In 1953 Celestin gave a command performance for President Eisenhower at the White House. His last recording singing, "Marie LaVeau" (1954).
In view of the tremendous contribution Celestin made in jazz throughout his lifetime, the Jazz Foundation of New Orleans had a bust made and donated to the Delgado Museum in New Orleans. Near the end of his life, he was honored as one of the greats of New Orleans music, 4000 people marched in his funeral parade when he died in 1954. After his death Tuxedo Brass Band leadership was briefly taken over by trombonest Eddie Pierson until his death in 1958. The leadership of the band fell to banjo player Albert "Papa" French.
Papa Celestín, fue un trompetista y cantante norteamericano de jazz tradicional, nacido en Napoleonville, Luisiana, el 1 de enero de 1884, y fallecido en Nueva Orleans, el 15 de diciembre de 1954.
Inicialmente tocaba también el trombón, y es con este instrumento que comienza en diversas brass bands de Nueva Orleans, a donde se traslada en 1906. Trabaja con la Allen's Brass Band y con la banda de Jack Carey, antes de dirigir su propia banda (Tuxedo Brass Band), para actuar en el Tuxedo Hall, entre 1910 y 1913, año en que se cierra la sala. Después de participar en diversas formaciones, vuelve a organizar su Tuxedo Orchestra (1925), grabando varios discos y obteniendo un éxito inesperado por todo el sur de la Unión.
A partir de 1930 comienza a alejarse de la música en activo, aunque vuelve nuevamente con el revival del jazz tradicional, a partir de 1946, volviendo a grabar discos y reeditando su éxito.
Celestin es una de las figuras más legendarias del jazz de Nueva Orleans, aunque su orquesta producía una música más elegante y refinada de lo usual en las bandas de la época. No obstante, es un buen prototipo de la música creole
