Harry Shields (June 30, 1899 – January 19, 1971) 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 ...

clarinetist The clarinet is a single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest woodw ...

Background

Shields was born in

Uptown New Orleans Uptown is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, on the east bank of the Mississippi River, encompassing a number of neighborhoods (including the similarly named and smaller Uptown area) between the French Quarter and the Jeffer ...

, the younger brother of noted clarinetist

Larry Shields Lawrence James Shields (September 13, 1893 – November 21, 1953) was an early American dixieland jazz clarinetist. He was a member of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, the first jazz band to record commercially. Background Shields was born i ...

. He spent almost his entire career in New Orleans. He played with the bands of

Norman Brownlee Norman Edward Brownlee (Feb 7, 1896 - April 9, 1967) was born in Algiers, Orleans Parish, Louisiana. He was a pioneer jazz musician and led (and played piano with) a very popular orchestra in New Orleans in the 1920s, Brownlee's Orchestra of New ...

Sharkey Bonano Joseph Gustaf "Sharkey" Bonano (April 9, 1904 – March 27, 1972), also known as Sharkey Banana or Sharkey Bananas, was an American jazz trumpeter, band leader, and vocalist. His musical abilities were sometimes overlooked because of his lo ...

Tom Brown Tom Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Brown (satirist) (1662–1704), English satirical writer *Tom Brown (trombonist) (1888–1958), American jazz trombonist and bandleader *Tom Brown (actor) (1913–1990), American film and televi ...

Johnny Wiggs Johnny Wiggs (born John Wigginton Hyman, July 25, 1899 - October 10, 1977) was a jazz musician and band leader. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, Wiggs started his music career on the violin. He soon adopted the cornet and moved ...

, and others. Many fellow musicians regarded Harry as superior to his more famous brother, Larry. Johnny Wiggs commented that Shields was the only clarinetist he'd heard who could always play the right note without fail.

References

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Song of Harry Shields on Apple Music
1899 births 1971 deaths Dixieland clarinetists Jazz musicians from New Orleans American jazz clarinetists 20th-century American musicians {{US-clarinetist-stub