Merritt Brunies (December 25, 1895 - February 5, 1973), 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 m ...

trombonist and cornetist. Brunies was born into a well-known musical family in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

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 ...

; among its members were

George Brunies George Clarence Brunies (February 6, 1902 – November 19, 1974), Georg Brunis, was an American jazz trombonist, who was part of the dixieland revival. He was known as "The King of the Tailgate Trombone".Stetler, Susan L. (editor) (1987), "Br ...

and Albert Brunies. Merritt led his own band, The Original New Orleans Jazz Band, from 1916 to 1918; this ensemble did not record, but it existed before both Jimmy Durante's New Orleans Jazz Band and the

Original Dixieland Jazz Band The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their " Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz record ever issued. The group composed and recorded many jazz standards, the ...

(the latter formed shortly afterward in 1916). Following this, he formed another group which played at Friar's Inn in Chicago directly after the stint by 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 ...

. He played regularly in New Orleans in the 1930s, and moved to Mississippi in 1946, where he played with his brothers in a

Dixieland jazz 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 ...

band until his retirement. He died in

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

References

Merritt Brunies Merritt Brunies (December 25, 1895 - February 5, 1973), was an American jazz trombonist and cornetist. Brunies was born into a well-known musical family in New Orleans, Louisiana; among its members were George Brunies and Albert Brunies. Merritt ...

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 databa ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunies, Merritt 1895 births 1973 deaths American jazz cornetists American jazz trombonists Male trombonists Jazz musicians from New Orleans 20th-century American musicians 20th-century trombonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians