Gene Rodgers (March 5, 1910,

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 ...

– October 23, 1987, New York City) 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, composer, and arranger. He is best known for being the pianist on

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 ...

' famous 1939 recording of " Body and Soul".

Early life

Born Eugene Ricardo Rodgers Jr, the eldest child of Eugene Ricardo Rodgers Sr (aka Eugene Richard Rodgers), and his wife Blanche Bona Cabey (both of whom were born in what was then the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colonization of the Americas, Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Thomas ...

/ Danish Antilles, later the American Virgin Islands), he was named for his father. Gene had three younger siblings, Mildred (1914), Rowland (1918), and Genevieve (1920).

Later life and career

Rodgers worked professionally from the mid-1920s, and in the next few years made recordings with Clarence Williams and

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 ...

in addition to playing with

Chick Webb William Henry "Chick" Webb (February 10, 1905 – June 16, 1939) was an American jazz and swing music drummer and band leader. Early life Webb was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to William H. and Marie Webb. The year of his birth is disputed. ...

and

Teddy Hill Teddy Hill (December 7, 1909 in Birmingham, Alabama – May 19, 1978 in Cleveland, Ohio) was an American big band leader and the manager of Minton's Playhouse, a seminal jazz club in Harlem. He played a variety of instruments, including dru ...

. He started his own

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in the 1930s, doing tours of Australia and England; while in the latter in 1936 he recorded with

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

. Upon his return he played with

(1939–40),

Zutty Singleton Arthur James "Zutty" Singleton (May 14, 1898 – July 14, 1975) was an American jazz drummer. Career Singleton was born in Bunkie, Louisiana, United States, and raised in New Orleans. According to his ''Jazz Profiles'' biography, his unusual ...

, and

Erskine Hawkins Erskine Ramsay Hawkins (July 26, 1914 – November 11, 1993) was an American trumpeter and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is best remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" (1 ...

(1943). He did work in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

in the 1940s, including an appearance in the film ''

Sensations of 1945 ''Sensations of 1945'' is a 1944 American musical-comedy film directed by Andrew Stone and starring Eleanor Powell. Released by United Artists, the film was an attempt to recapture the ensemble style of films such as ''Broadway Melody of 1936'' ...

'' with

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and

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. After this he worked mainly in New York, leading a trio for many years. He played with the

Harlem Blues and Jazz Band The Harlem Blues and Jazz Band is a jazz ensemble active since the 1970s. The band was initiated by Al Vollmer in 1973, noting that a significant pool of jazz musicians who had played in the 1920s and 1930s lived in New York City and had retired ...

in 1981–82. Rodgers appears, with opening title credits, in the 1947 film '' Shoot to Kill'', though it seems the sound was not miked during filming. Appearing about 9:40 into the film is "Ballad of the Bayou" and later is "Rajah's Blues." Both are Rodgers compositions. Rodgers recorded sparingly as a leader; he did two sides for

Vocalion Vocalion Records is an American record company and label. History The label was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Company, a maker of pianos and organs, as Aeolian-Vocalion; the company also sold phonographs under the Vocalion name. "Aeolian" was ...

in 1936, four in a session for

Joe Davis Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game i ...

in 1945, and albums as a trio leader for

EmArcy EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Clifford Brown ...

(1958),

Black & Blue Records Black & Blue Records was a record company and label founded in France in 1968 that specialized in blues and jazz. Black & Blue reissued music from small American labels before producing original releases. Some of these releases were by black mu ...

(1972), and

88 Up Right 88 may refer to: * 88 (number) * one of the years 88 BC, AD 88, 1888 CE, 1988 CE, 2088 CE, etc. * "88", a song by Sum 41 from '' Chuck'' * "88", a song by The Cool Kids from ''The Bake Sale'' * The 88, an American indie rock band * ''The 88'' ...

(1980).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Gene 1910 births 1987 deaths American jazz pianists American male pianists Musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Harlem Blues and Jazz Band members Black & Blue Records artists