James Hal Kemp (March 27, 1904 – December 21, 1940) 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 ...

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

ist, bandleader, composer, and arranger.

Biography

Hal Kemp was born in Marion, Alabama. He formed his first band in high school, and by the age of 19 led a

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

band, the Carolina Club Orchestra. They sailed to England, where they made their first recordings in London, and on their return journey made the acquaintance of

the Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

, who performed with them. As a result, the band was mentioned in US press reports, and on their return received several offers of contracts. In 1927, Kemp formed his own orchestra, which at various times featured Skinnay Ennis, Bunny Berigan, and John Scott Trotter, and the band became a popular jazz orchestra in the late 1920s. Biography by Bruce Eder, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 3 March 2020 Hal Kemp: Biography, ''Parabrisas.com''
Retrieved 3 March 2020 In the 1930s, with the economic and social challenges of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, Kemp's band became better known for more soothing "sweet"

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

. From 1932 to 1934, they performed at the Blackhawk Restaurant in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and appeared regularly on radio broadcasts. They became well-known nationally, and secured a contract with

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History 1916–1929 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing ...

. Most of the vocals on their recordings were by Skinnay Ennis, whose vocal style and the

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 by Trotter, which featured staccato triplets by the trumpeters and clarinets played through

megaphone A megaphone, speaking trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loudhailer is usually a portable or hand-held, cone-shaped horn (acoustic), acoustic horn used to amplifier, amplify a person's voice or other sounds and direct it in a given direction. ...

s, gave Kemp's records a distinctive sound. Kemp and his orchestra had a number of hit records, including " Shuffle Off to Buffalo" (1933), "In the Middle of a Kiss" (1935), "

There's a Small Hotel "There's a Small Hotel" is a 1936 song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. Originally written for but dropped from the musical ''Billy Rose's Jumbo'' (1935), it was used in ''On Your Toes'' (1936), where it was introduced by R ...

" (1936), "When I'm With You" (1936), " This Year's Kisses" (1937), and " Where or When" (1937). From 1937, Kemp recorded for Victor Records. His other recordings included "Got A Date With An Angel", "Heart Of Stone", "Lamplight", " The Music Goes 'Round And Around", " You're The Top", "Bolero", " Gloomy Sunday", " Lullaby Of Broadway", and many others. In 1936, John Scott Trotter left, being succeeded as arranger by Hal Mooney and Lou Busch. Ennis left in 1938, and Bob Allen became the band's featured singer. With the rising popularity of swing bands such as those of

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

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombone, trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-to ...

, the popularity of Kemp's orchestra declined and there were many changes in band membership, though they continued to make film appearances. Hal Kemp died in

Madera, California Madera (Spanish language, Spanish for "Lumber") is a city in and the county seat of Madera County, California, Madera County, located in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Founded in 1876 as a timber town at the terminus of a major logging f ...

in 1940, aged 36, following a road accident while driving from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to a performance in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in foggy conditions. His car was hit by an oncoming truck, and he died in hospital from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

two days later. The orchestra remained operational for some time after Kemp's death, led by singer

Art Jarrett Arthur L. Jarrett Jr. (July 20, 1907 – July 23, 1987) was an American singer, bandleader and actor during the 1930s and 1940s. He was the son of stage actor and playwright Arthur L. Jarrett Sr. (1884–1960). Early career Near the end of th ...

, but disbanded in the early 1940s.

Marriages and Family

Hal Kemp was married twice. In 1932 he wed Bessie Slaughter, of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. They had two children — daughter Sally, and son Hal Jr. The couple were divorced in July, 1938. Kemp married again on January 13, 1939, to New York Society

debutante A debutante, also spelled débutante ( ; from , ), or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and is presented to society at a formal "debut" ( , ; ) or possibly debutante ball. Origin ...

Martha Stephenson, in Pittsburgh. They had one daughter, Helen Stephenson Kemp.

References

External links

Hal Kemp recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Hal Dance band bandleaders Swing saxophonists Swing clarinetists Swing bandleaders American jazz alto saxophonists American male saxophonists American jazz clarinetists American jazz bandleaders American male jazz composers American music arrangers American big band bandleaders 1904 births 1940 deaths University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni People from Marion, Alabama Road incident deaths in California Vocalion Records artists RCA Victor artists 20th-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Alabama 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American jazz composers Deaths from pneumonia in California American expatriate musicians American expatriates in England