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Red Allen
Henry James "Red" Allen Jr. (January 7, 1908 – April 17, 1967) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose playing has been described by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and others as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong. Life and career Allen was born in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of the bandleader Henry Allen Sr. He took early trumpet lessons from Peter Bocage and Manuel Manetta. Allen's career began in Sidney Desvigne's Southern Syncopators. He was playing professionally by 1924 with the Excelsior Brass Band and the jazz dance bands of Sam Morgan, George Lewis and John Casimir. After playing on riverboats on the Mississippi River, he went to Chicago in 1927 to join King Oliver's band. Around this time he made recordings on the side in the band of Clarence Williams. After returning briefly to New Orleans, where he worked with the bands of Fate Marable and Fats Pichon, he was offered a recording contract w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Onyx Club (New York City)
The Onyx Club was a jazz club located on 52nd Street (Manhattan), West 52nd Street in New York City. PBS. Retrieved 13 July 2013. History ; 35 52nd Street (Manhattan), West 52nd Street (1927–1934) : The Onyx Club opened in 1927 at 35 West 52nd Street as a speakeasy under Rum-running, bootlegger Joe Helbock ''(né'' Joseph Jerome Helbock; 1896–1973).52nd Street, The Street of Jazz '' Arnold Shaw (author), Arnold Shaw, Da Capo Press (1977) ; 72 West 52nd Street (1934–1937) : In February of 1934, after the end of Prohibition in the United States, pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe "King" Oliver
Joseph Nathan "King" Oliver (December 19, 1881 – April 10, 1938) was an American jazz cornet player and bandleader. He was particularly recognized for his playing style and his pioneering use of mutes in jazz. Also a notable composer, he wrote many tunes still played today, including " Dippermouth Blues", "Sweet Like This", "Canal Street Blues", and " Doctor Jazz". He was the mentor and teacher of Louis Armstrong. His influence was such that Armstrong claimed, "if it had not been for Joe Oliver, jazz would not be what it is today." Biography Life Joseph Nathan Oliver was born in Aben, Louisiana, near Donaldsonville in Ascension Parish, to Nathan Oliver and Virginia "Jinnie" Jones. He claimed 1881 as his year of birth in his draft registration in September 1918 (two months before the end of World War I) but that year is open to debate, with some census records and other sources suggesting 1884 or 1885 as his true year of birth. He moved to New Orleans in his youth. He first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 musical arrangers and, along with Duke Ellington, is considered one of the most influential arrangers and bandleaders in jazz history. Henderson's influence was vast. He helped bridge the gap between the Dixieland and the swing eras. He was often known as "Smack" Henderson (because of smacking sounds he made with his lips). Early life, family and education James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson was born in Cuthbert, Georgia. He was raised in a middle-class African-American family. His father, Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (1857–1943), was the principal of the nearby Howard Normal Randolph School from 1880 until 1942. Their home is a historic site. Henderson's mother, a teacher, taught him and his brother Horace to play the piano. He began lessons b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhythmakers
Rhythmakers, sometime known as The Rhythmakers or the Chicago Rhythm Kings in later re-issues of their music, was a jazz recording group which recorded music in four sessions in New York City in 1932. A racially integrated ensemble, the group was unable to tour or perform publicly due to racial segregation laws enforced throughout the country. Nevertheless, the group's popularity on record helped to bolster support for racially integrated music groups in the years to come. Rhythmakers was organized by American music publisher and jazz impresario Irving Mills; initially as a means of featuring and promoting the singer Billy Banks. Banks was the featured singer in nine songs recorded during the first two sessions with trumpeter Red Allen, clarinet and saxophone player Pee Wee Russell, banjoist Eddie Condon, pianist Joe Sullivan, double bassist Al Morgan, and guitarist Jack Bland. Drummer Gene Krupa played for the first session, but was then succeeded by Zutty Singleton who played ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Redman
Donald Matthew Redman (July 29, 1900 – November 30, 1964) was an American jazz musician, arranger, bandleader, and composer. Biography Redman was born in Piedmont, Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. His father was a music teacher, his mother was a singer. Beginning by playing the trumpet at the age of three, Redman joined his first band at the age of six and by the age of 12 was proficient on all wind instruments ranging from trumpet to oboe as well as piano. He studied at Storer College in Harper's Ferry and at the Boston Conservatory, then joined Billy Page's Broadway Syncopaters in New York City. He was the uncle of saxophonist Dewey Redman, and thus great-uncle of saxophonist Joshua Redman and trumpeter Carlos Redman. Career In 1923, Redman joined the Fletcher Henderson orchestra, mostly playing clarinet and saxophones. He began writing arrangements, and Redman did much to formulate the sound that was to become swing. A trademark of Redman's arrangement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombone, trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombone playing. His theme song was "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You". His technical skill on the trombone gave him renown among other musicians. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey. After Dorsey broke with his brother in the mid-1930s, he led an extremely successful band from the late 1930s into the 1950s. He is best remembered for standards such as "Opus No. 1, Opus One", "This Love of Mine" (no. 3 in 1941) featuring Frank Sinatra on vocals, "Song of India (song), Song of India", "Marie", "On Treasure Island", and his biggest hit single, "I'll Never Smile Again" (no. 1 for 12 weeks in 1940). Early life Born in Mahanoy Plane, Pennsylvania, Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. was the second of four children born to Thomas Fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fats Waller
Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and singer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. A widely popular star in the jazz and swing eras, he toured internationally, achieving critical and commercial success in the United States and Europe. His best-known compositions, " Ain't Misbehavin'" and " Honeysuckle Rose", were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984 and 1999, respectively. Waller copyrighted over 400 songs, many of them co-written with his closest collaborator, Andy Razaf. Razaf described his partner as "the soul of melody... a man who made the piano sing... both big in body and in mind... known for his generosity... a bubbling bundle of joy". It is likely that he composed many more popular songs than he has been credited with. When in financial difficulties, he had a habit of selling songs to other writers and performers who clai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Condon
Albert Edwin Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang. He also owned a self-named night club in New York City. Early years Condon was born in Goodland, Indiana, the son of John and Margaret (née McGraw) Condon. He grew up in Momence, Illinois, and Chicago Heights, Illinois, where he attended St. Agnes and Bloom High School. After playing ukulele, he switched to banjo and was a professional musician by 1921. When he was 15 years old, he received his first union card in Waterloo, Iowa. Career He was based in Chicago for most of the 1920s, and played with such jazz notables as Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden, and Frank Teschemacher. He and Red McKenzie formed the Chicago Rhythm Kings in 1925. While in Chicago, Condon and other white musicians would go to Lincoln Gardens to watch and learn from King Oliver and his band. They later would frequent t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luis Russell
Luis Carl Russell (August 5, 1902 – December 11, 1963) was a pioneering Panamanian jazz pianist, orchestra leader, composer, and arranger. Career Luis Carl Russell was born on Careening Cay, near Bocas del Toro, Panama, in a family of African-Caribbean ancestry. His father was a music teacher, and Russell learned to play guitar, piano, and violin. He had begun playing professionally, accompanying silent films by 1917 and later at a casino in Colón, Panama. In 1919, he won $3,000 in a lottery and used it to move to the United States, with his mother and sister, settling in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he worked as a pianist. He moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1925 and worked with Doc Cook and King Oliver. The Oliver band moved to New York City, and Russell left to form his own band. By 1929, Russell's band became one of the leading jazz groups in New York City. It had several former Oliver sidemen. Performers in his band included trumpeter Red Allen, trombonist J. C. Higginb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Records
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became the RCA Victor Division of the Radio Corporation of America until late 1968, when it was renamed RCA Records. Established in Camden, New Jersey, Victor was the largest and most prestigious firm of its kind in the world, best known for its use of the iconic "His Master's Voice" trademark, the design, production and marketing of the popular "Victrola" line of phonographs and the company's extensive catalog of operatic and classical music recordings by world famous artists on the prestigious RCA Victor Red Seal, Red Seal label. After Victor merged with RCA in 1929, the company maintained its eminence as America's foremost producer of records and phonographs until the 1960s. History In 1896, Emile Berliner, the inventor of the Phonograph, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fats Pichon
Walter Gabriel Pichon (April 3, 1906 – February 25, 1967) professionally known as Fats Pichon, was an American jazz pianist, singer, bandleader, and songwriter. Biography Pichon was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and began playing piano in his childhood. He also played baritone horn in brass bands in his youth, already a professional musician by 1920. He first went north about 1922, playing at various venues in New York City and New Jersey before settling in Boston for a few years where he studied at the New England Conservatory of Music. After touring the United States and Mexico with various bands in the mid-1920s, he settled again in his home town of New Orleans for the later part of the decade, leading bands under his own name at dance halls and on river boats on the Mississippi River. On visits back to New York he made some recordings, mostly as a vocalist on novelty numbers, with Luis Russell and other New Orleans groups. In the 1930s, Fats Pichon led wha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fate Marable
Fate Marable (December 2, 1890 – January 16, 1947) was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. Early life Marable was born in Paducah, Kentucky to James and Elizabeth Lillian (Wharton) Marable, a piano teacher. Fate had five siblings, including two brothers, Harold and James, and three sisters, Mabel, Juanita, and Neona. Elizabeth Marable, known as "Lizzie," gave her son music lessons, both in reading music and playing piano. Music career At the age of 17, Marable began playing on the steam boats plying the Mississippi River. John and Joseph Streckfus hired him to replace their piano player, Charles Mills, who had accepted an engagement in New York City. There was a catch: Marable's responsibilities would include playing a large steam calliope. Steam streamed through the brass pipes and whistles at 80 pounds of pressure, the keys were hot and they were hard to hold down. Pitch varied with steam pressure, so there was a challenge of playing in tune. The calliope was designed to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
