Voltaire "Volly" De Faut (March 14, 1904 – May 29, 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 major ...

reed player. De Faut 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_ ...

, United States, but his family moved to Chicago when he was six. He played with Sig Meyers in the early 1920s and then spent time in 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 ...

before joining

Art Kassel Art Kassel (c. 1904 – February 3, 1965) was an American singer-songwriter and saxophonist. References External links Art Kassel recordingsat the Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings ...

. His first recordings were made with

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 ...

in 1924; he recorded with Jelly Roll Morton the following year. Later in the 1920s he played with

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. Merrit ...

and

Jean Goldkette John Jean Goldkette (March 18, 1893 – March 24, 1962) was a jazz pianist and bandleader. Life Goldkette was reportedly born on March 18, 1893 in Valenciennes, France,Russel B. Nye (1976). Music in the Twenties: The Jean Goldkette Orchestra ...

, and played for a time in Detroit. During the early 1920s, he also played with

The Bucktown Five The Bucktown Five was a jazz group active in the early 1920s in the Chicago area of the United States. The group played a New Orleans style of collective improvisational jazz and were forerunners of the Chicago style which developed in later year ...

. Around the end of the decade De Faut held several positions in theater orchestras in Chicago, and also worked as a studio musician. He started his own dog breeding business but abandoned it to join the military and play in bands there. He returned to Chicago in the middle of the 1940s, playing with

Bud Jacobson In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be specia ...

and working extensively on the local jazz scene. In the 1950s he moved to

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

, then returned to Chicago in 1965. In the last two decades of his life De Faut worked often with

Art Hodes Arthur W. Hodes (November 14, 1904 – March 4, 1993), was a Russian Empire-born American jazz and blues pianist. He is regarded by many critics as the greatest white blues pianist. Biography Hodes was born in Mykolaiv, in present-day Ukrain ...

, including on many of his recordings for Delmark Records.

References

;Footnotes ;General references * Eugene Chadbourne,

Volly De Faut Voltaire "Volly" De Faut (March 14, 1904 – May 29, 1973) was an American jazz reed player. De Faut was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, but his family moved to Chicago when he was six. He played with Sig Meyers in the early 1920 ...

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 databas ...

''VOLTAIRE DE FAUT'' - By Ate van Delden
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Faut, Volly 1904 births 1973 deaths American jazz clarinetists American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Jazz musicians from Chicago 20th-century American saxophonists Musicians from Little Rock, Arkansas Jazz musicians from Arkansas 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians New Orleans Rhythm Kings members The Bucktown Five members