William John Harty (14 January 1899

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

– 29 May 1959 Los Angeles, California) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

born dance band drummer.

Career

Born in

in 1899, Harty moved to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and took up the drums while working for the Dunlop Tyre Company. He played with various local bands on the early Birmingham jazz scene before deputising with an American band at the

Birmingham Palais The Palais de Dance or Birmingham Palais was a dance hall on Monument Road in the Ladywood district of Birmingham, England. One of the earliest jazz clubs in England, it was the only major provincial English jazz venue during the inter-war period, ...

. He toured around Europe for much of the 1920s before returning to England to play with bands led by Harry Shalson, Al Starita,

Jean Pougnet Jean Pougnet (20 July 1907 – 14 July 1968) was a Mauritius, Mauritian-born concert violinist and orchestra concertmaster, leader, of British nationality, who was highly regarded in both the lighter and more serious classical repertoire during th ...

, Bill Gerhardi,

Percival Mackey Thomas Percival Montague Mackey (1 June 1894 – 23 November 1950) was a British pianist, composer and bandleader. He is particularly known for his work as a composer and musical director for films during the 1930s and 1940s. Life and career Mac ...

Arthur Lally Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more ...

and

Lew Stone Louis Stone known professionally as Lew Stone (28 June 1898 – 13 February 1969) was a British bandleader and arranger of the British dance band era, and was well known in Britain during the 1930s. He was known as a skillful, innovative a ...

. He was

Ray Noble Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 2 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United ...

's preferred drummer for the studio recordings he made with The New Mayfair Dance Orchestra between 1929–1934 In 1934, Harty also became Noble's manager, sailing to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with him and vocalist

Al Bowlly Albert Allick Bowlly (7 January 1898 – 17 April 1941) was a Mozambican-born South African–British vocalist and jazz guitarist, who was popular during the 1930s in Britain. He recorded more than 1,000 songs. His most popular songs include ...

later that year, to organise a touring band there. He remained Noble's manager and drummer into the 1950s.

Bibliography

Notes

References

* ; , ; . {{DEFAULTSORT:Harty, Bill 1899 births 1959 deaths British jazz drummers People from Waterford (city)