Vernon Ford Story (November 16, 1922 – April 20, 2007) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.

Early life

Story was born in

New Iberia, Louisiana New Iberia (; ) is the largest city in and the parish seat of Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Iberia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The city of New Iberia is located approximately southeast of Lafayette, Louisiana, Lafayette, and forms part of ...

. He was encouraged to take up the clarinet as a child by his uncle, Clarence Todd, a professional composer and pianist. Todd wrote music for and performed with many artists, including

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

, clarinet player

Sidney Bechet Sidney Joseph Bechet ( ; May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important Solo (music), soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Ar ...

, and pianist

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and singer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. A widely popular star ...

. Story’s family moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1930 and by his early teens, he was playing the tenor saxophone with his friends. They formed many small bands and played at local venues in and around

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

Career

In 1946, Rex Stewart, who had just left the Duke Ellington Band, put together a small orchestra to tour Europe as guests of the Hot Club de France. Members included Rex Stewart on cornet, Sandy Williams on trombone and pianist Don Gais. The group visited

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. They also made many recordings between 1946 and 1949, including one of Story’s signature song, "Vernon’s Story" and another of his compositions, "Storyville." Their first concert was at the

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by the acoustician Gustave Lyon together with the architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed i ...

in Paris. They toured major cities Marseilles, Bordeaux and Toulouse, Lyons and Lille. They also performed in

Béziers Béziers (; ) is a city in southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. Every August Béziers ho ...

Carcassonne Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department. ...

, and

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

. Story and some of the other musicians stayed on in Paris while Rex Stewart went to Germany, though he joined him for venues in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Story played with notable jazz musician in Paris, including guitarist

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 ...

. Becoming a well-known figure in the Paris jazz community, Story inspired the name of a character in a novel by

Boris Vian Boris Vian (; 10 March 1920 – 23 June 1959) was a French polymath who is primarily remembered for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan were bizarre parodies of criminal fiction, highly controversial at the time of th ...

. Story arranged venues for subsets of the original band in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, and

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. He also made a cameo appearance as an American jazz player in a Swedish thriller movie, ''Kvinnan Som Försvann''. The Rex Stewart Band, including Story, played at the first Nice Jazz Festival in 1948, probably the first formal international jazz festival. Headliners and fellow musicians that he reminisced of included family friend

and English jazz musician, broadcaster and musicologist Humphrey Lyttelton. Story moved back to the booming tourist center of

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

, in late-1948, playing solo and also with his own band.

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

, who had become a friend when they met during the tour to Europe, often visited him whilst playing gigs in Atlantic City.

Personal life

When interest in the

Bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

genre declined, Story moved with his family to Irvington, New York. He played occasional sessions there and in Pleasantville, New Jersey, before leaving the professional music business and moving to

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, in 1992. Story died in his sleep early on April 20, 2007, in Rio Vista, California. He was 84. Story had combated prostate cancer for many years but he remained strong and active until the final few months of his illness.

Selected discography

* "Buzz Bomb" - Vernon Story and His Tenor Sax accompanied by Rex Stewart Orchestra - Dial Records 755-B - 78 RPM. Probably recorded in 1946. * "I Giganti Del Jazz No. 47" ("Giants of Jazz") - Vernon Story, Johnny Harris, Rex Stewart and Sandy Williams. * "Jazz In Paris, Champs-Élysées, Vol. 1. 1917 to 1949" * "Rex Stewart - 1946-1947" - Rex Stewart Orchestra * "Ellingtonia" - Rex Stewart Orchestra - Dial 215 - Recorded December 9 and 10, 1947 - Includes

* "Rex Stewart - 1948-1949" - Rex Stewart Orchestra - The first track is "Vernon's Story". * "Rex Stewart Memorial Album." - Black Panther B.LP. 001 eissued as Prestige 728 and SV 2006 * "Boy Meets Horn / Don't Get Around Much Anymore" - Rex Stewart and His Orchestra - Blue Star. * "Be-Bop Boogie / Just Squeeze Me" - Rex Stewart and His Orchestra - Blue Star. * "Be Bop Boogie / I Cried For You" - Rex Stewart and His Orchestra - Blue Star. * "Americans In Sweden" - 1951 - Tracks 8-13 with Ted Curry, John Harris, Honey Johnson and Sandy Williams. * "

Et Le Quintette Du Hot Club De France" - Tracks B5 & B6. * "Swing Classics" - ET 13 - Hot Lips Page 1951/ Rex Stewart 1947.

References

External links

Jens "Jesse" Lindgren

Vernon Story Interview in 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Story, Vernon American jazz tenor saxophonists American male saxophonists 1922 births 2007 deaths Bebop saxophonists 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians American expatriates in France