Lorenzo Tio Jr. (April 21, 1893 – December 24, 1933)
was an American
clarinetist
The clarinet is a single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest woodw ...
from
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, United States.
Biography
Tio was born into a family of musicians, including his father Lorenzo Tio Sr. (1867–1908) and uncle Louis "Papa" Tio (1862–1922).
Their method of playing the instrument (which involved the
Albert system, a
double-lip embouchure and soft reeds) was seminal in the development of the
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 ...
solo.
The three Tios helped bring classical
music theory
Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...
to the ragtime, blues and jazz musicians of New Orleans; Lorenzo Jr. eventually played jazz himself.
Lorenzo Sr. taught
Louis Nelson Delisle. Many reed players significant in early jazz studied with Lorenzo Tio Jr., including
Sidney Bechet
Sidney Joseph Bechet ( ; May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important Solo (music), soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Ar ...
,
Barney Bigard
Albany Leon "Barney" Bigard (March 3, 1906 – June 27, 1980) was an American jazz clarinetist known for his 15-year tenure with Duke Ellington. He also played tenor saxophone.
Biography
Bigard was born in New Orleans to Creoles of color, Cr ...
,
Johnny Dodds,
Omer Simeon,
Louis Cottrell, Jr.,
Jimmie Noone
James "Jimmie" Noone (April 23, 1895 – April 19, 1944) was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. After beginning his career in New Orleans, he led Jimmie Noone's Apex Club Orchestra, a Chicago band that recorded for Vocalion and Decca ...
and
Albert Nicholas.
Tio Jr. taught Bigard what would become the main theme to the
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life.
Born and raised in Washington, D ...
tune, "
Mood Indigo
"Mood Indigo" is a jazz song with music by Duke Ellington and Barney Bigard and lyrics by Irving Mills.
Composition
Although Irving Mills—Jack Mills's brother and publishing partner—took credit for the lyrics, Mitchell Parish claimed in a ...
."
Lorenzo Tio Jr. also played
oboe
The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites.
The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...
. He joined
Manuel Perez's band in
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 1916 and
Armand J. Piron's from 1918 to 1928, and recorded with Piron, Bechet,
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 ...
and
Clarence Williams.
After the dissolution of Piron's orchestra, Tio moved to New York in 1930, performing from 1932 with the orchestra at the Nest club.
He died of heart disease in New York on December 24, 1933, at the age of 40. He was buried in New Orleans on December 31.
References
External links
*
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 ...
*
1893 births
1933 deaths
Jazz musicians from New Orleans
American jazz clarinetists
Dixieland clarinetists
20th-century American musicians
Onward Brass Band members
The Eagle Band members
Imperial Orchestra members
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