Henry "Kid" Rena (August 30, 1898 – April 25, 1949) 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 ...

trumpeter, who was an early star of the New Orleans jazz scene.

Biography

He was born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, United States. Rena may have taken lessons from Manuel Perez as a youngster. He and

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

played in the same waif's home band, and when Armstrong joined the band on the ''S.S. Capitol'', Rena was named his replacement in

Kid Ory Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, Trombone, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of Music of New Orle ...

's band in 1919. He played with Ory until 1922, when Ory moved to

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, ...

; that year Rena formed his own band. This ensemble played all the New Orleans jazz houses regularly and played

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1923–24. He led the Eureka Brass Band in the late 1920s, remaining with them until 1932, when he formed his own

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

. Rena was hit hard by the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, and he eked out a living locally in New Orleans playing old-style jazz as it waned in popularity in favor of

swing jazz 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. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement ...

. In 1940, Heywood Hale Broun asked Kid Rena to record. Eight recordings were made in total, done at the Hotel Roosevelt and recorded by local radio station WWL on August 21, 1940. Rena's prowess as a live soloist was legendary, but by the time he recorded, he had lost much of his technical ability, and the recordings were of poor quality. Joe Rene (Kid Rena's brother and drummer on the session) said that Kid refrained from playing high notes on the recording session because "he didn't want anyone to get his style". The recordings are widely regarded as the first recordings of the revival of the New Orleans style in the 1940s. The records were released on Delta Records, a label only used to release these eight recordings as four singles. Later, Circle Records acquired the masters, and the material was reissued by

Riverside Records Riverside Records was an American jazz record company and label. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Jr, under his firm Bill Grauer Productions in 1953, the label played an important role in the jazz record industry for a decade. Riversid ...

as albums. In the 1990s the material, alongside some previously unreleased rehearsal recordings, appeared on compact disc from American Music Records. Rena never recorded again; he was an

alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...

, and failing health led him to stop playing in 1947. He died two years later, at the age of 50.

References

External links

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

, Kid Renaat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Kid Rena (1898-1949)
at the Red Hot Jazz Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Rena, Kid 1898 births 1949 deaths American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters 20th-century American trumpeters Jazz musicians from Louisiana 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Eureka Brass Band members