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Floyd O'Brien
Floyd O'Brien (May 7, 1904 – November 26, 1968) was an American jazz trombonist. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States. O'Brien first played in Chicago in the 1920s with the Austin High School Gang; later in the decade he played with Earl Fuller, Floyd Town, Charles Pierce, Thelma Terry, and Husk O'Hare. During 1930-31 he worked in a pit band at a theater in Des Moines, Iowa. He moved to New York City and played with Mal Hallett, Joe Venuti, Smith Ballew, Mike Durso (1933–34), Phil Harris (1935–39), Gene Krupa (1939–40), and Bob Crosby (1940–42). In 1943, he relocated to Los Angeles and played with Eddie Miller, Bunk Johnson, Shorty Sherock, Jack Teagarden, and Wingy Manone. In 1948, he moved back to Chicago and there worked with Bud Freeman, Art Hodes and Danny Alvin. O'Brien had recorded with Freeman as early as 1928; other recordings include with Eddie Condon (1933 and later), Fats Waller, Mezz Mezzrow, George Wettling (1940), Charles LaVere (19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. But jazz did not begin as a single musical tradition in New Orleans or elsewhere. In the 1930s, arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz (a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smith Ballew
Sykes "Smith" Ballew (January 21, 1902 – May 2, 1984) was an American actor, sophisticated singer, orchestra leader, and a western singing star. He also was billed as Buddy Blue, Charles Roberts, and Billy Smith. Early years The son of William Young Ballew and his wife, May Elizabeth (Smith) Ballew, he was born in Palestine, Texas in 1902, where he grew up attending local schools. He attended Sherman High School, Austin College and the University of Texas. During his time at Austin College, Ballew and his brother, Charlie, formed the Texasjazzers orchestra. Before that, he organized Jimmie's Joys jazz combo at the university, playing banjo and singing with the group. Career Starting in the late 1920s, he became one of the most recognizable vocalists on hundreds of dance band and jazz records, based in New York City. During this time, Ballew along with Scrappy Lambert, Dick Robertson, and Chick Bullock were the most prolific studio vocalists. In 1929, he organized the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Condon
Albert Edwin Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang. Early years Condon was born in Goodland, Indiana, the son of John and Margaret (née McGraw) Condon. He grew up in Momence, Illinois, and Chicago Heights, Illinois, where he attended St. Agnes and Bloom High School. After playing ukulele, he switched to banjo and was a professional musician by 1921. When he was 15 years old, he received his first union card in Waterloo, Iowa. Career He was based in Chicago for most of the 1920s, and played with such jazz notables as Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden, and Frank Teschemacher. He and Red McKenzie formed the Chicago Rhythm Kings in 1925. While in Chicago, Condon and other white musicians would go to Lincoln Gardens to watch and learn from King Oliver and his band. They later would frequent the Sunset Café to see Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five for th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danny Alvin
Danny Alvin (November 29, 1902 in New York City – December 6, 1958 in Chicago) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Alvin was the father of guitarist Teddy Walters. He played with Sophie Tucker at the New York club Reisenweber's in 1919, then moved to Chicago in the early 1920s. He played in both cities over the course of his career, playing with Sidney Bechet, George Brunis, Buck Clayton, Wild Bill Davison, Wingy Manone, Joe Marsala, Art Hodes, Mezz Mezzrow, and George Zack. He recorded sparsely as a bandleader; his best-known issue was a 1958 album recorded for Stepheny Records. References * Danny Alvinat Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ... {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvin, Danny 1902 births 1958 deaths American jazz drummers Musicians from New ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Hodes
Arthur W. Hodes (November 14, 1904 – March 4, 1993), was a Russian Empire-born American jazz and blues pianist. He is regarded by many critics as the greatest white blues pianist. Biography Hodes was born in Mykolaiv, in present-day Ukraine. His family settled in Chicago, Illinois, when he was a few months old. His career began in Chicago clubs, but he did not gain wider attention until moving to New York City in 1938. In New York, he played with Sidney Bechet, Joe Marsala, and Mezz Mezzrow. Later, Hodes founded his own band in the 1940s and it would be associated with his hometown of Chicago. He and his band played mostly in that area for the next forty years. In the late 1960s, Hodes starred in a series of TV shows on Chicago style jazz called ''Jazz Alley'', where he appeared with musicians such as Pee Wee Russell and Jimmy McPartland. Episodes of the show have been released on DVD. Hodes was editor of the magazine, ''The Jazz Record'', for five years in the 1940s. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bud Freeman
Lawrence "Bud" Freeman (April 13, 1906 – March 15, 1991) was an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing tenor saxophone, but also the clarinet. Biography In 1922, Freeman and some friends from high school formed the Austin High School Gang. Freeman played the C melody saxophone with band members such as Jimmy McPartland and Frank Teschemacher. before switching to tenor saxophone two years later. The band was influenced by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and Louis Armstrong. While Armstrong was in King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, Freeman attended performances at Lincoln Gardens with McPartland. They were nicknamed "Alligators". In 1927, he moved to New York City, where he worked as a session musician and band member with Red Nichols, Roger Wolfe Kahn, Ben Pollack, and Joe Venuti. One of his most notable performances was a solo on Eddie Condon's 1933 recording, ''The Eel'', which became Freeman's nickname for his long snake-like improv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wingy Manone
Joseph Matthews "Wingy" Manone (February 13, 1900 – July 9, 1982) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, singer, and bandleader. His recordings included " Tar Paper Stomp", "Nickel in the Slot", "Downright Disgusted Blues", "There'll Come a Time (Wait and See)", and "Tailgate Ramble". Biography Manone (pronounced "ma-KNOWN") was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He lost his right arm in a streetcar accident when he was ten years old, which resulted in his nickname of "Wingy". He used a prosthesis 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's style was similar to that of fellow New Orleans t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Teagarden
Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (August 20, 1905 – January 15, 1964) was an American jazz trombonist and singer. According to critic Scott Yannow of Allmusic, Teagarden was the preeminent American jazz trombone player before the bebop era of the 1940s and "one of the best jazz singers too". Teagarden's early career was as a sideman with the likes of Paul Whiteman and lifelong friend Louis Armstrong. Early life Teagarden was born in Vernon, Texas, United States. His brothers Charlie and Clois "Cub" and his sister Norma also became professional musicians. His father was an amateur brass band trumpeter and started him on baritone horn; by age seven he had switched to trombone. His first public performances were in movie theaters, where he accompanied his mother, a pianist. , Encyclopedia of Jazz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shorty Sherock
Clarence Francis Cherock known professionally as Shorty Sherock (November 17, 1915 – February 19, 1980) was an American swing jazz trumpeter. Career He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Sherock attended the Illinois Military Academy. In the 1930s he was a soloist with the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra and with the Gene Krupa orchestra. He led a big band in the 1940s. He was a featured soloist in Los Angeles in 1944 at the first Jazz at the Philharmonic concert. The concert included Nat King Cole, Illinois Jacquet, J. J. Johnson, Jack McVea, and Les Paul. On January 31, 1946, Sherock recorded Leonard Feather's composition "Snafu". In 1955, he recorded three tracks for Freddie Slack's ''Boogie Woogie on the 88''. As a member of the Nelson Riddle Orchestra he appeared on Dean Martin's album ''This Time I'm Swingin'!'', on Frank Sinatra's album '' Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners'', and on Ella Fitzgrerald's albums '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bunk Johnson
Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson (December 27, 1879 – July 7, 1949) was an American prominent jazz trumpeter in New Orleans. Johnson gave the year of his birth as 1879, although there is speculation that he may have been younger by as much as a decade. Johnson stated on his 1937 application for Social Security that he was born on December 27, 1889. Many jazz historians believe this date of birth to be the most accurate of the various dates Johnson gave throughout his life. Biography Education and early musical career Johnson received lessons from Adam Olivier and began playing professionally in Olivier's orchestra. Johnson probably played a few adolescent jobs with Buddy Bolden, but was not a regular member of Bolden's Band (contrary to Johnson's claim). Johnson was regarded as one of the leading trumpeters in New Orleans in the years 1905–1915, in between repeatedly leaving the city to tour with minstrel shows and circus bands. After he failed to appear for a New Orleans Mardi G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Miller (jazz Saxophonist)
Edward Raymond Müller (June 23, 1911 – April 1, 1991) known professionally as Eddie Miller, was an American jazz musician who played tenor saxophone and clarinet. Early life Miller was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. In his early teens, Miller got a job selling newspapers, so he would be eligible for a newsboys' band. Career Miller professional career began in New Orleans at 16, with his recording debut occurring in 1930 with Julie Wintz. He worked in Ben Pollack's orchestra and then stayed when Bob Crosby took over its leadership. He stayed with Crosby until the band broke up in 1942. He had his own band for a brief time after that, before being drafted. However, he was discharged from the military early because of illness and settled in Los Angeles. After that he worked with Pete Fountain, appeared in most of Crosby's reunions, and did club work. He also played with trumpeter Al Hirt. Miller was also a songwriter, with his best-known song being "Slow Mood," later know ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Crosby
George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younger brother of famed singer and actor Bing Crosby. On TV, Bob Crosby guest-starred in ''The Gisele MacKenzie Show''. He was also a regular cast member of ''The Jack Benny Program,'' on both radio and television, taking over the role of bandleader after Phil Harris' departure. Crosby hosted his own afternoon TV variety show on CBS, '' The Bob Crosby Show'' (1953–1957). Crosby received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for television and radio. Early years Crosby was born in Spokane, Washington, to bookkeeper Harry Lowe Crosby and Catherine "Kate" Harrigan, the daughter of a builder from County Mayo in Ireland. The couple had seven children: Larry, Everett, Ted, Harry (popularly known as Bing Crosby), Catherine, Mary Rose, and G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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