Herbie Fields
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Herbie Fields (Herbert Bernfeld, May 24, 1919 – September 17, 1958) was an American jazz musician. He attended New York's famed
Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...
of Music (1936–38) and served in the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
from 1941 to 1943.


Career

Membership in the
Raymond Scott Raymond Scott (born Harry Warnow; September 10, 1908 – February 8, 1994) was an American composer, band leader, pianist, record producer, and inventor of electronic instruments. Though Scott never scored cartoon soundtracks, his music is ...
Quintette and other commercial work while based in New York preceded his Army service stateside. By mid-1941, at Fort Dix (NJ) he—officially Sergeant Herbert Bernfeld—was leader of a 14-piece swing band. Fields's group received some publicity as the first Army unit of its type, though another also performing in mid-1941 was the 369th's ensemble of African-American musicians, based in
Fort Ontario Fort Ontario is an American historic bastion fort situated by the City of Oswego in Oswego County, New York. It is owned by the state of New York and operated as a museum known as Fort Ontario State Historic Site. Geography and early history F ...
. Fields's Fort Dix bandmembers were all veterans of swing bands and Broadway, and the group—officially the "Fort Dix Reception Center Band"—toured military installations on the eastern seaboard and were featured on the WOR/Mutual radio program ''This is Fort Dix''. Following Fields's military service he made several attempts to mount his own civilian big band. In April 1944 ''Billboard'' magazine reported his most recent venture, managed by the William Morris Agency, with arrangements by George Handy. According to ''Billboard'', "Fields's last fronting attempt flopped two months ago because, it is alleged, of poor bookings." By the end of 1944, had joined Lionel Hampton's outfit. Fields began recording in 1944 with two sides for
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's Signature label. Over the next year and a half he recorded for Savoy; notably, he shared a date with Rubberlegs Williams that featured teenaged
Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
' recording debut. Fields replaced
Earl Bostic Eugene Earl Bostic (April 25, 1913 – October 28, 1965) was an American alto saxophonist. Bostic's recording career was diverse, his musical output encompassing jazz, swing, jump blues and the post-war American rhythm and blues style, which h ...
, as alto saxophonist in Lionel Hampton's band. Fields was fluent in a variety of reed instruments, from clarinet to baritone saxophone. In 1945, he won ''Esquire'' magazine's New Star Award on the Alto Sax. In 1946, RCA Victor signed Fields as leader of his own big band, a format that was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain in the Post-War period.
Neal Hefti Neal Paul Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. He wrote music for ''The Odd Couple'' movie and TV series and for the ''Batman'' TV series. He began arranging professionally in his ...
was one of his sidemen along with
Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...
,
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,
Bernie Glow Bernie Glow (February 6, 1926 – May 8, 1982) was an American trumpet player who specialized in jazz and commercial lead trumpet from the 1940s to 1970s. Glow's early career was on the road with Artie Shaw, Woody Herman and others during the las ...
,
Manny Albam Manny Albam (June 24, 1922 – October 2, 2001) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, record producer, and educator. Early life A native of the Dominican Republic, Albam grew up in New York City. He was attracted to jazz at an ea ...
,
Al Klink Al Klink (December 28, 1915 in Danbury, Connecticut – March 7, 1991 in Bradenton, Florida) was an American swing jazz tenor saxophonist. Career Klink played with Glenn Miller from 1939 to 1942, and is a featured soloist, along with Tex B ...
(formally with
Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...
),
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, and
Serge Chaloff Serge Chaloff (November 24, 1923 – July 16, 1957) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist. The first and greatest bebop baritonist, Chaloff has been described as 'the most expressive and openly emotive baritone saxophonist jazz has ever ...
. "
Dardanella "Dardanella" is a popular song published in 1919 by McCarthy & Fisher, Inc., a firm owned by Fred Fisher, lyricist, for music composed by Felix Bernard and Johnny S. Black. Bandleader Ben Selvin (1898–1980) recorded "Dardanella" for several ...
" was his biggest hit. The band was a commercial failure—as were many big bands of the day. In 1949-1950, he formed his Septet featuring
Frank Rosolino Frank Rosolino (August 20, 1926 – November 26, 1978) was an American jazz trombonist. Biography Rosolino was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States, He performed with the big bands of Bob Chester, Glen Gray, Tony Pastor, Herbie Fields, Gen ...
on trombone, Jimmy Nottingham on trumpet,
Jim Aton James G. Aton (1925 – September 16, 2008), best known as Jim Aton or Jimmy Aton, was an American jazz bassist, pianist, vocalist and composer. He worked with numerous notable artists including Billie Holiday, Anita O'Day and Bill Evans. He ...
on bass, Bill Evans on piano and
Tiny Kahn Norman "Tiny" Kahn (1923 – August 19, 1953) was an American jazz drummer, arranger, and composer. He was born in New York, United States. Kahn began playing drums at age 15. He played with Boyd Raeburn (1948), Georgie Auld, Chubby Jackson, and ...
on drums. The band was based in Chicago and backed numerous stage shows, and frequently had
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on vocals. In the summer of 1950 Fields' group accompanied
Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...
on a successful three-month tour of East Coast venues, including the Apollo Theater in Harlem and the Howard Theater in Washington. Fields gravitated toward an R& B conception in the fifties, and was disgruntled about his lack of success. Vibist Terry Gibbs noted: And pianist Bill Evans recalled: His recording activity in the fifties was sporadic, and ranged from a few more big band sides, honking jukebox tunes (for
Parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoid ...
), bop-tinged small groups, and finally a reeds and strings session released after his death by Fraternity. He lived in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, and had owned a restaurant there, the Rancher, in North Miami. He had a trio, himself, Skeets McLane and Cookie Norwood that played at the Rancher. Fields ended his life with an overdose of
sleeping pills Hypnotic (from Greek ''Hypnos'', sleep), or soporific drugs, commonly known as sleeping pills, are a class of (and umbrella term for) psychoactive drugs whose primary function is to induce sleep (or surgical anesthesiaWhen used in anesthesia ...
in Miami on September 17, 1958. His suicide note, according to police, included the statement "I have completed my mission in life.""Herbie Fields Dies: Saxophonist and Bandleader is Victim of Sleeping Pills." New York Times, 18 September 1958.


References


External links


Big Bands Database Plus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fields, Herbie 1919 births 1958 deaths American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists RCA Victor artists 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians 1958 suicides United States Army personnel of World War II