Morris Ellis "Fruit" White (January 17, 1911 – November 1986) 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 ...

banjoist and guitarist. White was born in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and grew up in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

. He played in the 1920s with

Charlie Creath Charles Cyril Creath (December 30, 1890, Ironton, Missouri – October 23, 1951, Chicago, Illinois), known as Charlie Creath, was an American jazz trumpeter, saxophonist, accordionist, and bandleader. Creath played in traveling circuses and ...

Dewey Jackson Dewey Jackson (June 21, 1900 – January 1, 1994) was an American jazz trumpeter and cornetist. Early life Jackson was a native of St. Louis, Missouri. Career Jackson began playing professionally at an early age, with the Odd Fellows Boys' B ...

and

Ethel Waters Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her no ...

before joining The Missourians in 1928. In 1930,

Cab Calloway Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...

became the leader of the ensemble and White became one of his most important sidemen, and remained with Calloway's band into 1938. He played with

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

in 1941, then left the music industry for good.

General references

* Morris Whiteat ''

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 ...

'' *Howard Rye, "Morris White". '' Grove Jazz'' online {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Morris 1911 births 1986 deaths American jazz banjoists 20th-century American musicians The Cab Calloway Orchestra members