Wilbur Francis Hall, sometimes billed as Willie Hall (November 18, 1894 – June 30, 1983), was an American

trombonist The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist, and

entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers * Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Athlete * Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Circus performer * Clown * Club Hostess/Host * Co ...

Early life

Hall was born in Shawnee Mound, Missouri.

Career

Hall was working in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

when, in 1924, he was hired by

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, W ...

. Hall stayed with Whiteman's orchestra until 1930, mainly featured as a trombone player (his speciality on this instrument was a lightning-fast rendition of

Felix Arndt Felix Arndt (May 20, 1889October 16, 1918) was an American pianist and composer of popular music. His mother was the Countess Fevrier, related to Napoleon III. His father, Hugo Arndt, was Swiss-born. Educated in New York (his music teachers incl ...

's ''Nola'', which he also recorded in 1929). However, Hall was apt a playing several other instruments, conventional as well as unconventional. Amongst the latter was his ability to play melodies on a

bicycle pump A bicycle pump is a type of positive-displacement air pump specifically designed for inflating bicycle tires. It has a connection or adapter for use with one or both of the two most common types of valves used on bicycles, Schrader or Pre ...

. Whiteman's main arranger Ferde Grofé even wrote a special feature number for Hall on this "instrument" called ''Free Air: Based on Noises from a Garage''. Hall can also be seen playing his pump and novelty violin in the early color film ''

The King of Jazz '' King of Jazz'' is a 1930 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code color musical film starring Paul Whiteman and his orchestra. The film title refers to Whiteman's popular cultural appellation. At the time the film was made, "jazz", to the genera ...

''. This routine, called "

Pop Goes the Weasel "Pop! Goes the Weasel" (Roud 5249) is a traditional English and American song, a country dance, nursery rhyme, and singing game that emerged in the mid-19th century. It is commonly used in Jack-in-the-box toys and for ice cream trucks. The song ...

", partly resembles the earlier work by vaudevillian

Little Tich Harry Relph (21 July 186710 February 1928),Russell, Dav"Relph, Harry (1867–1928)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2013 professionally known as Littl ...

. After leaving Whiteman Hall toured as a solo act with the Publix circuit and then joined the Ken Murray Blackouts in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Later, he toured nationally and internationally with his wife, mixing music with comedy, He also appeared on

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

where he would reprise his violin bit from ''The King of Jazz'' on the Ken Murray and

Spike Jones Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...

shows in the 1950s and on ''

The Gong Show ''The Gong Show'' is an American amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976, through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976 to ...

'' in the 1970s. An act called "Wilbur Hall and Renée Fields" appeared in the

variety program Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

Eastern Cabaret ''Eastern Cabaret'' was a live variety programme series broadcast in 193839 on BBC Television. It was one of several spin-offs from the BBC series ''Cabaret''. Four episodes were broadcast; they were produced by Harry Pringle, the first was ...

'' on BBC Television December 12 and 17, 1938. The same month, an advertisement by Fred Collins' Agency in British newspaper '' The Era'', known for its theatrical content, announced a forthcoming appearance in Dundee, Scotland by the same act, who may have been Wilbur and his wife.

Personal life

Hall died in

Newbury Park, California Newbury Park is a populated place and townReal Estate Communications, Inc. (1984). ''California Real Estate Directory''. Page 201. in Ventura County, California, United States. Most of it lies within the western Thousand Oaks city limits, while ...

References

Sources

* Don Rayno: ''Paul Whiteman - Pioneer in American Music, Volume 1'' (Lanham, Maryland and Oxford 2003) * DVD. "The Best of Spike Jones" (1955, 3-disk, Infinity Entertainment, 2009, previously released on VHS videotape.)

External links

* * American jazz trombonists Male trombonists Vaudeville performers American male jazz musicians {{US-jazz-trombonist-stub