Alfred Wesley Hall (March 18, 1915 – January 18, 1988) 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

bassist.

Biography

Hall grew up in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where he played cello and tuba early in life before settling on bass at the age of 17. He moved to New York in 1936, where he played with Billy Hicks (1936–37), Skeets Tolbert (1937–38), and

Teddy Wilson Theodore Shaw Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive Swing music, swing pianist", Wilson's piano style was gentle, elegant, and virtuosic. His style was high ...

in both

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

and small ensemble format (1939–41). Following time with Ellis Larkins (1942–43) and

Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and ...

, Hall took a job as a staff musician at CBS, working in Paul Baron's orchestra on the '' Mildred Bailey Show''. He also worked on Broadway theater pit orchestras for the next several decades. In 1946, he founded his own label, Wax Records, which was bought by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

in 1949. Hall had an extended partnership with

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad "Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first re ...

, playing with him intermittently from 1945 to 1963. He also played later in life with

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

(1966), Hazel Scott, Tiny Grimes,

Alberta Hunter Alberta Hunter (April 1, 1895 – October 17, 1984) was an American jazz and blues singer and songwriter from the early 1920s to the late 1950s. After twenty years of working as a nurse, Hunter resumed her singing career in 1977. Early life Hu ...

(1977–78), and Doc Cheatham. He led five numbers on his own label in 1946–47 and four on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

Europe in 1959. Hall died of lung cancer Monday at Roosevelt Hospital. He was 72 years old and lived in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Discography

As sideman

* Harold Ashby, ''Born to Swing'' (Columbia, 1960) * Eddie Condon, ''Jammin at Condon's'' (Columbia, 1955) * Eddie Condon, ''That Toddlin' Town'' (Warner Bros., 1959) *

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

Johnny Hodges Johnny Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophone, alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on sop ...

, '' Side by Side'' (Verve, 1971) * Bud Freeman, ''Bud Freeman'' (Bethlehem, 1955) *

Edmond Hall Edmond Hall (May 15, 1901 – February 11, 1967) was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. Over his career, Hall worked extensively with many leading performers as both a sideman and bandleader and is possibly best known for the 1941 cha ...

, ''Rumpus On Rampart Street'' (Rae Cox 1959) *

, ''The Most Happy Piano'' (Columbia, 1957) * Erroll Garner, ''Encores in Hi Fi'' (Columbia, 1958) * Paul Gonsalves & Ray Nance, ''Just A-Sittin and A-Rockin'' (Black Lion, 1973) *

Earl Hines Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...

& Paul Gonsalves, ''It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing!'' (Black Lion, 1974) * Pete Johnson, ''Pete's Blues'' (Savoy, 1958) * Barbara Lea, ''Barbara Lea with the Johnny Windhurst Quintets'' (Prestige, 1956) * Barbara Lea, ''Lea in Love'' (Prestige, 1956) *

Helen Merrill Helen Merrill (born Jelena Ana Milcetic; July 21, 1929) is an American jazz vocalist. Her first album, the eponymous 1954 recording ''Helen Merrill (album), Helen Merrill'' (with Clifford Brown on EmArcy), was an immediate success and associat ...

, '' You've Got a Date with the Blues'' (Metrojazz, 1958) *

Barry Miles Barry Miles (born 21 February 1943) is an English author known for his participation in and writing on the subjects of the 1960s London underground and counterculture. He is the author of numerous books and his work has also regularly appeare ...

, ''Miles of Genius'' (Charlie Parker, 1962) * Fats Navarro, ''Fats Bud Klook Sonny Kinney'' (Savoy, 1955) *

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

, ''Bird Lives'' (Continental, 1962) * Paul Quinichette, '' Moods'' (Emarcy, 1954) *

Della Reese Della Reese (born Delloreese Patricia Early; July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017) was an American singer, actress, television personality, author and ordained minister. As a singer, she recorded blues, gospel, jazz and pop. Several of her singl ...

, ''Melancholoy Baby'' (Jubilee, 1956) *

Billy Strayhorn William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take the ...

, '' Cue for Saxophone'' (Felsted, 1959) * Ralph Sutton & Bob Wilber, ''The Night They Raided Sunnie's'' (Blue Angel Jazz Club 1969) *

Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him". Turner's greatest fa ...

& Pete Johnson, ''Joe Turner and Pete Johnson'' (Emarcy, 1955) * Big Joe Turner, ''And the Blues'll Make You Happy Too'' (Savoy, 1958) * Charlie Ventura, ''Jumping with Ventura'' (Emarcy, 1955) * Charlie Ventura, ''East of Suez'' (Regent, 1958) * Josh White, ''Josh at Midnight'' (Elektra, 1956) * Josh White, ''Josh White Sings Ballads/Blues'' (Elektra, 1957) * Josh White, ''The Josh White Stories II'' (ABC-Paramount, 1958) *

, ''Teddy Wilson and His All Star Jazz Sextet'' (Allego, 1956) * Teddy Wilson, ''Stompin' at the Savoy'' (Ember, 1974)

References

;Footnotes ;General references *

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

, Al Hallat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Al 1915 births 1988 deaths American jazz double-bassists American male double-bassists Musicians from Florida 20th-century American double-bassists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians