James Albert Cullum Jr., better known as Jim Cullum Jr. (September 20, 1941 – August 11, 2019), was an American jazz cornetist known for his contributions to

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 ...

jazz. His father was Jim Cullum Sr., a clarinetist who led the Happy Jazz Band from 1962 to 1973. Jim Cullum Jr. led the Jim Cullum Jazz Band as its successor. His band mates included

Evan Christopher Evan Christopher (born August 31, 1969) is an American jazz clarinetist and composer. Biography Background His first musical training was at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts. After high school, he studied saxophone at the Universi ...

, Allan Vaché, and John Sheridan.

Early life

James A. Cullum, Jr. was born in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

on September 20, 1941, to wholesale grocer and part-time musician, James Albert Cullum, Sr., and Conoly . The family moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1953. As a child, Cullum Jr. became enamored of his father's music collection that included recordings by Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Lead Belly. He bought his first cornet at the age of fourteen from a pawn shop for seven dollars. While attending Alamo Heights High School, Cullum played with a small jazz ensemble where his father would occasionally sit in on

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

. He also performed locally around San Antonio as a teen, honing his skills. Following high school, Cullum married Donna Cloud, and joined his father in the grocery business.''Riverwalk Jazz Radio Show Founder Jim Cullum Jr has Died at Age 77''

WRTI WRTI (90.1 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a service of Temple University. The Temple University Board of Trustees holds the station's license. The broadcast tower used by the s ...

radio – 90.1 FM; online article; August 14, 2019; staff; webpage, accessed July 2023''Jim Cullum Jazz Band''
Texas History Online; article; retrieved July 2023

Career

Happy Jazz and The Landing nightclub

Cullum's enthusiasm and passion for performing jazz led to his father coming out of retirement from the music industry in 1962 to form the Happy Jazz Band with him. The band's music was heavily influenced by the hot jazz ensembles of the 1920s and '30s. In 1963, the Cullums, along with a group of San Antonio investors, founded The Landing Jazz Club in the basement of the Nix Hospital building on the

San Antonio River Walk The San Antonio River Walk is a city park and special-case pedestrian street in San Antonio, Texas, one level down from the automobile street. The River Walk winds and loops under bridges as two parallel sidewalks lined with restaurants and shop ...

. The Landing was the second business and first

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

established on the Riverwalk following the opening of the Casa Rio Mexican restaurant. After interest in the group suddenly grew following their exposure to the HemisFair crowds of 1968, the Cullums sold their grocery business, and devoted themselves full-time to music. Happy Jazz and its successor band performed at The Landing five or six nights a week for the next four and a half decades. Cullum Jr. took over leadership of the band after his father died in 1973. At that time, he changed the band's name to the Jim Cullum Jazz Band.

Jim Cullum Jazz Band

The Jim Cullum Jazz Band was an acoustic seven-piece traditional jazz ensemble. The band broadcast weekly performances from The Landing on the Public Radio International ( US public radio) series '' Riverwalk Jazz'' from 1989 until 2012. Cullum and his band performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall,

Preservation Hall Preservation Hall is a jazz venue in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. The building is associated with a house band, a record label, and a non-profit foundation. History of the jazz hall In the 1950s, art dealer Larry Borenstein ...

, the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

, Wolf Trap, and the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

. They appeared on ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American live music television program recorded and produced by Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", and is the only television show to ...

'' on several occasions, and for 25 years broadcast weekly live performances on over 200 radio stations in the US. The Jim Cullum Jazz Band performed over 300 jazz masses at houses of worship across the United States during its more than four-decade run. The group recorded for

Jazzology Jazzology Records is an American jazz record company and label. It is part of the Jazzology group of labels owned and operated by the George H. Buck Jr. Jazz Foundation. Jazzology Records was founded in 1949 by George H. Buck, Jr. That year he ...

, Columbia,

Audiophile An audiophile is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. An audiophile seeks to reproduce the sound of a piece of recorded music or a live musical performance, typically inside closed headphones, In-ear monitors, open ...

, Stomp Off, and his own label, Riverwalk. Cullum played with such music legends as Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman,

Pete Fountain Pierre Dewey LaFontaine Jr. (July 3, 1930 – August 6, 2016), known professionally as Pete Fountain, was an American jazz clarinetist. Early life and education LaFontaine was born to Pierre, Sr. and Madeline, in a small Creole cottage-style f ...

, and Earl Hines. Early in his career, he played with

Jack Teagarden Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (August 20, 1905 – January 15, 1964) was an American jazz trombonist and singer. According to critic Scott Yannow of Allmusic, Teagarden was the preeminent American jazz trombone player before the bebop era of the 19 ...

—a friend and associate of his father's. Cullum's career also led him to accompany other jazz artists such as Joe Venuti, Doc Severinsen, Dick Hyman, and Lionel Hampton. From 1993 to 2005, Cullum and his band were on the faculty of the Stanford Jazz Workshop at Stanford University in California.

Later life and death

During his life, Cullum led what was described as an elegant-bohemian lifestyle by one jazz publication. He remained active even after the radio show and his longstanding residency at The Landing ended in 2012. In his final years, he appeared in weekly performances at the Cookhouse Restaurant in San Antonio and scheduled many other appearances with his band. His last public performance was just two days before his death. Cullum died on August 11, 2019, at his residence in San Antonio.

Legacy

In 2011, Stanford University Libraries acquired Cullum's ''Riverwalk Jazz'' archives, comprising over 400 radio show programs. In January 2013, Stanford's Archive of Recorded Sound made the recordings available to listen to on its website.

Band members

Current members

* Evan Arntzen – clarinet, saxophone * Mike Pittsley – trombone * Howard Elkins – banjo, guitar * Bernie Attridge – bass * Benji Bohannon – drums

Former members

* Jim Cullum Jr. - cornet * Buddy Apfel – tuba * Robert Black – banjo *

– clarinet * Kevin Dorn – drums * Ron Hockett – clarinet, saxophone * Ed Hubble – trombone * Jim Hunter – bass * Don Mopsick – bass * Brian Nalepka – tuba, double bass, bass sax * Brian Ogilvie – clarinet, saxophone * Steve Pikal – bass * Ric Ramirez – bass * Randy Reinhart – cornet, trombone * Kenny Rupp – trombone * Zack Sapunor – bass * John Sheridan – piano * Hal Smith – drums * Ed Torres – drums * Jim Turner – piano * Allan Vaché – clarinet * Mike Waskiewicz – drums * Jack Wyatt – bass * Cullen Offer – tenor saxophone

Discography

*''Look Over Here'' (1976) *''Jim Cullum's Happy Jazz Band'' (1979) *''Live and Swinging'' (1979) *''Live at the Memphis Jazz Festival'' (1982) *''Tis the Season...To Be Jamming'' (1984) *''Porgy & Bess'' (1985) *''Super Satch'' (1986) *''Fireworks! Red Hot & Blues'' (1989) *''Hooray for Hoagy!'' (1990) *''American Love Songs, Vol. 7'' (1990) *''Shootin' the Agate'' (1992) *''Battle of the Bands: San Antonio vs. New Orleans'' (1992) *''New Year's All Star Jam'' (1993) *''Honky Tonk Train'' (1994) *''Bessie & the Blues'' (1995) *''Jim Cullum's Happy Jazz Band'' (1995) *''Hot Jazz for a Cool Yule'' (1996) *''Fireworks! Red Hot & Blues'' (1996) *''American Love Songs, Vol. 7'' (1997) *''Deep River: The Spirit of Gospel Music in Jazz'' (1998) *''Cornet-Copia'' (2001) *''Chasin' the Blues'' (2006) *''3 Kings of Jazz: The Music of Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke and Jelly Roll Morton'' (2008)

References

External links

"Jim Cullum's Adventures", ''The New York Times''

Guide to the Jim Cullum Collection

Interview (June 11, 1980); (August 12, 1986)

Jim Cullum on ''Live at Jazz, TX''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullum, Jim 1941 births 2019 deaths American jazz cornetists Jazz radio presenters American radio personalities Jazz musicians from Texas Musicians from San Antonio Jazzology Records artists Stomp Off artists Columbia Records artists