Julian Dash (April 9, 1916 – February 25, 1974)
was an American
swing music
Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...
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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
tenor saxophonist
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while t ...
born in
Charleston, South Carolina, United States,
probably better known for his work with
Erskine Hawkins
Erskine Ramsay Hawkins (July 26, 1914 – November 11, 1993) was an American trumpeter and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is best remembered for composing the jazz standard " Tuxedo Junction ...
and
Buck Clayton
Wilbur Dorsey "Buck" Clayton (November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter who was a member of Count Basie's orchestra. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong, first hearing the record "Confessin' That I Love You" ...
.
Dash was a member of the
Bama State Collegians
The Bama State Collegians is a student jazz orchestra made up of students at Alabama State University. This group was organized in the late 1920s by Len Bowden, Fess Whatley, and Paul Bascomb. Bowden went on to direct the Navy's music program at C ...
, which later became the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra.
He is recognised, with Hawkins and fellow sax player
Bill Johnson, in composing the swing tune "
Tuxedo Junction
"Tuxedo Junction" is a popular song written by Erskine Hawkins, Bill Johnson, and Julian Dash with lyrics by Buddy Feyne. The song was introduced by Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra, a college dance band previously known as the Bama State Coll ...
",
which became an immense hit when recorded by other (mainly white) bands, notably that of
Glenn Miller
Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...
.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Dash recorded for the
Sittin' in With label and later was on
Vee-Jay Records
Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll.
The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...
with his sextets. His renditions of "Devil's Lament" and "Dance of the Mother Bird" on Sittin' In With and his "Zig Zag" on the Vee Jay label were hits in the black community.
Dash can be heard at his best in 1953 on two of the Buck Clayton Jam Sessions,
in which extended versions of songs ("The Huckle-Buck" to 63 choruses) were recorded by Vanguard to exploit the newly developed length of LP records. All of the six sessions were later released by Columbia as thematic album LPs and by Lone Hill as CDs, also in complete versions by Mosaic. On 6 March 1972, Dash recorded prominently with fellow tenor saxist
Buddy Tate
George Holmes "Buddy" Tate (February 22, 1913 – February 10, 2001) was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.
Biography
Tate was born in Sherman, Texas, United States, and first played the alto saxophone. According to the website All ...
as one of
Jay McShann
James Columbus "Jay" McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader. He led bands in Kansas City, Missouri, that included Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson, Walter Brown, and ...
's All-Stars on seven titles of Kansas City-styled tunes.
Discography
*''Complete Recordings 1950–1953'' (Blue Moon Records, 2004)
;With
Buck Clayton
Wilbur Dorsey "Buck" Clayton (November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter who was a member of Count Basie's orchestra. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong, first hearing the record "Confessin' That I Love You" ...
*''
The Huckle-Buck and Robbins' Nest'' (Columbia, 1954)
*''
How Hi the Fi
''How Hi the Fi'', subtitled ''A Buck Clayton Jam Session'', is an album by trumpeter Buck Clayton which was recorded in 1953 and 1954 and released on the Columbia label.Jumpin' at the Woodside
"Jumpin' at the Woodside" is a song first recorded in 1938 by the Count Basie Orchestra, and considered one of the band's signature tunes. When first released it reached number 11 on the ''Billboard'' charts and remained on them for four weeks. ...
'' (Columbia, 1955)
*''
All the Cats Join In
''All the Cats Join In'' is a song written by Ray Gilbert, Eddie Sauter and Alec Wilder, and first recorded by Benny Goodman. It later was a track on an LP with the same title by trumpeter Buck Clayton.
Benny Goodman
Curiously, Goodman rec ...
'' (Columbia 1956)
References
External links
*
Ron Wynn
Ron Wynn is a music critic, author, and AllMusic editor. Wynn was the editor of the first edition of '' The All Music Guide to Jazz'' (1994), and from 1993 to 1994 served as the jazz and rap editor of the ''All Music Guide''. Wynn is the former e ...
,
Julian Dashat
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
1916 births
1974 deaths
American jazz saxophonists
American male saxophonists
Musicians from Charleston, South Carolina
20th-century American saxophonists
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
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