} Michael Joseph O'Sullivan (November 4, 1906 – October 13, 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 ...

pianist. Sullivan was the ninth child of Irish immigrant parents. He studied classical piano for 12 years and at age 17, he began to play popular music in silent-movie theaters, on radio stations, and then with the dance orchestras, where he was exposed to jazz. He graduated from the Chicago Conservatory and was an important contributor to the Chicago jazz scene of the 1920s. Sullivan's recording career began towards the end of 1927, when he joined McKenzie and Condon's Chicagoans. Other musicians in his circle included Jimmy McPartland, Frank Teschemacher, Bud Freeman, Jim Lanigan and

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. Krupa is widely regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo on Benny Goodman ...

. In 1932 he was a member of recording group the Rhythmakers. In 1933, he joined

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

as his accompanist, recording and making many radio broadcasts. He contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in 1936, and while he was convalescing at a sanitarium in

Monrovia, California Monrovia is a city in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Monrovia is the fourth-oldest General-law municipality, general-law city in Los Angeles County and the L ...

in 1937, Crosby organized and appeared in a five-hour benefit for him at the

Pan-Pacific Auditorium The Pan-Pacific Auditorium was a landmark structure in the Fairfax District, Los Angeles, California, Fairfax District of Los Angeles, California. It once stood near the site of Gilmore Field, an early Los Angeles baseball venue predating Dodger ...

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, ...

on May 23, 1937 in front of an audience of six thousand. The show was broadcast over two different radio stations, with fourteen bands attending (including those led by

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) 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 roo ...

Ray Noble Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 3 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United S ...

Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards " I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary Peopl ...

, Jimmy Grier,

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (; December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American trumpeter, singer, entertainer, and bandleader. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he ...

, Harry Owens, and Victor Young) and other performers included Connie Boswell,

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

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 ...

, and Ella Logan. Approximately $3,000 was raised for Sullivan. After suffering for two years with tuberculosis, he briefly re-joined Bing Crosby in 1938 and the

Bob Crosby George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younge ...

Orchestra in 1939. In 1940, when leading Joe Sullivan's Cafe Society Orchestra, he had a minor hit with "

I've Got a Crush on You "I've Got a Crush on You" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It is unique among Gershwin compositions in that it was used for two different Broadway productions: ''Treasure Girl'' (1928), when it was introduced by ...

". By the 1950s, Sullivan was largely forgotten, playing solo 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 ...

. Marital difficulties and excessive drinking caused Sullivan to become increasingly unreliable and unable to keep a steady job, either as band member or soloist. In 1963, Sullivan met up with old colleagues Jack and Charlie Teagarden plus Pee Wee Russell when they performed at the

Monterey Jazz Festival The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jazz ...

. The British poet (and jazz pianist) Roy Fisher celebrated Sullivan's playing with a poem, "The Thing About Joe Sullivan", Joe Sullivan died in San Francisco in October 1971, at the age of 64.

Discography

* 1933: ''Gin Mill Blues'' ( Columbia) * 1935: ''Little Rock Getaway'' (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

) * 1941: ''Forevermore'' ( Commodore) * 1953: ''Jazz, Vol. 9: Piano'' ( Folkways) * 1953: ''Hangover Blues'' ( Brunswick) * 1953: '' New Solos by an Old Master'' ( Riverside) * 1954: ''Joe Sullivan Plays Fats Waller'' (

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

) * 1956: ''Mr. Piano Man'' (Down Home) * 1961: ''Chicago And All That Jazz!'' ( Verve) * 1966: ''The Asch Recordings, 1939 to 1947 - Vol. 1: Blues, Gospel, and Jazz'' (Folkways) * 1973: ''The Musical Moods of Joe Sullivan: Piano'' (Folkways)

References

External links

Joe Sullivan Bio at Red Hot Jazz Archive

Sullivan Discography on Folkways
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Joe 1906 births 1971 deaths Jazz musicians from Chicago American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists Riverside Records artists Swing pianists Vocalion Records artists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians