Pete Daily (May 5, 1911 – August 23, 1986) was an American

dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...

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 ...

cornetist and valve trombonist.

Career

Born Thaman Pierce Daily in

Portland, Indiana Portland is a city in and the county seat of Jay County, Indiana, United States. The population was 6,320 at the 2020 census, History Portland was platted in 1837. It was named after Portland, Maine. The Jay County Courthouse, Portland Com ...

, he started his career in 1930, playing with various bands in and around

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 1942, he moved to the West Coast and, after service in World War II, formed Pete Daily and his Chicagoans. The Chicagoans also recorded as Dixie by Daily, and Pete Daily's Dixieland Band, for the Capitol, Jump, and

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

labels. Dixieland music enjoyed a renaissance in 1949 on records, radio, live shows, and motion pictures. Pete Daily was very much in demand, playing at the fashionable Sardi's nightclub in Hollywood. Daily left the engagement in March 1, 1950, to embark on a national tour; his spot at Sardi's was taken by

Red Nichols Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols (May 8, 1905 – June 28, 1965) was an American jazz cornetist, composer, and jazz bandleader. He was one of the most prolific and influential jazz musicians in the late 1920s and early 1930s, appearing on over 4,000 ...

. In 1951 Daily attracted enough notice to be signed for two feature films: the minstrel-show revue '' Yes Sir, Mr. Bones'' and the musical '' Rhythm Inn'' (in which Daily appeared with Wingy Manone, Matty Matlock, and other veterans in a jam session). That same year, Daily and his band appeared in Snader Telescriptions, three-minute musical films produced for television. In 1954, during the filming of '' Pete Kelly's Blues'', actor

Jack Webb John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, Television director, director, and screenwriter, most famous for his role as Joe Friday in the Dragnet (franchise), ''Dragnet'' franchise ...

, the cornet-playing star of the film, repeatedly went to the nightclub where Daily performed to study his mannerisms for his role in the film. The band which recorded the soundtrack appeared at dixieland festivals, supported by Pete Daily's band. Daily played long engagements at several Hollywood nightclubs in the 1950s including The Royal Room, The Hangover, Mike Lyman's, the Beverly Caverns, and the Astors in Studio City. He continued to play during the 1970s until a stroke in 1979 forced him to retire. His driving style on the cornet endeared him to generations of dixieland jazz enthusiasts.

Family

He was married to the former Faye O'Brien (July 6, 1915 – February 3, 1973). In 1973, Pete married his second wife Florence, who died in 1974 as a result of burns received in a house fire. Over the years since his death, two women have claimed to have been married to him between 1974 and 1986, but have not produced marriage licenses or dates to support this. He and Faye had six children: Patricia (December 9, 1936 - May 26, 2014); Kathleen (June 11, 1938 - 2008); Maureen; Dennis and Pete (both deceased); and Tim (October 27, 1947 - 2008).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daily, Pete Dixieland cornetists Swing cornetists 1911 births 1986 deaths People from Portland, Indiana 20th-century American musicians