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Eddie Lang was the first Jazz guitar virtuoso. A boyhood friend of Joe Venuti, Lang took violin lessons for 11 years but switched to guitar before he turned professional in 1924 with the Mound City Blue Blowers. He was soon in great demand for recording dates, both in the jazz world and in pop settings.

His sophisticated European sounding chord patterns made him a unique accompanist, but he was also a fine soloist. He often played with violinist Venuti and with Red Nichols’s Five Pennies , Frankie Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke (most memorably on the song “Singin’ the Blues“).

Eddie-Lang-mural
On Sunday October 23, 2016, the city of Philadelphia celebrated jazz guitar pioneer Eddie Lang (born Salvatore Massaro) with a mural located at 7th and Fitzwater Streets in Philly, not far from Lang’s boyhood home on St. Alban Street. The 60-foot mural, by artist Jared Bader, was created and installed through a partnership between the Mural Arts Program of Philadelphia (founded by Jane Golden) and Richard Barnes, guitarist and leader of The Blackbird Society Orchestra of Philadelphia. The mural features Lang in the foreground of an imagined Okeh recording studio with fellow recording artists Joe Venuti, Bix Beiderbecke, Bing Crosby, Lonnie Johnson, Louis Armstrong, and Bessie Smith, among others.

He played in many orchestras including Roger Wolfe Kahn Orchestra , Jean Goldkette and with Paul Whiteman (appearing on one short number with Venuti in Whiteman’s 1930 film “King Of Jazz“).

Lang was a versatile player who could back Blues singers, play Classical music, and jam with the greatest musicians of his day. He was the house guitarist at Okeh from 1926 to 1933. Using the pseudonym of Blind Willie Dunn, Lang often teamed up with Blues guitarist Lonnie Johnson.

Eddie Lang led several dates of his own between 1927 and 1929, including an interesting session with King Oliver and Johnson, under the name of Blind Willie Dunn and his Gin Bottle Four.

He worked regularly with Bing Crosby during the early 1930s and appears briefly with him in the film “The Big Broadcast”. Tragically his premature death was caused by a poorly performed operation, where he lost too much blood during a routine tonsillectomy.

Bing was deeply disturbed by Lang’s death, not only because he suddenly lost one of his best friends and most talented sidemen, but because he had personally urged Lang to have the operation.

Also See: Eddie Lang: Profiles in Jazzband or session leader

Blind Willie Dunn and his Gin Bottle FourBlind Willie Dunn and Lonnie Johnson
Ed Lang and his OrchestraJoe Venuti and Eddie Lang
Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang and their All-Star Orchestra

 

 

TitleRecording DateRecording LocationCompany
Add A Little Wiggle
(from “Rise Or Shine”)
With Piano by Frank Signorelli

(Milton Ager)
3-29-1928New York, New YorkOkeh
41134
A Little Love, A Little Kiss
(Silesu)
5-28-1927New York, New YorkOkeh
40989
April Kisses
(Eddie Lang)
4-1-1927New York, New YorkOkeh
40807
Eddie’s Twister
(Eddie Lang)
4-1-1927New York, New YorkOkeh
40807
Feelin’ My Way
(Eddie Lang / Carl Kress)
2-17-1932New York, New YorkBrunswick
6254
I’ll Never Be The Same
(Matty Malneck / Frank Signorelli / Gus Kahn)
9-27-1928New York, New YorkParlophone
R-1778
Jannine I Dream Of Lilac Time
With Piano by Frank Signorelli

(Gilbert / Skilkret)
9-27-1928New York, New YorkOkeh
41134

401158-A
Jannine I Dream Of Lilac Time
With Piano by Frank Signorelli

(Gilbert / Skilkret)
9-27-1928New York, New YorkOkeh
41134

401158-C
Melody Man’s Dream
(Eddie Lang / Frank Signorelli)
10-21-1927New York, New YorkOkeh
40936
Perfect
(Eddie Lang / Frank Signorelli)
10-21-1927New York, New YorkOkeh
40936
Pickin’ My Way
(Eddie Lang / Carl Kress)
2-15-1932New York, New YorkBrunswick
6254
Prelude (Opus 3, no. 2)
(Rachmaninoff)
5-28-1927New York, New YorkOkeh
40989
Rainbow Dreams
(Eddie Lang)
3-29-1928New York, New YorkParlophone
R-2646
There’ll Be Some Changes Made 11-5-1928New York, New YorkOkeh
8663

accompanied by

ArtistInstrument
Rube BloomPiano
Carl KressGuitar
Arthur SchuttPiano
Frank SignorelliPiano

TitleDirectorYear
Segar Ellis and His Embassy Club Orchestra1929
King Of JazzJohn Murray Anderson1930
Big BroadcastFrank Tuttle1932

The Quintessential Eddie Lang 1925 – 1932 by Sally-Ann Worsfold, Timeless Records, 1997
Jazz Guitar: An Anthology, Edited by James Sallis, Quill Publishers, 1984

 

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