(Portrait of Wesley Prince, Oscar Moore, and Nat King Cole, Zanzibar, New York, N

Clarence Wesley Prince (April 8, 1907 - 30 October 1980Bob L. Eagle, Eric S. LeBlanc:. '' Blues: A Regional Experience '', 2013, p 408) 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 ...

and R&B musician. He played the

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

Life and work

Prince was born in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. His father was a preacher; his brother was the jazz musician Henry Prince (who played in

Les Hite Les Hite (February 13, 1903 – February 6, 1962) was an American jazz bandleader. Life and career Born in DuQuoin, Illinois, United States, Hite attended the University of Illinois and played saxophone with family members in a band in the 1920s. ...

's band), and he was a cousin of the R&B musician Peppy Prince. Between 1938 and 1941, he played in a trio with pianist and singer

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

and guitarist

Oscar Moore Oscar Frederic Moore (December 25, 1916 – October 8, 1981) was an American jazz guitarist with the Nat King Cole Trio. Career The son of a blacksmith, Moore was born in Austin, Texas, United States. The Moore family moved to Phoenix, Ariz ...

. In addition, he participated in recordings by Louis Armstrong (1936) and King Perry (1946). Under his own name, he played on several tracks for

Excelsior Records Excelsior Records was an American record label established by Otis René, which existed from 1944 to 1971. It is particularly notable as having released some of the earliest recordings of Nat King Cole. It is not to be confused with former MCA and ...

. He participated in 29 recording sessions from 1936 to 1946.

Tom Lord Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

''The Jazz Discography'' (online, accessed August 10, 2015) For Nat Cole in 1940, he wrote the song "Gone with the Draft" (the title is a play on the popular Hollywood film

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

as well as an allusion to the fact that Cole escaped military service because of his

flat feet Flat feet (also called pes planus or fallen arches) is a postural deformity in which the arches of the foot collapse, with the entire sole of the foot coming into complete or near-complete contact with the ground. Sometimes children are born ...

). In August 1942, Prince was drafted for military service In later years, he worked in the aviation industry.Jazz Times in December 1994 Prince never recorded as a session leader.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prince, Wesley Jazz-blues guitarists 1907 births 1980 deaths American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century double-bassists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians King Cole Trio members