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Some of the year 2010 centennial birthdays
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drummer, leader, occasional singer For me Sid Catlett is the greatest drummer of the whole history of jazz. For one, he was astonishingly versatile: no matter what the surroundings - what he contributed sounded always just right. For two, his drum solos are very musical. They are not just drum acrobatics, they are melodic inventions as those of melody instruments. For three, he had the ability to drive and lift a band, a quality that is almost impossible to learn. Last not least, he was an excellent showman; an important quality at a time when jazz was seen as entertainment rather than art. Pianist Mel Powell said about him: "[he] had no peer as a percussionist. [...] he invariably sounded like he was playing delicately tuned drums. [...] His sensitivity and delicacy of ear were extraordinary. So was his time." His most prominent engagements were with Fletcher Henderson (1936), Don Redman (1936-38), Louis Armstrong (1938-40, 1942 & 1947-49) and Benny Goodman (1941). In the forties he led his own small groups. - Fortunately for us, he can be heard on hundreds of recordings. - Unfortunately, he died very early because of a heart attack. A good introduction to his work is the 1944 concert recording of the Esquire All Stars, recorded for V-Disc. guitarist, leader, occasional bassist Born in a gipsy caravan, Django Reinhardt was a musical genius from the most unexpected corner of the world. Raised with traditional gipsy music Django soon became interested in the new sounds of the late twenties. He showed unusual talent, but this seemed to be of no avail when he was seriously burnt in a caravan fire in 1928, which mutilated also his left hand. However, Django was determined to play and kept training his fingers constantly, finally managing to get full flexibility back to thumb, index and middle finger of his hand, the other two fingers remaining paralysed though. He developed a unique technique to overcome that problem. In 1934 he met violinist Stéphane Grappelli, a brother in mind. Together they formed a group made up of four string instruments only, violin, solo guitar, rhythm guitar and bass. Soon Django complained that Stéphane had the luxury of two guitars accompanying him, while he, Django, had only one. This led to the inclusion of a further rhythm guitarist. Their first recordings from 1934 became instantly successful. The Quintette du Hot Club de France was born, the first European jazz group that didn't just copy what they heard from beyond the Atlantic but created their own particular brand of jazz. The group stayed together until the outbreak of WWII when Grappelli decided to stay in England whereas Django hurried back home. In these six years the group became internationally famous, made many recordings and turned Reinhardt and Grappelli into stars. Whenever American musicians visited France, they tried to find Django and play with him, marvelling at his superb ear, his uncanny ability to sense what would be played next and his unusual guitar lines. Occupied France under the Nazis was not without its hazards for a gipsy, but ultimately Django's celebrity status and unpredictability saved him from being imprisoned. The lack of influx from America made his star status all the more towering in Europe. Django started to behave like a diva while becoming ever more unreliable. When the war ended, there was bebop all of a sudden. Django Reinhardt didn't quite know what to do. He changed to the electric guitar in 1946, a move that I still find unwise. His style of playing was so well suited to the classical guitar that amplification turned him into a far less intriguing soloist, in my opinion. Gradually he disappeared from the stage, spending more time with his family in his caravan and his new hobby, painting. While Django was living in semi-retirement, Norman Granz tried to recreate interest in his playing by luring him into the JatP fold. Before these plans could materialise, however, Django died of a brain hemorrhage. - One of many premature deaths in the history of jazz. His music lives on, however, in hundreds of recordings, and in dozens of contemporary sinti groups cultivating and developing his musical legacy. baritone saxophonist, occasional bass clarinetist and clarinetist Harry Carney joined Duke Ellington in 1927 and stayed with the Duke for all of his life, thus becoming the longest serving sideman of any jazzband. He virtually invented the jazz language of the baritone saxophone and monopolised the instrument until the late forties when there emerged finally some noteworthy successors like Gerry Mulligan, Serge Chaloff or Pepper Adams. - He was also the first to try and use the bass clarinet as a jazz instrument. I don't think that Harry Carney was a superbly gifted improvisor. The few jam session recordings preserved on wax make him look somewhat clumsy at times. Had Basie's Jack Washington, for example, got similar exposure, I'm quite positive that we would see him as the foremost baritonist of the swing era. It was Carney, however, who was constantly employed as an important colour in the Duke's compositions and had to solo often. These challenges and the constant exposure contributed to his status. In Ellington's tailor-made features Carney really excelled. He continued to develop his sound through the years until he achieved a striking and commanding sonority on his instrument, which is instantly recognisable. pianist, arranger, leader Born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs, Mary Lou married saxophonist John Williams in 1926. The couple divorced around 1940 but she kept the name Mary Lou Williams throughout her career. Mary Lou Williams is a phenomenon. Not only was she the first female instrumentalist in jazz to be wholly accepted, even admired by her male colleagues, she was also forever on the move with wide open ears for the new developments in jazz, not even shying away from Free Jazz playing with Cecil Taylor. From the late forties she experimented with classically inspired lengthy compositions ("Zodiac Suite") and also wrote spiritual works ("Mary Lou's Mass"). Her roots, and probably her very best work, lie with stride and boogie woogie, however. Her originality and perfect ear can be savoured in many recordings from the thirties and forties, both with bigbands, small groups and in solo outings. From 1930 to 1942 she was the key member of Andy Kirk's Clouds of Joy, contributing not only memorable piano solos but also shaping the band's identity by her many original arrangements. She was so good that many other bandleaders commissioned arrangements from her. Her own composition "Roll 'em" became a hit for Benny Goodman. In the mid forties, during her marriage to trumpeter Shorty Baker, she worked as a staff arranger for Duke Ellington, no mean feat. clarinetist, leader, arranger, occasional alto saxophonist Artie Shaw became Benny Goodman's hardest competitor from 1938, both as a band leader and a clarinetist. Probably the even more virtuoso instrumentalist, Shaw's tone was full and penetrating and particularly impressive in the high register. Goodman, on the other hand, was probably more imaginative, definitely 'jazzier' and had a richer range of colours. Artie Shaw also became a glamorous showbusiness personality, not least due to eight marriages, some of which short-lived affairs with well-known actresses like Lana Turner or Ava Gardner. He made a lot of money with his bands but despised the show business aspect of it. He once called the swing fans publicly "morons". He dropped out of the business several times and retired permanently in 1955, never to perform publicly again. He was a widely read and widely interested man, also trying his own hands at writing fiction. His autobiography "The Trouble With Cinderella" is highly interesting and well-written; it bears the subtitle "An Outline Of Identity", which points to Shaw's quest of finding out who he truly wanted to be. Shaw also experimented with his bands, first leading a string quartet plus rhythm group, then a more conventional swing band, but first still with a few strings, from 1940 - when he could finally afford it - he led a band with a fully fledged string section. - His band within the band, a quintet called 'The Gramercy Five', featured in its first edition a harpsichord. - Like Ellington he experimented with longer compositions and arrangements, the most famous of which is "Concerto for Clarinet", and like Goodman he made a point of breaking the colour line by employing negro artists in his bands (Billie Holiday, Lips Page, Roy Eldridge). - He was interested in the new developments in jazz, even if he himself stuck to his style, he took classical clarinet lessons to see what would happen to his sound and finally gave up playing because he felt that his inability to reach perfection would eventually kill him. One of the very best documentaries in the field of jazz, 'Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got' (1985) by Brigitte Berman, is a must see. bassist Milt Hinton might be the most often recorded bassist in the history of jazz. This fact is not just owned to his longevity but rather more to his versatility, reliability and affable nature. Milt could play anything, had a superb tone, clean execution and could also solo with authority. He made the big time with Cab Calloway, whom he worked for from 1936 to 1951. Then he became a busy NYC studio musician and was frequently called upon for any kind of engagement with mainstream musicians, be it Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Sammy Davis, Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Red Norvo etc. etc. He toured extensively until shortly before his death and seemed to have lost none of his power even in his very advanced years. Check out his homepage: http://www.milthinton.com/home.html Milt Hinton became a hobby photographer very early on and frequently took pictures of his fellow musicians on tour, in the studios or relaxing. These interesting documents have been published in three picture books so far, for any jazz lover worthwhile buys. trumpeter, leader, occasional vocalist Cootie Williams was an absolutely superb trumpeter in the Louis Armstrong tradition. He had a majestic, forceful tone, was equally adept in all registers, and became a master in the use of growl plunger techniques. His solos were imaginative and always told a story. He came to prominence with Duke Ellington, whom he worked for from 1929 (replacing plunger specialist 'Bubber' Miley) to 1940 and again from 1962 to 1975. In 1940/41 he played with Benny Goodman, which gave him the exposure and the money to set out on his own in 1942, leading a bigband until 1948. His most interesting trumpet work, in my opinion, was all done before he became a leader himself. There are countless recordings with the Duke, both in the Orchestra and with various small bands, all of them containing gems of solos. As with all his major soloists the Duke composed special feature numbers for Cootie as well - "Echoes of Harlem" and "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me" come to mind - but there are excellent efforts all around. I particularly like Cootie's work with the Goodman band and sextet. There the challenges presented by Benny or Charlie Christian plus the driving rhythm sections really made him excel. His later work fails to connect with me and sounds almost anachronistic at times, at least to my ears. alto saxophonist, clarinetist, occasional singer Willie Smith was a widely admired alto sax stylist in the thirties. With the exception of Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges he had no peers at that time. Many consider him the best lead alto saxophonist in the history of bigband jazz. He had a penetrating sound and absolutely no technical difficulties. He preferred the upper register of his instrument and employed the contrast between long-drawn notes or glissandi and a staccato-like, rhythmic playing with the shorter ones to good effect. His tendency to play for effect rather than meaning increased in later years, making his later work less noteworthy. - He was also a very proficient clarinetist with a warm, chalumeau tone. His vocals were rhythmic and humorous and delivered in a pleasant, somewhat high-pitched voice. His most notable work is documented within the ranks of the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra between 1929 and 1942. The next long-time employment was with Harry James (1944-51 & 1954-64). He also worked with Duke Ellington at a time when Johnny Hodges had left and was a regular member of Norman Granz's JatP tours. tenor saxophonist, soprano saxophonist, arranger, occasional clarinetist and alto as well as baritone saxophonist Budd Johnson is one of the underrated top musicians in the history of jazz. He first came to prominence with Earl Hines, whose orchestras he graced from 1934 to 1942, contributing many arrangements and solos. He worked with Hines again from 1965 to 1969 in a small band. In the early forties he became very interested in the evolving modern jazz and helped the young boppers to get jobs with bands and in the recording studios. He also made a number of r&b recordings. He managed to keep busy playing and arranging throughout his career, also becoming a lecturer and giving clinics from the 1970s on. Reasons why he may have gone somewhat unnoticed by the broad public might be the fact that he never really tried to lead his own groups for a longer period, that he made relatively few recordings under his own name and, above all, that his style remained somewhat undefined. At periods his sound was relatively close to the Hawkins-Berry 'school', at others Lester Young became a very noticeable source. His improvisations reflected the changes in music. All of this made him hard to pinpoint. arranger, leader, trumpeter, occasional vocalist Sy Oliver's major contribution to jazz were his arrangements for the Jimmy Lunceford Orchestra from 1933 to 1939. He helped shape the unmistakeable Lunceford sound, relaxed, yet bouncing, with a singing saxophone section and staccato brass counterpoint. There was a definite two-beat feel to the rhythm, and the arrangements projected wit and humour. Sy was a pleasant singer and took some nice plunger solos. Sy himself said that he always wrote them down for himself as he didn't see himself as an improvisor. Later he also arranged for Tommy Dorsey, particularly notable achievements being "On the Sunny Side of the Street" and "Opus One", both recorded in 1944. Sy didn't develop any further, however, and in later years occasionally led bands that stuck to his success formula from the thirties and forties. note: Older sources give tenor saxophonist Chu Berry's birth date as 1910. However, it seems to be proved beyond any doubt now that Chu was really born in 1908. Consequently, you will find an entry on Chu in the 1908 centennial chapter. |
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Some further birthdays in order of their birth dates: pianist, arranger bassist, tubist drummer trumpeter alto saxophonist, arranger, occasional clarinetist note: The 1910 date is given as an approximate guess in Chilton's Who's Who of Jazz (1985). The All Music Guide (2010) favours 1912. The New York Times obituary (1992) implies 1911. The current wikipedia article (2010) gives 14/8/1911. What this precise date is based on remains unclear. - Mondello started his professional career in June 1927. This leads me to assume that he was rather 17 than 15. I favour 1910 for this reason only. clarinetist, tenor saxophonist trumpeter drummer trombonist alto saxophonist pianist trumpeter, vocalist tenor saxophonist note: Feather's Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz and the internet 'All Music Guide' give the birth date as 1912, which I believe to be correct. Chilton's Who's Who of Jazz (1985) states 1910. trumpeter, vocalist tenor saxophonist pianist pianist, occasional vocalist and trumpeter guitarist, (fender) bassist trombonist, leader clarinetist, alto saxophonist note: The death date is sometimes given as Philadelphia, 28/9/1989. Eugene Chadbourne in the 'All Music Guide' claims that this is wrong and concerns an actor of the same name. There is no alternative date given, however. baritone saxophonist drummer clarinetist, (tenor) saxophonist, occasional flutist and vocalist pianist pianist drummer, leader, occasional vocalist trumpeter pianist, vocalist, arranger pianist, leader vocalist, occasional drummer note: The 1910 date is given in Chilton's Who's Who of Jazz (1985). The Wynonie Harris Profile by Jean Sanders (2004) states Harris's birth date as 1913 (see: http://nsea.org). Most other sources as well as Feather's Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999) give the birth date as 1915, which I believe to be correct. There is a biography out by Tony Collins (1994). What it says on this subject, I do not know, however. drummer, leader, occasional vibraphonist pianist, arranger, leader note: The 1910 date is given in Chilton's Who's Who of Jazz (1985). Most other sources, including Feather's Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999) and the internet sources I consulted, give the birth date as 1908, which I believe to be correct. trumpeter trombonist leader, trumpeter, vocalist, valve trombonist guitarist bassist |
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