She Could Swing When confronted with the recordings and performances of Ella Fitzgerald, several questions come to mind. Could anyone outswing her? Was anyone a more exciting and inventive scat-singer? Did anyone else have a […]
The Double-Threat One of the most beloved figures in jazz history, Jack Teagarden was a double-threat as a trombonist and a singer. Before he arrived in New York in 1928, most trombonists played in a […]
The Lion William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertholoff Smith was a contradictory but lovable figure, as colorful as his long original name. With his bowler hat, a cigar in his mouth, and an extroverted personality that […]
Fats Waller Most of the major jazz musicians excelled in one or two areas. For example Jack Teagarden, the subject of last month’s Profiles In Jazz, was a great trombonist and singer. The remarkable Duke […]
Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet was a unique figure in jazz history. A masterful soprano-saxophonist and clarinetist, he recorded the first significant jazz solos (other than pianists). Bechet, whose fiery personality was sometimes a liability, was […]
Henry “Red” Allen Jazz history is full of innovators, interpreters and individualists. The innovators change the way that the music is played and influence both their contemporaries and future generations while the interpreters perform the […]
Django He was one of the most extraordinary individuals in jazz history, a largely illiterate gypsy who also happened to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of all time. He was the first major […]
Success at Every Turn Artie Shaw was a unique figure in jazz history. A competitor of Benny Goodman both as a clarinetist and a bandleader, Shaw led no less than seven different orchestras during 1936-49. […]
Kid Ory Before the rise of Miff Mole, Jimmy Harrison, and especially Jack Teagarden in the late 1920s, Edward “Kid” Ory was the most important influence on other jazz trombonists. His “tailgate” style featured him […]
How many jazz musicians from the 1920s were involved in playing modern jazz of the 1960s? I can only think of three: Duke Ellington (who, in addition to his writing, greatly modernized his piano style […]
In November 1934, Benny Goodman was in a bind. His new orchestra had just won an important time slot on the Let’s Dance radio show. While Kel Murray offered sweet dance music and Xavier Cugat […]
Star Drummer He was the first drummer to be considered a superstar and a matinee idol. Before Gene Krupa hit it big with Benny Goodman’s orchestra in 1935, drummers were primarily considered timekeepers who, at […]
Red Nichols was one of the finest cornet players to emerge during the 1920s—yet, for various reasons, he was underrated throughout much of his career and in the half-century since. Because his personality could be […]
The Dodds Brothers with King Oliver’s Jazz Band, from left: Warren “Baby” Dodds, Honoré Dutrey, Joe “King” Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Bill Johnson, Johnny Dodds, and Lil Hardin. The Dodds Brothers, clarinetist Johnny and drummer Baby, […]
Earl “Fatha” Hines was one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. Frequently he would play ringing octaves with his right hand (called “trumpet style piano”) that allowed him to be heard over the […]
Jazz history is full of bright flames, artists who come out of nowhere, make a very strong impression, and then burn out, often having a premature death. But no one seems to have had a […]
One of the most important of the New Orleans jazz pioneers, cornetist Joe “King” Oliver is perhaps best remembered today for leading the best jazz band of 1923 and for his connection with Louis Armstrong. However, […]
By Scott Yanow Bob Crosby definitely had an unusual career. Being the younger brother of Bing Crosby, the most famous singer in the world for quite a few years, there was no way that Bob […]
By Scott Yanow Strange as it seems, there was a time when it was not unusual for trad jazz recordings to be on the pop charts in Great Britain. Such recordings as Kenny Ball’s “Midnight […]