Thomas "Papa Mutt" Carey (September 17, 1891 – September 3, 1948) 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 The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

Early life

Carey was born in

Hahnville, Louisiana Hahnville is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the parish seat of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,792 at the 2000 census and 2,959 in 2020. It was founded by former governor Michael Hahn. Geography Hahn ...

, and moved to New Orleans with his family in his youth. His older brother Jack Carey was a

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

player and bandleader; Mutt was playing

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

in his brother's band by about 1912.

Career

Although Carey's early work was with brass bands in the New Orleans area (1913–17), in 1914, he started working with

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 ...

Zieff, Bob
"Carey, (Papa) Mutt".
''Grove Music Online''. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 26 November 2022. and would continue to do so, on and off, through the 1910s. After touring the

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

circuits in 1917, he returned to New Orleans in 1918 and then went to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

with Ory in 1919, eventually taking over leadership of the band when Ory left in 1925. Carey's big band, the Jeffersonians, appeared in the silent films '' The Legion of the Condemned'' and '' The Road to Ruin'' (both 1928). Carey rejoined Ory's band from around 1929 to 1933, when the lack of work during the Depression led him to work as a Pullman porter. In 1941, he was a pallbearer at the funeral of

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 ...

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, ...

. In March 1944 Carey rejoined Ory in an all-star band that was a leader of the West Coast revival of traditional New Orleans jazz, put together for the CBS Radio series '' The Orson Welles Almanac''. The All Star Jazz Group also included Ed Garland,

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 ...

(succeeded by

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 ...

), Bud Scott,

Zutty Singleton Arthur James "Zutty" Singleton (May 14, 1898 – July 14, 1975) was an American jazz drummer. Career Singleton was born in Bunkie, Louisiana, United States, and raised in New Orleans. According to his ''Jazz Profiles'' biography, his unusual ...

and Buster Wilson. Renamed Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band, the group then made a significant series of recordings on the

Crescent Records Crescent Records was an American independent record label that produced jazz recordings from 1944 to 1946. It was founded by Nesuhi Ertegun to record a band that was assembled to perform on CBS Radio's 1944 variety series ''The Orson Welles Almana ...

label. Ertegun, Nesuhi. Liner notes for ''Tailgate! Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band''. Good Time Jazz Records L-10 and L-11, 1953, also used for Good Time Jazz Records L-12022, 1957. Carey left Ory's band in 1947 to lead a group under his own name.

Personal life

Carey died in Lake Elsinore, California, on September 3, 1948, aged 56.

References

External links

Mutt Carey 1891-1948
at the Red Hot Jazz Archive

at The Kid Ory Archive

at The Kid Ory Archive
Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band: 1944–1945 The Legendary Crescent Recording Sessions
at

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 ...

(

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 ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Carey, Mutt 1891 births 1948 deaths African-American jazz musicians American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Dixieland trumpeters Jazz musicians from New Orleans Jazz musicians from Chicago People from Hahnville, Louisiana Savoy Records artists American vaudeville performers 20th-century American trumpeters 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Tuxedo Brass Band members 20th-century African-American musicians