Darnell Howard (July 25, 1895 in

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

– September 2, 1966 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

) 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 ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

ist and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist.

Early life

Howard began playing violin at age seven, picking up clarinet and saxophone later in his youth.

Career

He played professionally with John H. Wickcliffe's Ginger Orchestra from 1913 to 1916, 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 ...

in 1917, where he played and recorded as a violinist with

W. C. Handy William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. Handy was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musici ...

. From there he headed to Chicago, where he led his own band, played with

Charlie Elgar Charles Anthony Elgar (June 13, 1879 – August 1973) was an American violinist, musician, teacher and jazz bandleader. Early life and education Elgar was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on June 13, 1879. He played violin as a child from age 5. H ...

, and then joined

James P. Johnson James Price Johnson (February 1, 1894 – November 17, 1955) was an American pianist and composer. A pioneer of stride piano, he was one of the most important pianists in the early era of recording, and like Jelly Roll Morton, one of the key ...

Plantation Days ''Plantation Days'' (1922) was a touring musical revue with Sam Wooding and James P. Johnson as musical directors at different stages of the tour. Produced by Morris "Maury" Greenwald,London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1923. The next year he toured Europe again as a member of the

Singing Syncopators Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, and also played in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

with this ensemble later in the decade. While in Chicago he played with

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 ...

King Oliver Joseph Nathan "King" Oliver (December 19, 1881 – April 8/10, 1938) was an American jazz cornet player and bandleader. He was particularly recognized for his playing style and his pioneering use of Mute (music), mutes in jazz. Also a notable c ...

, and

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 ...

. He led a quartet in 1928, and also played with

Jimmy Wade James F. Wade (c.1895 – 1957) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader. Wade began leading groups in the Chicago area about 1916. He played in California and Seattle, Washington with Lucille Hegamin, and then moved with her to New Yo ...

's Dixielanders that year. From 1929–1930 he played with

Dave Peyton Dave Peyton (19 August 1889 – 30 April 1955) was an American songwriter, pianist, arranger, orchestra leader, and music critic columnist for the ''Chicago Defender''. Peyton first began as a pianist in the trio of Wilbur Sweatman, along wit ...

, then worked briefly with

Jerome Carrington Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...

before being hired by

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, " ...

, with whom he played clarinet, alto sax and violin from 1931 until 1937.liner notes for Earl Hines, ''Swingin' Down'' and ''That's a Plenty'' Howard's jazz violin is featured on the Hines band's February, 1933 recording of the Earl Hines/Jimmy Mundy swing composition "Cavernism". In the late 1930s, Howard freelanced, then played with

Fletcher Henderson James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musi ...

and

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...

at the beginning of the 1940s. He put together another band in Chicago from 1943 to 1945; he played with

Kid Ory Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans jazz. He was ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

for part of 1945, then returned to Chicago and played with

Doc Evans Paul Wesley "Doc" Evans (June 20, 1907 – January 10, 1977) was an American jazz cornetist. Evans was born in Spring Valley, Minnesota. the son of a Methodist minister. He learned piano and drums as a child, and played saxophone in high school. ...

, among others. In 1948 he was once again in California with

Muggsy Spanier Francis Joseph "Muggsy" Spanier (November 9, 1901 – February 12, 1967) was an American jazz cornetist based in Chicago. He was a member of the Bucktown Five, pioneers of the "Chicago style" that straddled traditional Dixieland jazz and swing ...

, playing with him until 1953. Howard's only recordings as a leader were done while he worked with

Bob Scobey Robert Alexander Scobey Jr. (December 9, 1916 – June 12, 1963) was an American jazz trumpet player of traditional or Dixieland music based originally in the San Francisco area and later in Chicago, Illinois. He was born in Tucumcari, New Mex ...

in 1950, amounting to only four sides. He also played with

Jimmy Archey Jimmy Archey (12 October 1902 – 16 November 1967) was an American jazz trombonist born in Norfolk, Virginia, perhaps most noteworthy for his work in several prominent jazz orchestras and big bands of his time (including his own). He performed ...

early in the 1950s, then rejoined

to play

Dixieland 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 ( ...

in San Francisco from 1955 to 1962. He was with

Don Ewell Donald Tyson Ewell (November 14, 1916 – August 9, 1983) was an American jazz stride pianist. He worked with Sidney Bechet, Kid Ory, George Lewis, George Brunis, Muggsy Spanier, and Bunk Johnson. Biography Born in Baltimore, Maryland, ...

on his 1956–1957 albums. After 1962, Howard suffered a prolonged illness, and after recuperating he played with

Elmer Snowden Elmer Chester Snowden (October 9, 1900 – May 14, 1973) was an American banjo player of the jazz age. He also played guitar and, in the early stages of his career, all the reed instruments. He contributed greatly to jazz in its early days as b ...

, Burt Bales, and his own groups. Around 1964 or 1965, Howard could be found playing weekends at a pizza joint called LaVal's on Euclid Avenue in Berkeley. He played largely with a pick-up band of local amateur musicians (often including the San Francisco comedian

Mal Sharpe Malcolm Sharpe (April 2, 1936 – March 10, 2020) was an American television and radio personality with roots in San Francisco, California. In the early 1960s, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-born Sharpe collaborated with Jim Coyle to create a seri ...

on trombone). On some nights Howard was joined by

Pops Foster George Murphy "Pops" Foster (May 19, 1892 – October 30, 1969) was an American jazz musician, best known for his vigorous slap bass playing of the string bass. He also played the tuba and trumpet professionally. Biography Foster was born to ...

). In 1966, Howard toured Europe as a member of the New Orleans All-Stars, then fell ill again and died later that year.

References

;Footnotes ;General references *

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

Darnell Howard Darnell Howard (July 25, 1895 in Chicago – September 2, 1966 in San Francisco) was an American jazz clarinetist and violinist. Early life Howard began playing violin at age seven, picking up clarinet and saxophone later in his youth. Caree ...

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 ...

1895 births 1966 deaths American jazz clarinetists Musicians from Chicago 20th-century American musicians Jazz musicians from Illinois {{US-clarinetist-stub