George Clarence Brunies (February 6, 1902 – November 19, 1974), Georg Brunis, 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 ...

trombonist, who was part of the

dixieland revival 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 ( ...

. He was known as "The King of the Tailgate Trombone".Stetler, Susan L. (editor) (1987), "Brunis, George", ''Biography Almanac'', (Third edition), Gale Research Company, Detroit, p. 257,

Background

Brunies was born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, United States, into a musical family. His father led a family band, and his brothers

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, Merritt,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

, and

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert ...

("Abbie") all became noted professional musicians. By the age of eight, George was already playing

alto horn The tenor horn (British English; alto horn in American English, Althorn in Germany; occasionally referred to as E horn) is a brass instrument in the saxhorn family and is usually pitched in E. It has a bore that is mostly conical, like the flug ...

professionally in

Papa Jack Laine George Vital "Papa Jack" Laine (September 21, 1873 – June 1, 1966) was an American musician and a pioneering band leader in New Orleans in the years from the Spanish–American War to World War I. He was often credited for training many musici ...

's band. A few years later he switched to

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

. He played with many jazz, dance, and parade bands in New Orleans. He never learned to read music, but could quickly pick up tunes and invent a part for his instrument. He first went to Chicago in 1919 with a band led by Ragbaby Stevens, then worked on riverboats going up and down the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. In 1921, he returned to Chicago, and joined a band of his New Orleans friends playing at the

Friar's Inn Friar's Inn (also called New Friar's Inn) was a nightclub and speakeasy in Chicago, Illinois, a famed jazz music venue in the 1920s. Though some sources refer to it casually as "Friar's Club", it was not related to the New York Friars Club. Locate ...

; this was the band that became famous as the

New Orleans Rhythm Kings The New Orleans Rhythm Kings (NORK) were one of the most influential jazz bands of the early to mid-1920s. The band included New Orleans and Chicago musicians who helped shape Chicago jazz and influenced many younger jazz musicians. History The ...

. Brunies's trombone style was influential to the young Chicago players, and his records were much copied. After the Rhythm Kings broke up in Chicago in 1924, Brunies joined the nationally famous Ted Lewis band, which he played with through 1934. After some time with

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and trumpeter. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he forme ...

's band he landed a steady gig at the New York City jazz club, Nick's, through 1938. In 1939, he joined

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 ...

's band, with whom he made some of his most famous recordings. The following year he returned to Nick's, where he remained until 1946. Brunies then worked with

Eddie Condon Albert Edwin Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang. Early years Condon was born in Goodland, Indiana, the son of J ...

Later career

In 1949, Brunies moved back to Chicago to lead his own band. Brunies often showed off his unusual technical abilities and bizarre sense of humor at the same time; for example he would lie on the floor and invite the largest person in the audience to sit on his chest while he played trombone. On the advice of a

numerologist Numerology (also known as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, of the letters in ...

, he changed his name to Georg Brunis in the late 1940s, when he was playing at the 1111 (eleven-eleven) Club in Chicago. He believed that this name change would increase his good fortune. The 1111 was a popular jazz club which was always full on Friday and Saturday nights with jazz lovers from the northern suburbs of Chicago. Every now and then other well-known jazz musicians, such as Muggsy Spanier, would drop in and sit and play until dawn. Georg Brunis died in Chicago on November 19, 1974.

Sources

*Kernfeld, Barry Dean, and Stanley Sadie. "New Orleans Rhythm Kings." ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. London: Macmillan, 1988. *New Orleans Rhythm Kings biography. The Red Hot Jazz Archive. Retrieved June 29, 2006. *Kennedy, Rick. ''Jelly Roll, Bix, and Hoagy: Gennett Studios and the Birth of Recorded Jazz''. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1994. *Kenney, William Howland. ''Chicago Jazz: A Cultural History, 1904-1930''. New York: Oxford UP, 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunies, George 1902 births 1974 deaths Dixieland jazz musicians Jazz musicians from New Orleans American jazz trombonists Male trombonists 20th-century American musicians 20th-century trombonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians New Orleans Rhythm Kings members Jazzology Records artists