The Truth About Brass Sliding Things…
Today, August 20, is Jack Teagarden’s birthday. In honor of that anniversary, I’m reposting a bullet-point version of Jack Tegarden’s career. I wrote this some time ago, although I’ve revised it since. Sure, there’s a wikipedia article, but why read that when you can get the information directly from one of the world’s foremost authorities […]
From YouTube, a transfer of Woody Herman’s band performing Bijou for Columbia records. The recording date is August 20, 1945 (coincidentally Jack Teagarden’s birthday). Bijou is a composition by Ralph Burns, who also composed Early Autumn and played piano with the band. Bill Harris, who was born in Philadelphia on October 28, 1916, takes the […]
Yesterday was the 100 year anniversary of J. J. Johnson’s birth, January 22, 1924. Of course, that’s not the kind of day we can just let pass into history without saying something. J.J. was — and is — one of the most influential jazz trombonists ever. A big reason for that influence was a slide-trombone-technical-facility […]
For jazz appreciation month, more about jazz trombonist Jimmy Harrison, Coleman Hawkin’s friend and bandmate mentioned in the Hawkins documentary from the previous post. Harrison was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1900. He was raised in Detroit, Michigan. Like Jack Teagarden, he was largely self taught, but started the trombone later, as a teenager. It […]
Today is Big Tea’s Birthday. Happy birthday, Jack Teagarden! Here he is with Pops at Billy Berg's in 1947, the birth of All Stars. What a team! pic.twitter.com/62ZTZhWCqT — Louis Armstrong (@ArmstrongHouse) August 20, 2016