Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...
, United States - August 14, 1990, New Orleans) 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 majo ...
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 ...
ist.
Zardis played bass from a young age, and studied without his disapproving mother's knowledge, under
Billy Marrero
Billy may refer to:
* Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name)
Animals
* Billy (dog), a dog breed
* Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945
* Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge
* Billy, a youn ...
of the Superior Orchestra. In his teens he was involved in a fistfight at a New Orleans theater, which resulted in his being sent to the
Jones Waif Home
Jones may refer to:
People
*Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname
* List of people with surname Jones
*Jones (singer), a British singer-songwriter
Arts and entertainment
* Jones (''Animal Farm''), a human character in George Orwell ...
. While there he began playing with another of the Home's residents, Louis Armstrong. He joined
Buddy Petit
Buddie Petit (born Joseph Crawford; ca. 1897 – July 4, 1931), also spelled Buddy Petit, was an American early jazz cornetist.
His early life is somewhat mysterious, with dates of his birth given in various sources ranging from 1887 to 1897. He ...
's orchestra at age 16, and worked as a bassist in
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
s and a tubist in brass bands in New Orleans in the 1920s, playing with
Kid Rena
Henry "Kid" Rena (August 30, 1898 – April 25, 1949) was an American jazz trumpeter, who was an early star of the New Orleans jazz scene.
Biography
He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
Rena may have taken lessons from Manu ...
,
A.J. Piron
Armand John "A.J." Piron (August 16, 1888 – February 17, 1943) was an American jazz violinist who led a dance band during the 1920s.
Biography
In 1915, Piron and Clarence Williams started the Piron and Williams Publishing Company. In their ...
,
Punch Miller
Ernest Miller, also known as Punch Miller or Kid Punch Miller (June 10, 1894 – December 2, 1971), was an American traditional jazz trumpeter.
Miller was born in Raceland, Louisiana, United States. He was known in New Orleans, Louisiana, where ...
,
Kid Howard
Avery "Kid" Howard (April 22, 1908, New Orleans, Louisiana - March 28, 1966, New Orleans) was an American jazz trumpeter, associated with the New Orleans jazz scene.
Howard began on drums at about age fourteen, but switched to cornet and then tru ...
,
Jack Carey
Jack Carey (1889 – 1934) was an American jazz trombonist and the leader of the Crescent City Orchestra. The authorship of the famous ''Tiger Rag'' tune is attributed to him by some. During his career, he performed with Sidney Bechet. Carey ...
,
Fate Marable
Fate Marable (December 2, 1890 – January 16, 1947) was an American jazz pianist and bandleader.
Early life
Marable was born in Paducah, Kentucky to James and Elizabeth Lillian (Wharton) Marable, a piano teacher. Fate had five siblings, includin ...
, and Duke Dejan's Dixie Rhythm Band.
He was given the nickname "Little Bear" by
Fats Pichon
Walter Gabriel Pichon (April 3, 1906 – February 25, 1967) professionally known as Fats Pichon, was an American jazz pianist, singer, bandleader, and songwriter.
Biography
Pichon was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and began playin ...
, a bandleader with whom Zardis played on the
riverboat
A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury u ...
''S.S. Capital'' in the 1930s. During that decade he also played with
Count Basie
William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and th ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, and recorded with
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), Mexican ...
and
Bunk Johnson
Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson (December 27, 1879 – July 7, 1949) was an American prominent jazz trumpeter in New Orleans. Johnson gave the year of his birth as 1879, although there is speculation that he may have been younger by as much as a dec ...
. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
Zardis served in the
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, then worked briefly as a sheriff in the Western United States. Upon his return to New Orleans he played with Andy Anderson, but quit music between 1954 and 1964. Zardis worked as a jailer in Jefferson Parish for several years.
When he returned to active performance, Zardis played often at
Preservation Hall
Preservation Hall is a jazz venue in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. The building is associated with a house band, a record label, and a non-profit foundation.
History of the jazz hall
In the 1950s, art dealer Larry Borenstein ...
with Lewis and
Percy Humphrey
Percy Gaston Humphrey (January 13, 1905 – July 22, 1995) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader in New Orleans, Louisiana.
In addition to his band, Percy Humphrey and His Crescent City Joymakers, for more than thirty years he was leade ...
among many others. He continued to be a fixture of the
New Orleans jazz New Orleans Jazz may refer to:
* Dixieland, a style of jazz music (New Orleans Jazz)
*
* New Orleans Jazz (NBA team), professional basketball team that relocated and became the Utah Jazz
*New Orleans Jazz football club
New is an adjective referri ...
scene up until his death in 1990, including several international tours.
Zardis was a master of the original New Orleans - style slap bass, achieving both clarity of intonation and a strong percussive beat. His skill placed him easily on a par with better known New Orleans slap bassists of his era, such as
Pops Foster
George Murphy "Pops" Foster (May 19, 1892 – October 30, 1969) was an American jazz musician, best known for his vigorous slap bass playing of the string bass. He also played the tuba and trumpet professionally.
Biography
Foster was born t ...
and
Wellman Braud
Wellman Braud (January 25, 1891 – October 29, 1966) was an American jazz upright bassist. His family sometimes spelled their last name "Breaux", pronounced "Bro".
Born in St. James Parish, Louisiana, Braud settled in New Orleans, in his ear ...
. Unlike Foster and Braud, however, Zardis remained in his home-town throughout his playing career and consequently was not as widely recorded or appreciated. Playing un-amplified string bass using gut strings in large halls or rooms with quirky acoustics, posed significant challenges to New Orleans bassists. The short-statured Zardis, who was a powerful player and a creative soloist, overcame these handicaps by frequently turning his back to the audience, in order to face his instrument into the back wall of the bandstand, thus bouncing his notes off the wall, and projecting his sound up and over the competing sounds of the louder front-line brass horn players, and out over a room full of loud patrons. He employed this simple trick night after night, during his years performing at Preservation Hall on St. Peter Street in the French Quarter.
Zardis was regularly featured in
documentaries
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in ter ...
; he is himself the subject of three of them, ''Liberty Street Blues'', ''Chester Zardis: Spirit of New Orleans'', and ''Three Men of Jazz''.