Robert Sherwood Haggart (March 13, 1914
– December 2, 1998)
was an American
dixieland jazz
Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ...
double bass player, composer, and arranger. Although he is associated with dixieland, he was one of the finest rhythm bassists of the Swing Era.
Music career
In 1935, Haggart became a member of the
Bob Crosby
George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younge ...
Band.
He arranged and composed "
Big Noise from Winnetka
"Big Noise from Winnetka" is a jazz song co-written by composer and bass player Bob Haggart and drummer Ray Bauduc with lyrics by Gil Rodin and Bob Crosby, who were members of a sub-group of the Bob Crosby Orchestra called "The Bobcats". They a ...
",
"My Inspiration", "
What's New?
What's New?" is a 1939 popular song composed by Bob Haggart, with lyrics by Johnny Burke.
It was originally an instrumental tune titled "I'm Free" by Haggart in 1938, when Haggart was a member of Bob Crosby and His Orchestra. The tune was writt ...
",
and "South Rampart Street Parade". He remained with the band until it dissolved in 1942,
then began working as session musician, with much of his time spent at
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...
.
He recorded with
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...
,
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...
,
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing".
From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...
, and
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 ...
; his
arrangement
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
s can be heard on Fitzgerald's album ''Lullabies of Birdland''. Haggart also starred in several commercials for L&M cigarettes on the radio program "Gunsmoke", including the March 4, 1956 episode, "The Hunter".
He and
Yank Lawson
John Rhea "Yank" Lawson (May 3, 1911 – February 18, 1995) was an American jazz trumpeter known for Dixieland and swing music.
Born John Lausen in 1911, from 1933 to 1935 he worked in Ben Pollack's orchestra and after that became a founding ...
formed the Lawson-Haggart Band, and they also led the
World's Greatest Jazz Band The World's Greatest Jazz Band was an all-star jazz ensemble active from 1968 to 1978.
Dick Gibson founded the group at his sixth Jazz Party, an annual event. The group performed mostly Dixieland jazz and recorded extensively. It was co-led by ...
from 1968 until 1978.
He appeared at jazz festivals until his death on December 2, 1998 in Venice, Florida.
Discography
* ''Strictly from Dixie'' (
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
, 1960)
* ''Big Noise from Winnetka'' (
Command
Command may refer to:
Computing
* Command (computing), a statement in a computer language
* COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS
* Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards
* ...
, 1962)
* ''Live at the Roosevelt Grill'' (
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
, 1970)
* ''What's New?'' (Atlantic, 1971)
* ''Makes a Sentimental Journey'' (
Jazzology
Jazzology Records is an American jazz record company and label. It is part of the Jazzology group of labels owned and operated by the George H. Buck Jr. Jazz Foundation.
Jazzology Records was founded in 1949 by George H. Buck, Jr. That year he ...
, 1980)
* ''Enjoys Carolina in the Morning'' (Jazzology, 1981)
* ''A Portrait of Bix'' (Jazzology, 1986)
* ''Enjoy Yourself!'' (Audiophile, 1986)
* ''Hag Leaps In'' (
Arbors, 1995)
* ''The All-Stars at Bob Haggart's 80th Birthday Party'' (Arbors, 2002)
* ''The Piano Giants at Bob Haggart's 80th Birthday Party'' (Arbors, 2002)
* ''The Music of Bob Haggart'' (Arbors, 2002)
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
Bob Haggart recordingsat the
Discography of American Historical Recordings
The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...
.
Yank Lawson and Bob Haggart: Profiles in Jazz by Scott Yanow
*
Bob Haggart InterviewNAMM Oral History Library (1995)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haggart, Bob
1914 births
1998 deaths
Dixieland jazz musicians
American jazz double-bassists
Male double-bassists
American session musicians
20th-century American musicians
20th-century double-bassists
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
The Tonight Show Band members
World's Greatest Jazz Band members
McKenzie and Condon's Chicagoans members
Jazzology Records artists
Atlantic Records artists
Arbors Records artists