Joe Venuti (September 16, 1903 – August 14, 1978) was the first great violinist of Jazz. The music he made with Eddie Lang would later be a major influence on Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli in France. He was born aboard a ship as his parents emigrated from Italy and trained to be a classical violinist from an early age.

He met Eddie Lang in 1913 while attending school in Philadelphia and started a local group with him three years later. The two would go on to play and record with each other frequently up until Lang’s death in 1933. Venuti played briefly with Red Nichols, made his first recordings with Jean Goldkette and played in the orchestra of many Broadway shows.

He co-led a band with Eddie Lang off and on through most of the 1920’s, that included Jimmy Dorsey, Red Nichols and Frank Signorelli of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. In 1929 he joined the Paul Whiteman Orchestra but was injured in an auto accident; he was able to re-join the band in 1930. Venuti was able to keep working as a musician the rest of his life. He enjoyed a resurgence of interest in the 1970s.

Check out www.joe-venuti.com for some cool pictures of Joe Venuti.

Joe Venuti’s Blue Four/Five/Six	Joe Venuti and his Orchestra
Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang	Joe Venuti’s Rhythm Boys
Joe Venuti and his New Yorkers	Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang and their All-Star Orchestra

Title	Director	Year
King Of Jazz	John Murray Anderson	1930
Garden of the Moon	Busby Berkeley	1938
Syncopation	William Dieterle	1943
Sing, Helen, Sing	William Dieterle	1942
Belle of Old Mexico	R.G. Springsteen	1950
Disc Jockey	Will Jason	1951
Pete Kelly’s Blues	Jack Webb	1955