Charles Herbert Beal (September 14, 1908,
Redlands, California
Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 census. The city is located approximately west of Palm Springs and east of Lo ...
- July 31, 1991,
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
) 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 ...
pianist.
Beal played freelance in the
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
area before joining
Les Hite
Les Hite (February 13, 1903 – February 6, 1962) was an American jazz bandleader.
Life and career
Born in DuQuoin, Illinois, United States, Hite attended the University of Illinois and played saxophone with family members in a band in the 1920s. ...
's band in 1930. He moved to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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in 1932, playing solo at the Grand Terrace in addition to working with
Earl Hines
Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...
,
Carroll Dickerson
Carroll Dickerson (November 1, 1895 – October 9, 1957) was a Chicago and New York-based dixieland jazz violinist and bandleader, probably better known for his extensive work with Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines or his more brief work tourin ...
,
Jimmie Noone
Jimmie Noone (April 23, 1895 – April 19, 1944) was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. After beginning his career in New Orleans, he led Jimmie Noone's Apex Club Orchestra, a Chicago band that recorded for Vocalion and Decca. Classical ...
,
Erskine Tate
Erskine Tate (January 14, 1895, Memphis, Tennessee, – December 17, 1978, Chicago) was an American jazz violinist and bandleader.
Tate moved to Chicago in 1912 and was an early figure on the Chicago jazz scene, playing with his band, the Ven ...
, and
Frankie Jaxon Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon, born Frank Devera Jackson (March 3, 1896 or 1897 – May 15, 1953),Legal name and birth/death dates from headstone application as a military veteran, reproduced in Brian BergerFrankie Jaxon Hilobrow, 2013-02-03. Access ...
. From 1933 to 1934 Beal accompanied
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
, recording with him extensively. After leaving Armstrong, Beal worked with
Noble Sissle
Noble Lee Sissle (July 10, 1889 – December 17, 1975) was an American jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer, and playwright, best known for the Broadway musical ''Shuffle Along'' (1921), and its hit song "I'm Just Wild About Harry".
Ea ...
, then moved to
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 ...
late in 1934. There he did solo residencies and played with
Adrian Rollini
Adrian Francis Rollini (June 28, 1903 – May 15, 1956) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who played the bass saxophone, piano, vibraphone, and many other instruments. Rollini is also known for introducing the goofus in jazz music. As ...
,
Buster Bailey
William C. "Buster" Bailey (July 19, 1902 – April 12, 1967) was an American jazz clarinetist.
Career history Early career
Buster Bailey was taught clarinet by classical teacher Franz Schoepp, who also taught Benny Goodman. Bailey gained his s ...
, and
Eddie South
Edward Otha South (November 27, 1904 – April 25, 1962) was an American jazz violinist.
Biography
South studied classical music in Budapest, Paris, and Chicago. He turned to jazz because, as a Black musician, there was no room for him in class ...
, before relocating to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
for a time. After returning to the U.S. he served in the
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and upon his discharge took up residency in Los Angeles again. There he played solo at the Jococo Room, but found his way back into Armstrong's ensemble in 1946. From 1948 to 1956 he worked in Europe, and upon his return spent three years in the house trio at Embers in New York City. Later in his life he returned to southern California, playing at the
Racquet Club in
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...
.
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 ...
,
Charlie Beal
Charles Herbert Beal (September 14, 1908, Redlands, California - July 31, 1991, San Diego) was an American jazz pianist.
Beal played freelance in the Los Angeles area before joining Les Hite's band in 1930. He moved to Chicago in 1932, playing s ...
at
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 ...
*
Barry Kernfeld
Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians.
Education
In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at U ...
, "Charlie Beal". ''
Grove Jazz'' online.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beal, Charlie
1908 births
1991 deaths
American jazz pianists
American male pianists
Jazz musicians from California
20th-century American pianists
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians