Willie "The Tiger" Gant (10 May 1899 – March 1974) 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 ...

bandleader and pianist.

History

Gant began on piano at age 12, and at 13 he began studying under

James P. Johnson James Price Johnson (February 1, 1894 – November 17, 1955) was an American pianist and composer. A pioneer of stride piano, he was one of the most important pianists in the early era of recording, and like Jelly Roll Morton, one of the key ...

. He played in local New York clubs and cafes from age 17. Gant recorded some sides in the 1920s, and after the dissolution of his Ramblers devoted himself almost exclusively to solo piano work. He played in New York at places like the Hotel Fairfax and Carutti's from the 1930s into the 1960s.

Musical groups

Although he appears in a photograph with

Lillyn Brown Lillyn Brown (born Lillian Thomas; April 24, 1885 – June 8, 1969), sometimes credited as Lillyan Brown, was an American singer, vaudeville entertainer and teacher who claimed to have been "the first professional vocalist to sing the blues ...

& Her Jazzbo Syncopators in 1921, he wasn't a band member and filled in for an absent piano player for the photo. He formed his own band, the Ramblers, that same year. Over the course of the next six years, Gant's band rivaled

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

in popularity; it also served as early experience for many noted sideman, including Freddie Green,

Ward Pinkett William Ward Pinkett, Jr. (April 29, 1906 – March 15, 1937) was an American jazz trumpeter and scat vocalist during the Harlem Renaissance. A respected sideman recognized as a "hot" trumpet and with a versatile ear, he played and recorded with ...

, Billy Taylor,

Happy Caldwell Albert W. "Happy" Caldwell (sometimes incorrectly spelled Cauldwell) (July 25, 1903 in Chicago – December 29, 1978 in New York City) was an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist. Caldwell began on clarinet at age 16, playing in t ...

, and

Manzie Johnson Isham "Manzie" Johnson (August 19, 1906 – April 9, 1971) was an American jazz drummer. Johnson was raised in New York City, and played in Harlem in the 1920s with Fats Waller, James P. Johnson, and other stride pianists, before going on ...

Discography

Per the Jazz and Ragtime Records Index With Eliza Christmas Lee * I Ain't Givin' Nothin' Away (1921) *Arkansas Blues (1921) With Josie Miles * If You Want to Keep Your Daddy Home (1922) * You're Fooling with the Wrong Gal Now (1922) * When I Dream of Old Tennessee Blues (1922) * I Don't Want You (If You Don't Want Me) (1922) * Low Down 'Bama Blues (1923) With Lavinia Turner * How Many Times (1921) * Can't Get Lovin' Blues (1921) * A-Wearin' Away the Blues (1921) * Sweet Man of Mine (1921)

References

External links

* Willie Gantat

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 ...

1899 births 1974 deaths Musicians from New York (state) American jazz bandleaders {{US-jazz-pianist-stub