Joseph Christopher Columbus Morris (June 17, 1902 – August 20, 2002Obituary at Jazzhouse.org
/ref>), better known as Crazy Chris ColumboRye, Howard (2002)
"Chris Columbus."
''

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

''. Retrieved 3 December 2022. or just Chris Columbo, 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 ...

drummer. He was sometimes credited as Joe Morris on record, though he is no relation to

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

guitarist Joe Morris or trumpeter Joe Morris.

Career

Columbus was active as a jazz musician from the 1920s into the 1970s, and was the father of

Sonny Payne Sonny Payne (May 4, 1926 – January 29, 1979) was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with Count Basie and Harry James. Biography Payne's father was Wild Bill Davis's drummer Chris Columbus. After early study with Vic Berton, i ...

. He led his own band from the 1930s into the late 1940s, holding a residency at the

Savoy Ballroom The Savoy Ballroom was a large ballroom for music and public dancing located at 596 Lenox Avenue, between 140th and 141st Streets in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Lenox Avenue was the main thoroughfare through upper Harle ...

for a period. Chris Columbusat

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 ...

After the middle of the 1940s he drummed behind

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as " the King of the Jukebox", he earned his high ...

, remaining with him until 1952. In the mid-to-late 1950s, Columbus backed

Wild Bill Davis Wild Bill Davis (November 24, 1918 – August 17, 1995) was the stage name of American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger William Strethen Davis. He is best known for his pioneering jazz electric organ recordings and for his tenure with t ...

's organ combo, and he recorded with

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 ...

in 1967. He worked again as a leader in the 1970s, in addition to doing tours of Europe with Davis. While in France he played with

Floyd Smith Floyd Robert Donald Smith (born May 16, 1935, in Perth, Ontario) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and coach. Biography Smith grew up in Galt, Ontario, playing junior hockey with the Galt Black Hawks. He made his National Ho ...

Al Grey Al Grey (June 6, 1925 – March 24, 2000) was an American jazz trombonist who was a member of the Count Basie orchestra. He was known for his plunger mute technique and wrote an instructional book in 1987 called ''Plunger Techniques''. Care ...

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (born Edward L. Vinson Jr.; December 18, 1917 – July 2, 1988) was an American jump blues, jazz, bebop and R&B alto saxophonist and blues shouter. He was nicknamed Cleanhead after an incident in which his hair was ...

Buddy Tate George Holmes "Buddy" Tate (February 22, 1913 – February 10, 2001) was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. Biography Tate was born in Sherman, Texas, United States, and first played the alto saxophone. According to the website All Ab ...

, and

Milt Buckner Milton Brent Buckner (July 10, 1915 – July 27, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and organist, who in the early 1950s popularized the Hammond organ.Arwulf ArwulfMilt Buckner biography All Music. He pioneered the parallel chords styleFeathe ...

. Prior to a stroke which partially paralyzed him in 1993, Columbo was the oldest working musician in

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

.Kent, Bill (1996-08-04).
A Jazz-Age Survivor
, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.David Schwartz (Mon, February 2, 2009).
The Time Keeper
". Columbo got his first professional gig playing with Fletcher Henderson in 1921. Between the 1920s and the 1960s, he played at most of the city's nightclubs, and led the

Club Harlem Club Harlem was a nightclub at 32 Kentucky Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Founded in 1935 by Leroy "Pop" Williams, it was the city's premier club for black jazz performers. Like its Harlem counterpart, the Cotton Club, many of Club Harlem' ...

orchestra for 34 years until 1978, when the club shut its doors. Thereafter, Columbo's band went on to perform at practically every Atlantic City

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

. At the time of his stroke, he was playing regularly at the

Showboat A showboat, or show boat, was a floating theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, to bring culture and entertainment to the inhabitants of river frontiers. Showboats were a ...

Columbo worked, recorded, and toured with prominent jazz artists including

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

. Columbo did an album on the Strand label called ''Jazz: Re-Discovering Old Favorites'' by the Chris Columbo Quintette including a version of "Summertime" featuring organist

Johnny "Hammond" Smith John Robert "Johnny Hammond" Smith (December 16, 1933 – June 4, 1997) was an American soul jazz and hard bop organist. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he was a renowned player of the Hammond B-3 organ so earning "Hammond" as a nickname, whi ...

. This record (with flip side an uptempo minor blues called "" ) was fairly successful on radio in the early 1960s. Columbo flipped his sticks in the air, bounced them off the floor and often leaped from a motorcycle seat which was his drum throne. His son was the Count Basie Orchestra drummer

. Columbo also appeared in the 1945 film ''It Happened In Harlem'', based on the Harlem nightclub

Smalls Paradise Smalls Paradise (often called Small's Paradise and Smalls' Paradise, and not to be confused with Smalls Jazz Club), was a nightclub in Harlem, New York City. Located in the basement of 2294 Seventh Avenue at 134th Street, it opened in 1925 and ...

, and the 1947 film ''Look Out Sister''.

Family

Chris is survived by two daughters, Yvette Mathison and JoAnn Morris, grand daughters Sheril Plunkett and Tana Lee, and great grand-children Dylan Plunkett, Kacie Mae Plunkett and Chance Lee.

Death

Columbo suffered a stroke in 1993 and died in 2002; he was 100 years old. To recognize his contributions to the history and music of Atlantic City, a section of Kentucky Avenue, home of Club Harlem, was renamed Chris Columbo Lane in 2005.

Discography

As leader

* "Lonely Street" // "Dancing On My Heart" (Double AA 114, 1955) * "Floyd's Guitar Blues" // "Wishy Washy" (

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

4991, 1956) – with Johnny Grimes-trumpet/vibes, Jimmy Tyler-alto/tenor sax, Nick Palmer-tenor/baritone sax, John Wiegand-organ,

-guitar. * "Oh Yeah!, Pt. 1" // "Oh Yeah!, Pt. 2" (King 5012, 1957) – with Gil Askey-trumpet, Jimmy Tyler-tenor sax,

Johnny Hammond Smith Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varian ...

-organ, Floyd Smith-guitar. * "Stranger On The Shore" // "You Can't Sit Down" (Battle 45904, 1962) * ''Jazz: Re-Discovering Old Favorites'' (Strand SL-1044, 1962) – reissued as ''Summertime'' in 1963 (Strand SL-1095). * "Summertime" // "Minerology" (Strand 25056, 1963) – with Johnny Hammond Smith. * "Minerology" // "Summertime" (Casino 1305, 1963) – reissue * "I Can't Stop Loving You" // "Mr. Wonderful" (Maxx 327, 1964)

As sideman

* ''Here's Wild Bill Davis'' (

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

LG-1004 0" LP 1954) *

: ''On The Loose'' (Epic LN-1121 0" LP 1954) * ''Wild Bill Davis At Birdland'' (Epic LN-3118, 1955) – reissued as ''Lullaby Of Birdland'' in 1972. * Wild Bill Davis: ''Evening Concerto'' (Epic LN-3308, 1955) *

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

: ''The Greatest Jazz Concert In The World'' (Pablo 2625-704, 1967 el. 1975 – Columbus is the Ellington orchestra's drummer at this

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

concert. * Wild Bill Davis: ''Impulsions'' (Disques Black & Blue 33.037, 1972) * ''

& Wild Bill Davis'' (Disques Black & Blue 33.041, 1972) – with

. *

: ''Floyd's Guitar Blues'' (Disques Black & Blue 33.046, 1972) * ''

& Wild Bill Davis'' (Disques Black & Blue 33.054, 1972) – reissued on CD as ''Broadway'' in 1987 by Black & Blue (233.054). *

: ''Black And Blue Stomp'' (Disques Black & Blue 33.061, 1973) * Al Grey: '' Grey's Mood'' (Disques Black & Blue 33.085, 1973–1975 el. 1979

References

External links

Profile of Columbus's son, Sonny Payne
{{DEFAULTSORT:Columbus, Chris 1902 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American musicians American centenarians Men centenarians American jazz musicians People from Greenville, North Carolina Jazz musicians from North Carolina