Johnny Dunn (February 19, 1897 – August 20, 1937) was an American

traditional jazz Trad jazz, short for "traditional jazz", is a form of jazz in the United States and Britain that flourished from the 1930s to 1960s, based on the earlier New Orleans Dixieland jazz style. Prominent English trad jazz musicians such as Chris Barb ...

trumpeter The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

and

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

performer, who was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. He is probably best known for his work during the 1920s with musicians such as

Perry Bradford Perry Bradford (February 14, 1893, Montgomery, Alabama – April 20, 1970, New York City) was an African American composer, songwriter, and vaudeville performer. His most notable songs included "Crazy Blues," "That Thing Called Love," and "You C ...

Noble Sissle Noble Lee Sissle (July 10, 1889 – December 17, 1975) was an American jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer, and playwright, best known for the Broadway musical ''Shuffle Along'' (1921), and its hit song "I'm Just Wild About Harry". Ea ...

. He has been compared in sound and style to both King Oliver and Louis Armstrong. In 1922, he recorded as a member of

Mamie Smith Mamie Smith ( Robinson; May 26, 1891 – August or September 16, 1946) was an American singer. As a vaudeville singer, she performed in multiple styles, including jazz and blues. In 1920, she entered blues history as the first African-American a ...

's Jazz Hounds, together with

Garvin Bushell Garvin Bushell ''(né'' Garvin Lamont Payne; September 25, 1902 – October 31, 1991) was an American clarinetist, saxophonist, and bassoonist. He performed with many prominent 20th-century jazz musicians, including Jelly Roll Morton and John Co ...

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first ...

Everett Robbins Everett "Happy" Robbins (1899 – April 16, 1926) was a Chicago-based pianist,Bubber Miley Bubber is a nickname and surname which may refer to: People: * Bubber or Bubba Brooks (1922-2002), American jazz tenor saxophonist * James Bubber Epps (born 1943), American politician * Clarence James Bubber Jonnard (1897-1977), American Major Leag ...

and

Herb Flemming Herb Flemming (April 5, 1898 – October 3, 1976) was an American jazz trombonist and vocalist who played extensively in Europe. Early life Flemming was born Nicolaiih El-Michelle, and was of North African descent. Flemming studied music an ...

As bandleader

As a bandleader, he led the following lineups: *Johnny Dunn's Original Jazz Hounds (1921-3):

, Herschel Brassfield, Elmer Chambers, Charlie Dixon, Earl Granstaff, Ernest Ellis,

, Robert Horton, Harry Hull, Charles E. Jackson, George Mitchell, Rollen Smith, Dan Wilson,

Sam Wooding Samuel David Wooding (17 June 1895–1 August 1985) was an American jazz pianist, arranger and bandleader living and performing in Europe and the United States. Career Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, between 1921 and 19 ...

George Rickson George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorg ...

, and Bob Ricketts (arranger) *Johnny Dunn and his Jazz Band (1923): Sam Speed, Leroy Tibbs, others unknown *Johnny Dunn and his Original Jazz Band (1923):

, Herschel Brassfield, Earl Granstaff, Harry Hull, George Mitchell, Rollen Smith, George Rickson, Sam Speed and Jesse Baltimore *Edith Wilson and Johnny Dunn's Jazz Hounds (1921-4): Dope Andrews,

, Herschel Brassfield, Ernest Elliot,

, Harry Hull, Leroy Parker,

Edith Wilson Edith Wilson ( Bolling, formerly Galt; October 15, 1872 – December 28, 1961) was First Lady of the United States from 1915 to 1921 as the second wife of President Woodrow Wilson. She married the widower Wilson in December 1915, during his firs ...

, Dan Wilson *Johnny Dunn and his Band (1928):

James P. Johnson James Price Johnson (February 1, 1894 – November 17, 1955) was an American pianist and composer. A pioneer of stride piano, he was one of the most important pianists in the early era of recording, and like Jelly Roll Morton, one of the key ...

, John Mitchell,

Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe ( Lemott, later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American blues and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer of Louisiana Creole descent. Morton was jazz ...

, Mort Perry, and

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and singer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. A widely popular star ...

Recordings

In 1928, Dunn recorded four tracks with

, and two more with both

and

. Although he is either the bandleader or is featured on many recordings from about 1923 on, he never made any more recordings after 1928, and relocated permanently to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Personal life

Dunn died of tuberculosis aged 40 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in August 1937, but his playing style was so out of fashion, that he was largely forgotten by that time.

Influence

In 1921, Dunn's trumpet playing style, with a plunger, inspired

Tricky Sam Nanton Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton (February 1, 1904 – July 20, 1946) was an American trombonist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. A pioneer of the plunger mute, Nanton is notable for his use of the distinctive wah-wah effect. Early life He was born ...

to use the plunger with the trombone. This became known as the wah-wah effect. Two stories circulate about Dunn's visit to the Sunset Café to embarrass a young Louis Armstrong. In one story, Dunn stumbled around an unfamiliar key after asking Armstrong to yield his horn; in another story, Dunn and Armstrong dueled by alternating choruses until Armstrong won.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Johnny 1897 births 1937 deaths American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters American vaudeville performers Dixieland trumpeters American jazz bandleaders Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American trumpeters Jazz musicians from Tennessee 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians