Clyde Hart (1910 – March 19, 1945) was an American jazz pianist and arranger. He was an important figure in the transition from swing to

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

Life and career

Hart was born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, in 1910. He started his career as a professional jazz pianist in 1929 when he joined Gene Coy's ensemble. He was also part of Jap Allen's band from 1929 to 1931. Hart played piano in

Blanche Calloway Blanche Dorothea Jones Calloway (February 9, 1902 – December 16, 1978) was an American jazz singer, composer, and bandleader. She was the older sister of Cab Calloway and was a successful singer before her brother. With a music career that spa ...

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

from 1931 to 1935 and was based in New York City from 1936. In the late 1930s, he played with Lionel Hampton and

Chu Berry Leon Brown "Chu" Berry (September 13, 1908 – October 30, 1941) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist during the 1930s. According to music critic Gary Giddins, musicians called him "Chu" either because he chewed on the mouthpiece of his saxop ...

. In the first half of the 1940s he played with John Kirby,

Roy Eldridge David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from ...

and

Hot Lips Page Oran Thaddeus "Hot Lips" Page (January 27, 1908 – November 5, 1954) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. He was known as a scorching soloist and powerful vocalist. Page was a member of Walter Page's Blue Devils, Artie Sha ...

, among others. In the last few months of his life, Hart performed with some of the most important figures of the

era, such as

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

, Dizzy Gillespie and

Don Byas Carlos Wesley "Don" Byas (October 21, 1912 – August 24, 1972) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, associated with swing and bebop. He played with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others, and also led ...

, and led recording three sessions. He died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in March 1945, at the age of 35.

Discography

, ''Arcadia Ballroom 1939 Arcadia Shuffle'' (Jazz Archives, 1973) *

, ''The Immortal Charlie Parker'' (Savoy, 1955) * Joe Guy &

, ''Trumpet Battle at Minton's'' (Xanadu, 1975) *

Ben Webster Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Career Early life and career A native of Kansas City, Missouri, he studied violin, learned how to play blues on the piano from ...

, ''Ben and the Boys'' (Jazz Archives, 1976) *

, ''The Horn'' (Circle, 1982)

References

External links

Savoy Records Discography: 1931–1944
Jazzdisco. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Clyde 1910 births 1945 deaths Musicians from Baltimore American jazz pianists American male pianists American music arrangers Bebop pianists 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis 20th-century American pianists Jazz musicians from Maryland 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state)