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 The Albert system refers to a system of clarinet keywork and fingering developed by Eugène Albert. In the United Kingdom, it is known as the simple system. It has been largely replaced by the Boehm system and Oehler system. Big Band musician ...

, 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 "Big Eye" Louis Nelson Delisle (January 28, 1885 – August 20, 1949) was an American Dixieland jazz clarinetist in New Orleans, Louisiana. He also played double bass, banjo, and accordion. Early life and education Nelson Delisle was born into a ...

. 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 Johnny Dodds (; April 12, 1892 – August 8, 1940) was an American jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist based in New Orleans, best known for his recordings under his own name and with bands such as those of Joe "King" Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, ...

, 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 Albert Nicholas (May 27, 1900 – September 3, 1973) was an American jazz clarinet player, who was mostly based in Europe after 1953. Career Nicholas's primary instrument was the clarinet, which he studied with Lorenzo Tio in his hometown ...

. 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 Armand John "A.J." Piron (August 16, 1888 – February 17, 1943) was an American jazz violinist who led dance bands during the 1910s thru the 1930s. Early life A.J. Piron was born August 16, 1888, to Octave Louis Piron and Marie Jeanne Zerin ...

'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 {{US-clarinetist-stub