Edgar Melvin Sampson (October 31, 1907 – January 16, 1973), nicknamed "The Lamb", was an American jazz composer, arranger, saxophonist, and violinist. Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, he began playing

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

aged six and picked up the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

in high school. He worked as an arranger and composer for many jazz bands in the 1930s and 1940s. He composed two well-known

jazz standards Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

: "

Stompin' at the Savoy "Stompin' at the Savoy" is a 1933 jazz standard composed by Edgar Sampson. It is named after the famed Harlem nightspot the Savoy Ballroom in New York City. History and composition Although the song is often credited to Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, ...

", and "Don't Be That Way".

Life and career

Born in

, Sampson began his professional career in 1924 with a violin piano duo with Joe Colman. Through the rest of the 1920s and early 1930s, Sampson played with many bands, including those of Charlie "Fess" Johnson,

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 ...

Rex Stewart Rex William Stewart Jr. (February 22, 1907 – September 7, 1967) was an American jazz cornetist who was a member of the Duke Ellington orchestra. Career As a boy he studied piano and violin; most of his career was spent on cornet. Stewart dro ...

and

Fletcher Henderson James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musical ...

. In 1934, Sampson joined the

Chick Webb William Henry "Chick" Webb (February 10, 1905 – June 16, 1939) was an American jazz and swing music drummer and band leader. Early life Webb was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to William H. and Marie Webb. The year of his birth is disputed. The ...

band. It during his period with Webb that Sampson created his most enduring work as a composer, writing "

" and "Don't Be That Way". He left the Webb band in 1936 with a reputation as a composer and arranger that led to

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

work 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 ...

Artie Shaw Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...

Red Norvo Red Norvo (born Kenneth Norville; March 31, 1908 – April 6, 1999) was an American musician, one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone as jazz instruments. His recor ...

, Teddy Hill,

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 ...

and Chick Webb. Edgar Sampson became a student of the Schillinger System in the early 1940s. He continued to play sax through the late 1940s and started his own band (1949–51). In the late 1940s through the 1950s, he worked with Latin performers such as Marcelino Guerra,

Tito Rodríguez Pablo Rodríguez Lozada (January 4, 1923 – February 28, 1973), better known as Tito Rodríguez, was a Puerto Rican singer and bandleader. He started his career singing under the tutelage of his brother, Johnny Rodríguez. In the 1940s, both m ...

and

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also k ...

as an arranger. Sampson recorded one album under his own name, ''Swing Softly Sweet Sampson'', in 1956. Due to illness, he stopped working in the late 1960s. His daughter, Grace Sampson, studied music and co-wrote the standard "Mambo Inn" with Mario Bauzá and Bobby Woodlen.

Compositions and arrangements

*"Dark Rapture" (Edgar Sampson, Benny Goodman, Manny Kurtz) *"If Dreams Come True" (Edgar Sampson, Benny Goodman,

Irving Mills Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 18, 1894 Odessa, Ukraine – April 21, 1985) was a music publisher, musician, lyricist, and jazz promoter. He often used the pseudonyms Goody Goodwin and Joe Primrose. Personal life Mills ...

) *"Lullaby in Rhythm" (Edgar Sampson, Benny Goodman, Clarence Profit, Walter Hirsch) *"

" (Edgar Sampson, Benny Goodman,

Andy Razaf Andy Razaf (born Andriamanantena Paul Razafinkarefo; December 16, 1895 – February 3, 1973) was the American lyricist of such well-known songs as " Ain't Misbehavin'" and " Honeysuckle Rose". He was also a composer, poet and vocalist. Biograph ...

) *"Hoopdee Whodee (Edgar Sampson) *"I'll Be Back for More" (Edgar Sampson,

Candido Camero Candido is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Candido Amantini (1914–1992), Italian Roman Catholic priest * Candido Camero, known simply as "Candido" (1921–2020), Cuban percussionist * Candido ...

, Sammy Gallop) *"Happy and Satisfied" (Edgar Sampson, Walter Bishop) *"Cool and Groovy" (Edgar Sampson) *"Blue Lou" (Edgar Sampson, Irving Mills) *"The Blues Made Me Feel This Way" (Edgar Sampson) *"Light and Sweet" (Edgar Sampson, Bill Hardy) *"The Sweetness of You" (Edgar Sampson) *"Don't Be That Way" (Edgar Sampson, Benny Goodman,

Mitchell Parish Mitchell Parish (born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky; July 10, 1900 – March 31, 1993) was an American lyricist, notably as a writer of songs for stage and screen. Biography Parish was born to a Jewish family in Lithuania, Russian Empire in July 190 ...

) (Source: Liner notes from ''Swing Softly Sweet Sampson'', Coral Record CRL 57049 (1957)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Edgar 1907 births 1973 deaths 20th-century American jazz composers American music arrangers Duke Ellington Orchestra members Jazz musicians from New York City Swing composers Swing saxophonists 20th-century American saxophonists American male jazz composers 20th-century American male musicians