William Beason (March 6, 1908 – August 15, 1988) was an American swing jazz drummer born in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
. At the height of his career, he recorded with
Django Reinhardt.
Life
In 1939, Beason took over the role of drummer in Ella Fitzgerald's orchestra from
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. ...
. He died, aged 80, in
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 ...
.
Discography (in selection)
; With
Dickie Wells and his Orchestra (
Richard Fullbright, Bill Beason,
Django Reinhardt,
Bill Coleman)
* 1937: ''Dinah ! / Nobody's Blues But My Own'' (Swing)
* 1937: ''Japanese Sandman / I Got Rhythm'' (Swing)
* 1937: ''I've Found A New Baby / Hot Club Blues'' (Swing)
* 1937: ''Bugle Call Rag / Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea'' (Swing)
* 1937: ''Sweet Sue / Hangin' Around Boudon'' (Swing)
* 1940: ''Hangin' Around Boudon / I've Found A New Baby'' (Victor)
; With
Ella Fitzgerald and her Orchestra
* 1974: ''Live From The Roseland Ballroom, New York 1940'' (Sunbeam)
* 1987: ''Jazz Live & Rare'' (Delta)
References
External links
Bill Beason (instrumentalist : drums) at University of California Library Discography
American jazz drummers
People from Louisville, Kentucky
1908 births
1988 deaths
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