Scoops Carry (January 23, 1915 – August 4, 1970), born George Dorman and sometimes billed as Scoops Carey, 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 ...
alto saxophonist and clarinetist.
Early life and education
Carry was born in
Little Rock, Arkansas
(The Little Rock, The "Little Rock")
, government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager
, leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_ ...
. He mother was a music teacher, and his brother,
Ed Carry, was a
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
-based
bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...
and guitarist in the 1920s and 1930s. He started on horn at age eight, later studying at the
Chicago Musical College
Chicago Musical College is a division of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.
History
Founding
Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld Sr (1841–1923), founded the college in 1867 as the Chicago Academy of Music. The institution h ...
and the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
. After his tenure with Hines, Carry left music and entered
law school
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, ...
in 1947.
Career
Carry worked with
Cassino Simpson, the
Midnight Revellers, and
Boyd Atkins's Firecrackers in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
In 1931, he played with
Lucky Millinder
Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder (August 8, 1910 – September 28, 1966) was an American swing and rhythm-and-blues bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical ...
in
RKO
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...
theater palaces. He reunited with his brother in 1932, and the pair co-led an orchestra through the middle of the 1930s. Following this Scoops played with
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 ...
,
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
Roy Eldridge
David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from t ...
; in 1938 he was with
Art Tatum
Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraord ...
, and in 1939 with
Horace Henderson
Horace W. Henderson (November 22, 1904 – August 29, 1988), the younger brother of Fletcher Henderson, was an American jazz pianist, organist, arranger, and bandleader.
Henderson was born in Cuthbert, Georgia, United States. While later a ...
. At the end of the decade he worked briefly with
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 ...
before joining
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, " ...
's band in 1940.
Carry remained in Hines's employ until 1946, working with him in both large and small ensemble settings. After graduating from law school, Carry worked in the office of the Illinois
state attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...
.
References
1915 births
1970 deaths
American jazz clarinetists
American jazz saxophonists
American male saxophonists
20th-century American saxophonists
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
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