Johnny St. Cyr (April 17, 1890 – June 17, 1966) was an American

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 m ...

banjoist and guitarist. For banjo his by far most used type in records at least was the six string one. On a famous “action photo” with Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers he is holding a four string banjo, probably tenor. There is, however, no verified information if he ever used such an instrument on records. St. Cyr was born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

and raised

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He played for several leading New Orleans bands before moving to Chicago in 1923. He is best remembered as a member of Louis Armstrong's

Hot Five Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink * Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a wine tasting descriptor Places * Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand **Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot Distri ...

and

Hot Seven Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven was a jazz studio group organized to make a series of recordings for Okeh Records in Chicago, Illinois, in May 1927. Some of the personnel also recorded with Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five, including Johnny Dod ...

bands.Johnny St. Cyr (1890–1966)
Red Hot Jazz Archive, accessed 2020-09-01. He also played with

Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a gen ...

Red Hot Peppers Red Hot Peppers was a recording jazz band led by Jelly Roll Morton from 1926–1930. It was a seven- or eight-piece band formed in Chicago that recorded for Victor and featured the best New Orleans-style freelance musicians available, includ ...

. He composed the standard "Oriental Strut", known for its adventurous chord sequence. During the 1950s, he performed and led a group named Johnny St. Cyr and His Hot Five and recorded with

Paul Barbarin Adolphe Paul Barbarin (May 5, 1899 – February 17, 1969) was an American jazz drummer from New Orleans. Career Barbarin grew up in New Orleans in a family of musicians, including his father, three of his brothers, and his nephew (Danny Barker) ...

and

George Lewis George Lewis may refer to: Entertainment and art * George B. W. Lewis (1818–1906), circus rider and theatre manager in Australia * George E. Lewis (born 1952), American composer and free jazz trombonist * George J. Lewis (1903–1995), Mexica ...

. From 1961 until his death in 1966, St. Cyr was the bandleader of the Young Men from New Orleans, who performed at

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

. He died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California, Johnny St. Cyrat

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 ...

, accessed 2010-11-13. and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, in Los Angeles.

References

External links

*
''Jazz As I Remember It''
St. Cyr's autobiography * * 1890 births 1966 deaths American jazz bandleaders American jazz banjoists American jazz guitarists American banjoists African-American banjoists African-American guitarists Burials at Evergreen Cemetery, Los Angeles 20th-century American musicians Guitarists from Louisiana American male guitarists 20th-century guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Jazz musicians from New Orleans New Orleans Wanderers members Red Hot Peppers members Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five members Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven members Southland Records artists 20th-century African-American musicians Converts to Methodism from Roman Catholicism {{US-jazz-guitarist-stub

See also

References

External links