Casper Reardon (April 15, 1907 – March 9, 1941) was an American classical and jazz harpist. He studied classical harp at the Curtis Institute of Music and went on to play for the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Later on, he played jazz. The harp had been used in dance music for occasional flourishes before Reardon, but he is considered a first for using harp as a jazz instrument for solos and performances. By 1936, he was described as the "World's Hottest Harpist". During the following year he played "Cousin Caspar" in the film, '' You're a Sweetheart''. In 1938, he played harp for the Broadway musical, '' I Married an Angel''. As a jazz musician he can be heard on albums by Jack Teagarden and

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American Jazz 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 193 ...

. He recorded a handful of records for Liberty Music Shop Records and Schirmer Records. He died in March 1941, in New York, at the age of 33 from

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

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AllMusic biography 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 dat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reardon, Casper 1907 births 1941 deaths American classical harpists American jazz harpists 20th-century American classical musicians