René Compère (December 28, 1906 in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

– 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

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, with whom he worked for several years; Jean Omer also played in Compère's orchestra. He recorded with Fernand Coppieters in 1929, then joined

Josephine Baker Freda Josephine Baker (; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American and French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first Black woman to s ...

'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 people, Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Belgium, Belgian-born Romani jazz guitarist and composer in France. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe ...

, 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