Robert Sherwood Haggart (March 13, 1914
– December 2, 1998)
was an American
dixieland jazz double bass player, composer, and arranger. Although he is associated with dixieland, he was one of the finest rhythm bassists of the Swing Era.
Music career
In 1935, Haggart became a member of the
Bob Crosby Band.
He arranged and composed "
Big Noise from Winnetka",
"My Inspiration", "
What's New?",
and "South Rampart Street Parade". He remained with the band until it dissolved in 1942,
then began working as session musician, with much of his time spent at
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
.
He recorded with
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, and
Ella Fitzgerald; his
arrangement
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...
s can be heard on Fitzgerald's album ''Lullabies of Birdland''. Haggart also starred in several commercials for L&M cigarettes on the radio program "Gunsmoke", including the March 4, 1956, episode, "The Hunter".
He and
Yank Lawson formed the Lawson-Haggart Band, and they also led the
World's Greatest Jazz Band from 1968 until 1978.
He appeared at jazz festivals until his death on December 2, 1998, in Venice, Florida.
Discography
* ''Strictly from Dixie'' (
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
, 1960)
* ''Big Noise from Winnetka'' (
Command
Command may refer to:
Computing
* Command (computing), a statement in a computer language
* command (Unix), a Unix command
* COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS
* Command key, a modifier key on A ...
, 1962)
* ''Live at the Roosevelt Grill'' (
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
, 1970)
* ''What's New?'' (Atlantic, 1971)
* ''Makes a Sentimental Journey'' (
Jazzology, 1980)
* ''Enjoys Carolina in the Morning'' (Jazzology, 1981)
* ''A Portrait of Bix'' (Jazzology, 1986)
* ''Enjoy Yourself!'' (Audiophile, 1986)
* ''Hag Leaps In'' (
Arbors, 1995)
* ''The All-Stars at Bob Haggart's 80th Birthday Party'' (Arbors, 2002)
* ''The Piano Giants at Bob Haggart's 80th Birthday Party'' (Arbors, 2002)
* ''The Music of Bob Haggart'' (Arbors, 2002)
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
Bob Haggart recordingsat the
Discography of American Historical Recordings.
Yank Lawson and Bob Haggart: Profiles in Jazz by Scott Yanow
Bob Haggart InterviewNAMM Oral History Library (1995)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haggart, Bob
1914 births
1998 deaths
Dixieland jazz musicians
American jazz double-bassists
American male double-bassists
American session musicians
20th-century American double-bassists
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
The Tonight Show Band members
World's Greatest Jazz Band members
McKenzie and Condon's Chicagoans members
Jazzology Records artists
Atlantic Records artists
Arbors Records artists