Beverly Peer (October 7, 1912 – January 16, 1997) 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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

double-bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

ist.

Peer played piano professionally early in his career before switching to bass. He worked with

Chick Webb William Henry "Chick" Webb (February 10, 1905 – June 16, 1939) was an American jazz and swing music drummer and band leader. Early life Webb was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to William H. and Marie Webb. The year of his birth is disputed. ...

from 1936 to 1939 and continued to play in the orchestra under the direction of

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

. In 1942 he joined

Sabby Lewis William Sebastian "Sabby" Lewis (November 1, 1914 in Middleburg, North Carolina – July 9, 1994) was an American jazz pianist, band leader, and arranger. Biography Lewis was born in Middleburg, North Carolina, United States, but was raised in Phi ...

's orchestra. He also worked extensively as an accompanist for vocalists such as

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "Jazz royalty, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine ...

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

, and

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

. In the 1950s and 1960s he worked with pianists

Barbara Carroll Barbara Carroll (born Barbara Carole Coppersmith; January 25, 1925 – February 12, 2017) was an American jazz pianist and vocalist. Early life and career Carroll was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. She began her classical training in piano at ...

and

Ellis Larkins Ellis Larkins (May 15, 1923 – September 30, 2002) was an American jazz pianist born in Baltimore, Maryland, known for his two recordings with Ella Fitzgerald: the albums '' Ella Sings Gershwin'' (1950) and ''Songs in a Mellow Mood'' (1954). He ...

, and worked with

Bobby Short Robert Waltrip Short (September 15, 1924 – March 21, 2005) was an American cabaret singer and pianist, who interpreted songs by popular composers from the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold ...

from the 1970s into the 1990s, often performing at the

Cafe Carlyle The Carlyle Hotel, known formally as The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, is a combination luxury apartment hotel located at 35 East 76th Street on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and East 76th Street, on the Upper East Side of New York City. O ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He can be heard on

's release "Ella Sings, Chick Swings" as well as other recordings of Ella and the Chick Webb Orchestra. Aside from music, late in his career Peer also had cameo roles in films such as ''

Hannah and Her Sisters ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' is a 1986 American comedy-drama film which tells the intertwined stories of an extended family over two years that begins and ends with a family Thanksgiving dinner. The film was written and directed by Woody Allen, who ...

'' and '' For Love or Money''.

Discography

;As sideman *1953: ''Lucky Thompson & His Lucky Seven'' -

Lucky Thompson Eli "Lucky" Thompson (June 16, 1924 – July 30, 2005) was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist whose playing combined elements of swing music, swing and bebop. Although John Coltrane usually receives the most credit for bringing th ...

, with Harold "Money" Johnson, Jimmy Powell, Clarence Williams, Earl Knight, Beverly Peer and

Percy Brice Austin Percy Brice Jr. (March 25, 1923 – November 2020), nicknamed Big P, was an American jazz drummer. Brice was born in March 1923 in New York City. His professional career began around the end of World War II, when he played with Benny Carter ...

. ''Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians''. Retrieved 7 July 2013.

References

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar when he was eleven or twel ...

Beverly Peer Beverly Peer (October 7, 1912 – January 16, 1997) was an American jazz double-bassist. Peer played piano professionally early in his career before switching to bass. He worked with Chick Webb from 1936 to 1939 and continued to play in the orche ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peer, Beverly 1912 births 1997 deaths American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists 20th-century American musicians 20th-century double-bassists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians