Charles Avery (February 2, 1892 – September 11, 1974) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and boogie-woogie pianist. Although he only recorded one commercially released track in his own name, Avery played piano accompaniment to a number of high-profile blues musicians in the 1920s and 1930s. Details of his life outside the recording studio are limited.

Life and career

There appears to be little information about Avery's early life, although it is known that he was born in Brighton, Alabama, United States. It seems that Avery spent most of his life in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, and drew a strong connection to the city and its music. This is exemplified in his only title he recorded n his own name, "Dearborn St. Breakdown" (1929), which was released by

Paramount Records Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey, Tommy Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson. Early years Paramount Records was formed in 19 ...

. It was played in a style typical of Chicago musicians of that time, plus it is known that Avery played alongside, and backed, a number of musicians with connections to Chicago.

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 ...

noted that Avery had "a prodigious piano technique". Avery was primarily active in the late 1920s and 1930s, when he was utilised regularly as a session musician by record labels, when piano accompaniment was required for musicians without that attribute. Pianist credits for Avery include work with Leroy Carr, Tampa Red, Lucille Bogan (1930),

Victoria Spivey Victoria Regina Spivey (October 15, 1906 – October 3, 1976), sometimes known as Queen Victoria, was an American blues singer and songwriter. During a recording career that spanned 40 years, from 1926 to the mid-1960s, she worked with Louis A ...

(1931),

Lil Johnson Lil Johnson ( fl. 1920s–1930s, born 1900, date of death and places of birth and death unknown) was an American singer who recorded dirty blues and hokum songs in the 1920s and 1930s. Career Her origins and early life are not known. She first ...

(1929),

Red Nelson Albert Francis "Red" Nelson (May 19, 1886 – October 26, 1956) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball ...

(1935), and the more obscure singer, Freddie "Redd" Nicholson (1930) (who recorded eight sides, although only five were issued). Avery's backing work was primarily issued by Brunswick Records and

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 ...

between 1929 and 1935. His work with Lucille Bogan, when she was using her pseudonym, Bessie Jackson, included Avery's boogie-woogie style accompaniment on the March 1930 recording of "Alley Boogie". This was one of the earliest instances of a song title using the term 'boogie', following on from

Pinetop Smith Clarence Smith (June 11, 1904 – March 15, 1929), better known as Pinetop Smith or Pine Top Smith, was an American boogie-woogie style blues pianist. His hit tune "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie" featured rhythmic "breaks" that were an essential i ...

's "

Pinetop's Boogie Woogie "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" is a song initially recorded on December 29, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was released on March 1, 1929 by Clarence "Pinetop" Smith on Vocalion Records, a piano rag that cemented boogie-woogie as the nam ...

" (1928). This was not Avery's only recording with Bogan, as he was also the pianist playing on her recording of " My Georgia Grind", which was also recorded in late March 1930. Lil Johnson, when recording "House Rent Scuffle" (1929), complimented Avery when stating on the recording, "Somebody buy the piano player a drink... He's just too tight. I wish you'd play that at my house every Saturday night!". Avery's own track, "Dearborn St. Breakdown", is included on the compilation album, ''The Boogie Woogie Masters'' (1996), among many others. Charles Avery died in September 11, 1974, at the age of 82. He was interred in Lincoln Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois. He is not to be confused with another Charles Avery (May 28, 1873 – July 23, 1926), who was an American

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

actor, film director, and screenwriter.

Solo discography

Singles

References

External links

Charles Avery : "Dearborn St. Breakdown" @ YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avery, Charles 1892 births 1974 deaths African-American pianists American blues pianists American male pianists Boogie-woogie pianists American session musicians People from Brighton, Alabama 20th-century American pianists Paramount Records artists