Charles Remue (15 October 1903 – 5 February 1971) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

clarinetist This article lists notable musicians who have played the clarinet. Classical clarinetists * Laver Bariu * Ernest Ačkun * Luís Afonso * Cristiano Alves * Michel Arrignon * Dimitri Ashkenazy * Kinan Azmeh * Alexander Bader * Carl Baerm ...

, alto saxophone player and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues o ...

of early

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 majo ...

, who, while leading a band called Chas. Remue & His New Stompers, recorded what are widely considered to be the first jazz discs (in 1927) by a Belgian band.

Early life

Born in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Remue began studying music early in life and was admitted to the

Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (french: Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles, nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Provid ...

in 1915. He finished in 1922, winning three Grand Prizes before doing so. His first foray into playing

syncopated In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "plac ...

music was in the same year, with a small band in a Brussels

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub. The majority of towns and cities i ...

. It was this experience that changed his direction from that as a

classical Classical may refer to: European antiquity *Classical antiquity, a period of history from roughly the 7th or 8th century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E. centered on the Mediterranean Sea *Classical architecture, architecture derived from Greek and ...

-trained musician.

Career

Remue joined the Red Mill's Jazz in 1924, the Bing Boys later that year and within the next year joined The White Diamonds, which was directed by the English drummer Billy Smith. From this group came an important friendship with

René Compère René Compère (December 28, 1906 in Brussels – April 24, 1969 in Brussels) was a Belgian jazz trumpeter. Compère played with Billy Smith's Brussels-based band in 1923 before founding his own ensemble, the New Royal Dance Orchestra. As a member ...

. This partnership, documented by jazz

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

/writer

Robert Goffin Robert Goffin (21 May 1898 – 27 June 1984) was a Belgian lawyer, author, and poet, credited with writing the first "serious" book on jazz, ''Aux Frontières du Jazz'' in 1932.Epperson. Life Robert Goffin was born in Ohain, Brabant Province ...

in his 1932 book "Aux Fontieres du Jazz",Robert Goffin, Aux Frontières du Jazz 1932 led to the formation of His New Stompers. When music publisher/promoter

Felix Faecq Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

brought the group to London to record their first sides, five of the fourteen recordings made were written by David Bee and

Peter Packay Pierre Paquet, better known as Peter Packay (August 8, 1904, Brussels - December 26, 1965, Westende) was a Belgian jazz trumpeter, arranger, and composer. Packay lived with his family in China for part of his childhood, but returned to Belgium in ...

– two of the first Belgian jazz composers. London had been chosen over Brussels because of its superior recording facilities.

Later career

After His New Stompers, Remue joined the

Savoy Orpheans The Savoy Orpheans is a British dance band currently led by Alex Mendham. They were resident at the Savoy Hotel, London. The band was formed by Debroy Somers, an ex-army bandmaster, in 1923. Both the Orpheans and the Savoy Havana Band were unde ...

and toured Europe. Upon his return to Brussels, he organized and recorded with his first big band. With the advent of the 1930s, he played with the Bernard Ette Band in Germany, then briefly had another big band, and afterwards played with various other groups until 1936, when he joined the Brussels Radio Orchestra, which was led by his old pianist Stan Brenders. Remue continued playing and recording into his later years.

Discography

Chas. Remue & His New Stompers

* Alphone Cox (tp), Henri Leonard (trb), Charles Remue (cl, as, ldr), Gaston Frederic (ts, cl),

Stan Brenders Stan Constant Brenders (May 31, 1904, Brussels - June 1, 1969, Brussels) was a Belgian jazz pianist and bandleader, who founded the first jazz radio orchestra in Belgium and recorded with Django Reinhardt."Stan Brenders". '' The New Grove Diction ...

(p), Remy Glorieux (ssp), Harry Belien (dr) *

Edison Bell Edison Bell was an English company that was the first distributor and an early manufacturer of gramophones and gramophone records. The company survived through several incarnations, becoming a top producer of budget records in England through ...

Electron Records – EBE 0153, 0154, 0160, 0161, 0162, 0163 & 0164 – 1927.

Other recordings

* Euroswing 1936–1948 Various Artists Sax (Alto), Clarinet – 1999

References

External links

Red Hot Jazz entry
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Remue, Charles 1903 births Belgian jazz musicians Belgian clarinetists Belgian saxophonists Belgian musicians Royal Conservatory of Brussels alumni Musical groups established in 1927 Jazz clarinetists Jazz alto saxophonists Swing ensembles 1971 deaths 20th-century Belgian musicians 20th-century saxophonists