Joe Sullivan and Bob Zurke had several things in common. They were both brilliant pianists with their own sound within the swing tradition of the 1930s, were alcoholics whose drinking affected their lives and careers, and crossed paths during one important period.
Michael Joseph O’Sullivan was born on Nov. 4, 1906 (his birthdate has also been listed as Nov. 14) in Chicago. The ninth child of parents who were immigrants from Ireland, Sullivan showed strong musical talent from an early age and had classical piano lessons for a dozen years, graduating from the Chicago Conservatory. However growing up in Chicago during the Roaring Twenties was too much of a distraction for him to pursue a career in classical music, and by 1924 he was performing solo piano in silent movie theaters in addition to working in vaudeville and with dance bands.
While he did not attend Austin High School, by 1927 Sullivan became associated with the up-and-coming white musicians who were part of the Chicago jazz scene and often called the Austin High Gang. Next to cornetist Jimmy McPartland, clarinetist Frank Teschemacher, tenor-saxophonist Bud Freeman, Eddie Condon on banjo, Jim Lannigan on bass and tuba, and drummer Gene Krupa, Sullivan made his recording debut in 1927 on the four titles released by the McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans. In 1928, shortly before moving to New York, Sullivan recorded three numbers with similar groups called the Chicago Rhythm Kings and the Jungle Kings that featured cornetist Muggsy Spanier, and one number (“Jazz Me Blues”) on a date led by Teschemacher.
Influenced by Earl Hines in his chord voicings and ringing “trumpet style” octaves (although without taking Hines’ time-defying breaks), and to a slightly lesser extent Fats Waller and Jelly Roll Morton, Sullivan was an up-and-coming pianist when he followed his fellow Chicagoans to New York. While not becoming a major name to the general public, Sullivan recorded fairly frequently as a freelancer during the next five years.
He worked regularly with Red Nichols and recorded with Nichols, trombonist Miff Mole, and Eddie Condon in several settings (including on some of Jack Teagarden’s best early features), and was part of a Louis Armstrong jam session (“Knockin’ A Jug”), a Benny Goodman session with Wingy Manone, and the two explosive Billy Banks sessions from 1932 with Henry “Red” Allen and Pee Wee Russell. He also worked with Red McKenzie, the Roger Wolfe Kahn Orchestra, Ozzie Nelson, and Russ Colombo.
1933 was one of Joe Sullivan’s best years. He became Bing Crosby’s regular accompanist which meant that he was performing with American music’s most popular singer on radio, recordings and live performances. Despite that workload, he was also on a particularly hot record date by Joe Venuti’s Blue Six (which included Benny Goodman, Bud Freeman, and bass saxophonist Adrian Rollini), a session headed by Eddie Condon that was highlighted by Bud Freeman’s “The Eel,” and several Goodman record dates that featured Jack Teagarden, Ethel Waters, and the earliest recordings of Billie Holiday.
In addition, Sullivan for the first time recorded some piano solos, four on Sept. 26, 1933. In addition to “Honeysuckle Rose,” and “Onyx Bring Down,” he introduced his own “Gin Mill Blues” and “Little Rock Getaway.” The latter recording, which received its name because Sullivan’s future wife Mary Ann Nash lived in Arkansas, is a bit of an oddity. While the tune would become the pianist’s best known original, the 1933 version (while having the familiar chord changes) does not refer at all to the famous melody that became part of the song. In fact it does not have a theme at all. But when Sullivan had his second solo piano session on Aug. 8, 1935, he remade “Little Rock Getaway” with the melody and it caught on as a showcase for swing-based pianists.
In 1936 Sullivan joined the orchestra of Bing’s younger brother Bob Crosby. The bandleader planned to have his ensemble record both “Little Rock Getaway” and “Gin Mill Blues” in the future, and the association with the Bob Crosby Orchestra would certainly have given the 29-year old Sullivan some fame. But then he was stricken with tuberculosis and knocked completely out of action for two years. His replacement with the Bob Crosby Orchestra was Bob Zurke.
Boguslaw Albert Zukowski was born in Hamtramck, Michigan, on Jan. 17, 1912, the son of Polish immigrants. A child prodigy who mostly taught himself, he was just 13 when he made his recording debut on two numbers with Oliver Naylor’s Orchestra in 1925. He had already renamed himself Bob Zurke and was a full-time professional three years later when he recorded two numbers with bassist Thelma Terry’s group in Chicago. But despite that early start, Zurke would not appear on records again until he was with Bob Crosby in 1936. In the meantime he was mostly based in Detroit where he worked as a copyist for the booking agency run by Jean Goldkette, played in local clubs, and developed his own style.
Unlike most jazz pianists of the era, Bob Zurke had relatively small hands and short fingers which made it a bit difficult for him to play stride piano in the manner of James P. Johnson and Fats Waller. Overcoming that situation, he developed into a virtuoso with a complex but hard-swinging style. Zurke was able to play independent lines on both hands, often utilized bass lines and boogie-woogie figures, and had his own percussive approach while keeping the melody in mind.
He was not quite 25 when he joined the Bob Crosby Orchestra and that association made him well-known. During his two years with Crosby, Zurke was featured on Sullivan’s “Little Rock Getaway” and “Gin Mill Special,” was showcased on “Honky Tonk Train Blues” and “Yancey Special” (two numbers that put the focus on his boogie-woogie playing), and was also member of Bob Crosby’s Bobcats, the small Dixieland group taken out of the big band.
This was the period of most of Bob Crosby’s greatest successes in the jazz world and Zurke (who contributed occasional arrangements) was an important part of the group’s sound. He was one of the band’s key soloists as well as being part of the impressive rhythm section with guitarist Nappy Lamare, bassist Bob Haggart, and drummer Ray Bauduc.
In 1938 Zurke won the Downbeat Reader’s Poll as best jazz pianist. He was even noticed by Jelly Roll Morton who spoke highly of him in his Library of Congress recordings. By the time Bob Zurke left the Bob Crosby Orchestra in the spring of 1939 when Sullivan returned, he was so well-known that he was able to launch his own promising big band.
In the meantime, Joe Sullivan was in a sanitarium in Monrovia, California, no doubt hearing Zurke playing some of his songs with Crosby on the radio. He was not forgotten and a huge five-hour benefit (broadcast on the radio) was organized by Bing Crosby that featured 14 bands and raised $3,000. But he must have felt frustrated by the turn of events.
By the summer of 1938, the 31-year old pianist was recovered and ready to play again. He worked for a few months with Bing Crosby and in 1939 rejoined the Bob Crosby Orchestra, also getting to record with the Bobcats. However, even with the freewheeling spirit of the Crosby big band, Sullivan preferred to play with smaller combos and he left before year-end.
Sullivan had renewed his association with Eddie Condon (including recording four numbers on Aug. 11, 1939 with a Condon octet that included trumpeter Max Kaminsky, tenor-saxophonist Bud Freeman, and Pee Wee Russell) and he would work off and on with Condon during the next 15 years. Soon after leaving Crosby, Sullivan was on record dates with Billie Holiday, the Varsity Seven (which included Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins), and Lionel Hampton. His prime period was beginning.
The same seemed to be true for Bob Zurke although his days were numbered. Shortly after leaving Bob Crosby, he formed his Delta Rhythm Band, a 15-piece orchestra. Although the group lacked any major names other than its leader, it recorded 30 titles during 1939-40 on seven sessions and the music is mostly quite rewarding. Among the best selections are “Southern Exposure,” “Hobson Street Blues,” “Honky Tonk Train Blues,” “I’ve Found A New Baby,” “Tom Cat On the Keys,” “Tea For Two,” and “Cow Cow Blues.” 18 of the performances (included all of the ones mentioned) are on the Hep CD Honky Tonk Train Blues. But due to the glut of big bands during a period when nearly every significant jazz soloist was tempted to form their own orchestra, the odds were against Zurke’s big band surviving. In addition, the pianist had become an alcoholic and his unreliability resulted in some lost opportunities. He made his last commercial recording session on May 8, 1940, when he was still just 28. Soon afterwards his big band broke up and he had to serve a jail sentence due to not paying alimony to his first wife.
Despite his problems, Bob Zurke seemed to find some stability during his last years. After working in Chicago and Detroit, he got remarried and by mid-1942 was living in Los Angeles, working regularly at that city’s Hangover Club. Four piano solos taken from radio broadcasts in 1943 find him in good shape, and he played the piano part for the late-1943 cartoon Jungle Jive. But his drinking continued and on Feb. 15, 1944, he collapsed at the Hangover Club, passing away the following day from pneumonia and alcohol poisoning. Bob Zurke was just 32.
Joe Sullivan had a much longer career even though it too would eventually be cut short. In 1940 he led an integrated band, his Café Society Orchestra. Despite its name, it was actually a septet that included such notables as trombonist Benny Morton, clarinetist Edmond Hall, and Danny Polo on tenor. The group recorded with Big Joe Turner and Helen Ward, having a minor hit with the latter on “I’ve Got A Crush On You.” While that group did not last long, Sullivan kept busy for much of the decade. He recorded for the Commodore label as a piano soloist, in a trio with Pee Wee Russell and drummer Zutty Singleton, and with Eddie Condon.
After moving to Los Angeles in 1943, he was on a notable session with the Capitol Jazzmen (which included Jack Teagarden and Jimmie Noone), and worked with Teagarden, Wingy Manone, Rex Stewart, and Benny Carter in addition to recording solos for the Capitol label. There were rollicking mid-1940s sessions with Wild Bill Davison and Bud Freeman, a quartet date in which Sidney Bechet was his sideman, a dozen sides with trumpeter Doc Evans, and an Eddie Condon session that reunited him with Bing Crosby. In 1947, Sullivan was part of Rudi Blesh’s This Is Jazz radio series, playing alongside Muggsy Spanier, trombonist George Brunies and clarinetist Albert Nicholas on performances later released by the Jazzology label.
While Joe Sullivan gradually slipped away into obscurity, he still played in his timeless Earl Hines-inspired swing style, ignoring bebop altogether. He was on a Sidney Bechet album with Wild Bill Davison in 1950, recorded with drummer George Wettling the following year, played a couple of concerts with the Louis Armstrong All-Stars in 1952, and can be heard on some radio broadcasts from the Stuyvesant Casino in New York with various top Eddie Condon-associated players that year. He also popped up on a few records during 1952-55 including making a fine trio album of Fats Waller compositions for Epic and an excellent program of piano solos for Riverside in 1953.
After permanently settling in San Francisco, he sometimes played intermission piano for various trad bands at Club Hangover including those of Teddy Buckner, Muggsy Spanier, Earl Hines and Kid Ory. It was ironic that Sullivan performed at Club Hangover while Zurke had been a regular at the unrelated Hangover Club. But as with Zurke, alcoholism and a difficult marriage took its toll and work became sporadic. Sullivan made no recordings at all during 1956-60 and there were only three highlights left to his career.
In 1961, Joe Sullivan was part of a large group of jazz greats who appeared in the television special Chicago And All That Jazz. He performed with an Eddie Condon group that included Gene Krupa on the telecast and is on the cast album that was made at the time. In 1963 Sullivan appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival as part of a heartwarming reunion that Jack Teagarden had with his brother Charlie Teagarden, sister pianist Norma Teagarden, mother Helen Teagarden (who also played piano), and Pee Wee Russell. And on Dec. 28, 1963, Sullivan was featured on Ralph Gleason’s Jazz Casual television show, being interviewed and sounding fine playing six numbers including “Gin Mill Blues” and “Little Rock Getaway.”
Although it was not known at the time and there would be a few rare solo engagements, the television show was Joe Sullivan’s last hurrah. Still just 56, his alcoholism and failing health made his final eight years anti-climactic and uneventful. He passed away on Oct. 13, 1971, at the age of 64.
Joe Sullivan and Bob Zurke may be names that are now mostly known by veteran record collectors, but their recordings can be found and serve as evidence as to their timeless brilliance.
