René Compère (December 28, 1906 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

– April 24, 1969 in Brussels) was a Belgian

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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

trumpeter. Compère played with Billy Smith's Brussels-based band in 1923 before founding his own ensemble, the New Royal Dance Orchestra. As a member of Smith's group, he met

Charles Remue Charles Remue (15 October 1903 – 5 February 1971) was a Belgian clarinetist, alto saxophone player and bandleader of early jazz, who, while leading a band called Chas. Remue & His New Stompers, recorded what are widely considered to be t ...

, with whom he worked for several years;

Jean Omer Jean Omer (September 9, 1912, Nivelles – May 30, 1994, Brussels) was a Belgian jazz reedist and bandleader. Omer played violin before switching to clarinet and saxophone, playing with local groups in Strassburg and Brussels. He worked in France ...

also played in Compère's orchestra. He recorded with

Fernand Coppieters Fernand Coppieters (March 3, 1905, Brussels – September 9, 1981, Brussels) was a Belgian jazz and light music keyboardist. Primarily known as a pianist and organist, he also occasionally played accordion, saxophone, and violin. He was the father o ...

in 1929, then joined Josephine Baker's backing band for several European tours in the first half of the 1930s. He was hired to play aboard the ship SS ''Normandie'' for

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film ...

voyages. In 1937 he played at the Paris Exposition with

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

, then worked in France with Joe Bouillon and in Belgium with Joe Heyne. During World War II he recorded with .

References

*Robert Pernet, "René Compère". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. 2nd edition, ed.

Barry Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at ...

. *Robert Pernet, ''Belgian Jazz Discography (1897-1999)''. Brussels, 1999. {{DEFAULTSORT:Compere, Rene Belgian jazz trumpeters Musicians from Brussels 1906 births 1981 deaths 20th-century trumpeters