William McKinley "Jazz" Gillum (September 11, 1902 or 1904 – March 29, 1966) was an American blues

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

player.

Biography

Gillum was born in

Indianola, Mississippi Indianola is a U.S. city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta. The population was 10,683 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Sunflower County. History In 1891, Minnie M. Cox was appointed postmaster of Indianola, b ...

. He ran away from home at age seven and for the next few years lived in

Charleston, Mississippi Charleston is a city in north central Mississippi and one of the two county seats of Tallahatchie County, which is located on both sides of the Tallahatchie River. This city is located east of the river and its population was 2,193 at the 2010 ...

, working and playing for tips on street corners. He moved to Chicago in 1923, where he met the guitarist

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1903 – August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music Country (also called country and western) is ...

. The

duo Duo may refer to: Places *Duo, West Virginia, an unincorporated community and coal town in Greenbrier County, West Virginia *Duo, Tampere, a shopping centre in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland *DUO, a twin-tower development in Singapore Arts, entertai ...

started working at nightclubs around the city. By 1934 Gillum was recording for ARC Records and

Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is a record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of kids' music, blues and jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. It was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced RCA Victor subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebird became known ...

. Gillum's recordings, under his own name and as a

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo ...

, were included on many of the highly popular "Bluebird beat" recordings produced by

Lester Melrose Lester Franklin Melrose (December 14, 1891 – April 12, 1968) was a talent scout who was one of the first American producers of Chicago blues records. Career Lester Franklin Melrose was born in Sumner, Illinois, the second of six children ...

in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1940, he was the first to record the blues classic "

Key to the Highway "Key to the Highway" is a blues standard that has been performed and recorded by several blues and other artists. Blues pianist Charlie Segar first recorded the song in 1940. Jazz Gillum and Big Bill Broonzy followed with recordings in 1940 ...

" (featuring Broonzy on guitar), utilizing the now-standard melody and eight-bar blues arrangement. (The song had first been recorded a few months earlier by Charlie Segar, with a different melody and a 12-bar blues arrangement.) Gillum's version of the song was covered by Broonzy a few months later, and his version has become the standard arrangement of this now-classic blues song. Gillum's records were some of the earliest featuring blues with electric guitar accompaniment, when the 16-year-old jazz guitarist George Barnes played on several songs on Gillum's 1938 session that produced "Reefer Headed Woman" and others. He joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

in 1942 and served until 1945. Gillum recorded an early version of "

Look on Yonder Wall "Look on Yonder Wall", or "Get Ready to Meet Your Man" as it was first named, is a blues song first recorded in 1945 by James "Beale Street" Clark. Clark, also known as "Memphis Jimmy", was a blues pianist from Memphis, Tennessee. During the 19 ...

" (1946) with

Big Maceo Major Merriweather (March 31, 1905 – February 23, 1953), better known as Big Maceo Merriweather, was an American pianist and blues singer. He was mainly active in Chicago through the 1940s. Career Born in Newnan, Georgia, he was a self-t ...

on piano, which was later popularized by

Elmore James Elmore James ( Brooks; January 27, 1918 – May 24, 1963) was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader. Noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fa ...

. After the Bluebird label folded in the late 1940s, he made few recordings. His last recordings were on a couple of 1961 albums with

Memphis Slim John Len Chatman (September 3, 1915 – February 24, 1988), known professionally as Memphis Slim, was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxoph ...

and the singer and guitarist Arbee Stidham, for

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Servic ...

. On March 29, 1966, Gillum was shot in the head during a street argument and was pronounced

dead on arrival Dead on Scene ('' 'DOS' '') Found dead before first responders get on scene and no medical treatment was given. Dead on arrival (DOA), also dead in the field and brought in dead (BID), are terms which indicate that a patient was found to be ...

at Garfield Park Hospital, in Chicago. He is buried at Restvale Cemetery, in

Alsip, Illinois Alsip is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,063 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. Alsip was settled in the 1830s by German and Dutch farmers. The village is named after Fran ...

. His daughter, Ardella Williams, is a blues singer in Chicago.

References

External links

Gillum discography on Folkways
*
Document Records biography of Gillum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillum, Jazz 1900s births 1966 deaths American blues harmonica players Blues musicians from Mississippi Bluebird Records artists People from Indianola, Mississippi Deaths by firearm in Illinois 20th-century American musicians People from Charleston, Mississippi 20th-century African-American musicians

Biography

See also

References

External links