Jazz Artists Who Have Nicknames

[patricia]

I get suggestions from some who read these entries, from time to time and in response to one today, let me offer a thumbnail sketch of the great tenor-sax player, GENE "JUG" AMMONS.

Now, Ammons was not widely known by his nickname, but I understand that he had so many run-ins with the constabulary and spent so much time in jail that his friends dubbed him "Jug" and it stuck.

Ammons was born in Chicago in 1925. He started out with Billy Eckstine's band in 1944 and stayed til 1947 as well as recording under his own name and also with his father, Albert Ammons.

Gene then was featured with Woody Herman's band in 1949 and co-led with Sonny Stitt a two tenor septet in 1952.

Ammons worked hard, leading his own groups and as a visiting soloist, but his drug habit threatened to send his career swirling down the bowl. He was busted and jailed twice, for significant incarceration in the sixties, once from 1958-1960 and again from 1964-1969.

He did make a European trip to Montreaux for the jazz festival in 1973.

Gene's style has been characterized as a cross between the styles of Lester Young and Ben Webster. The blending of Young's simplicity and Webster's directness comes through in a sound unique to Ammons and not at all derivitive. Some criticize his sound as being too obvious, but I see a sensitivity and subtlety that is very appealing, especially when he played ballads.

Ammons' career was relatively short, but he did manage to develop what became known a the Chicago school of tenor-playing, which influenced such players as Johnny Griffin and Clifford Jordan. It's rather sad that this new development in tenor-playing quickly became part of the international language of jazz and Ammons seldom is given credit. Ammons' "Gravy" from 1950 became the basis for the standard "Walkin' ", which was copyrighted by his manager, Richard Carpenter.

Gene "Jug" Ammons died in 1974 after contracting pneumonia at fifty-nine.

Look for "Gentle Jug" [1961-2 Prestige] which is a two LP set and is a collection of beautiful standards. Ammons' talent shines through. Very enjoyable.

Edited March 18, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

In 1905, in Little Rock Arkansas, a not-very-well-known trombone-player, "SNUB" [Laurence Leo] MOSELY was born.

Mosely was not among the front rank of the very early trombone soloists, such as Jimmy Harrison, or even as recognizeable as Claude Jones.

That doesn't mean that he was not a talent to be watched. From 1926-1933 Snub was the featured soloist with Alphonso Trent's territory band. This band was enormously successful and Snub's style was desribed as a stabbing stacatto attack, with amazing high-register work.

His highly individual approach attracted a lot of attention. So much so, that he was in great demand by the best big bands of the thirties. Those included those of Luis Russell, Fats Waller and also Fletcher Henderson.

Then, in 1938, Snub led his own six-piece band, which played at hotels, clubs and also went on tour. This band produced at least one hit record, "The Man With The Funny Little Horn".

This record was remarkable because of an instrument the band included, which Snub Mosely invented. The instrument was called the "SLIDE SAXOPHONE". It looked like a big, metal Swanee whistle and had a very unique spectral sound.

For forty years, Snub fronted his bands, which were sometimes r&b groups and sometimes jazz-flavoured. He played mainly in the New York area.

He recorded too, for Stanley Dance in 1959.

Snub then toured Europe twenty years later and fronted Fred Hunt's trio.

There is a collection of the work he did in London, when he was the resident at the Pizza Express. It's "Live At The Pizza Express" [1978 Pizza].

SNUB MOSLEY died in July of 1981 at seventy-six years old.

Edited March 18, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

Although Louis Armstrong is a household name, at least in jazz aficianados' households, there was a better-known cornet-player in New Orleans to whom Armstrong was second-line cornet in this honouree's marching band.

The player to whom I'm referring is "BUDDY" [Joseph Crawford] PETIT, born in 1897 in White Castle, Louisiana. Petit's nickname was a childhood one.

To distinguish him from his stepfather, Josepth Petit Sr., he was called "Buddy".

In 1916 Petit was co-leading a band with Jimmie Noone and was working up and down the West Coast. His band, mostly because of Petit's extreme popularity, was one of the most in-demand bands of the period. So much so, that quite often Buddy would sometimes accept 4 or 5 jobs in one night. He always took a deposit, but obviously couldn't play them, so he would send other bands to play under his band's name. It got so that prosective bookers were reluctant to hire him, because they never knew if they were going to get Buddy's band, or someone else's.

In 1917 Petit moved to the West Coast to play with Jelly Roll Morton.

There was an almost immediate personality conflict between Petit and Morton.

It seems that Morton considered Petit a bit of a country-boy. On one occasion, Petit had cooked up a big pot of rice and beans at work and Moton made fun of his eating habits. Petit blew up and threatened to kill Morton, if their paths ever crossed again. They went their separate ways, not surprisingly.

According to Danny Barker, "A dozen books should have been written about Buddy Petit. The way people rave over Dempsey, Joe Louis or Ben Hogan, -- THAT'S how great Petit was when he played! The kids would come up and say 'Can I shake your hand Mr Petit?' On parades they'd be ten deep around Buddy as he walked along, blowing."

Buddy Petit was Louis Armstrong's nearest rival in New Orleans.

BUDDY PETIT led a frantic life, working constantly, sleeping little, drinking copiously. He had refused an offer to go to Chicago to play in Bill Johnson's band and King Oliver got the job instead, but he still played regularly on the riverboats. In July of 1931 he was at an Independance Day picnic and overate and overdrank himself to death at only thirty-four. Louis Armstrong was a pallbearer at the funeral.

Edited March 18, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

Our next profile is of CLAUDE "FIDDLER" WILLIAMS, born in Muskogee in 1908.

Williams played first with Terrence Holder's band, which later morphed into Andy Kirk's Clouds Of Joy.

After that, he went with Alphonso Trent in 1932 and with Chick Stevens in 1934 and stayed until 1935.

Count Basie's orchestra was the next stop for Fiddler in 1936, but he was replaced by Freddy Green.

From then on, he worked with a wide variety of bands, including the Four Shades of Rhythm and after having lived in New York for years, he moved back to Kansas City in 1953. He spent the next few years playing residencies there.

In the 1970's Williams toured with Jay McShann, as well as playing solo at festivals and at parties.

Fiddler Williams is described as a jazz violinist of huge, huge energy and great creativity.

Many believe that he has been underestimated, when compared to better known artists, such as Stuff Smith. I think that Smith may be more well-know, but Williams' work stands up favourably to any of the other jazz-violinists'.

He's still working, unless he checked out, since 1999, while I wasn't paying attention.

Edited March 19, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

Now we have "SNOOKY" [Eugene Howard] YOUNG, a wonderful trumpet player, born in 1919 in Dayton, Ohio.

Amazingly, Snooky took up the trumpet at five years old!! He played in the Wilberforce College Band, without ever have attended the college!

Later, he played with Clarence "Chic" Carter's territory band in Michigan.

In 1939 he joined Jimmie Lunceford's orchestra, staying for three years.

Snooky had a very famous feature, "Uptown Blues", with Lunceford's organization.

In 1942 he was with Count Basie's band for a short time and then Young joined a variety of bands, Lee Young, Les Hite, Benny Carter, Basie again, and then Gerald Wilson.

He then joined Basie once again, staying until 1945 - 1947. Snooky replaced Al Killian, Basie's high-note man.

Then, for the next ten years he led his own band, which was very well received and it played in Dayton. This band featured Slam Stewart and Bootie Wood.

He then re-joined Basie and stayed with his band from 1957-1962.

From there he went to studio work, where he produced an excellent solo album for Concord. That album is titled, "Horn Of Plenty" and it is required listening for anyone who would like to hear Young's style and talent on both trumpet and fluglehorn.. His backup was Ross Tompkins on piano, John Collins on guitar and Jake Hanna doing a great job on drums. Away you go to look for this collection. Again, you'll thank me.

Edited April 29, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

Are you ready for a jazz singer, who played kazoo???

Well, then I have a treat for you!

We have "RED" [William] McKENZIE, who was born in 1899 in St Louis.

Red did not start out to be a jazz singer, but actually was a jockey. Fortunate for the jazz scene, unfortunate for him, he broke both arms in a fall and couldn't ride anymore.

He took a job as a bellhop at the Claridge Hotel in St Louis and met Dick Slevin and Jack Bland, who were guitarists.

The three of them, McKenzie, Bland and Slevin formed a "spasm" band, the Mound City Blue Blowers. It was a huge success and worked opposite Gene Rodemich's band in Chicago.

There was a recording date, arranged by Isham Jones for the trio. The first single they recorded was "Arkansas Bllues" and featured McKenzie on a red-hot paper and comb, combined with his absolutely captivating, plummy singing. This record sold over a million copies!

That monster hit, for the times, was followed by "Hello LOla" and "One Hour", which also featured guest, Coleman Hawkins and Glenn Miller and became classics.

There were two other guitarists who played with the blowers, Eddie Lang and Eddie Condon. Apparently, Condon loved McKenzie's feisty spirit.

Red McKenzie helped set up Condon's first record date with the McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans.

Red then moved on to work with Paul Whiteman for a year and worked successfully on 52nd Street, until his wife died. He then moved back to St Louis with his son. He worked there as a beer salesman.

But, he did come back to record, twice, with Condon in 1944. Then, in 1947 he was leading a band at Jimmy Ryan's.

As Ed Hubble recalls, "His death was the end of the band. It was a stomping band and Red was singing beautifully, but his personal life was very lonely - he was taking it out on the bandstand and drinking entirely too much".

RED McKENZIE died of cirhosis in February of 1948.

Edited March 20, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

Now we have the great "CANNONBALL" [Julian Erwin] ADDERLEY, who was born in Tampa Florida in 1928. Adderly, of course, was a master of both the alto and soprano saxophones.

Cannonball started out as a music instructor in a school in Fort Lauderdale and took that profession up again after his military service in the Army.

But, as fate would have it, he was encouraged by Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson to move to New York.

Cannonball did and arrived shortly after Charlie "Bird" Parker died. He made a huge impact and formed a touring quintet.

That group included his brother, Nat and Cannonball joined Miles Davis from 1957 and stayed til 1959.

After his period with Davis, Adderly formed a quintet with Nat.

Sadly, Nat died from a stroke and the group broke up.

When Cannonball first started out, there were identifiable influences of many other players of the time in his style. There seemed to be echoes of Parker, Benny Carter, Vinson and also Jordon in his early work.

Then, as the fifties rolled in, one could hear Coltrane and even Ornette Coleman in that period, when Cannonball played.

This is not criticism, but rather a comment on how the admiration of all these earlier artists helped to form Cannonball Adderly's eventual unique style.

Cannonball is particularly associated with what came to be known as "soul jazz" and he gave musical substance to that style.

Some say that Adderly's music is too commercially motivated, but his work stands up better than many other artists who later came onto the jazz scene.

There are two popular tunes, played by the quintet which were written by band members, "Sermonetter" and "Sack o' Woe" and were widely used by other groups.

CANNONBALL ADDERLY died in August of 1975.

Edited March 20, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

OK, now we have an artist who played piano and organ, as well as being a talented composer and arranger.

He was "TINY" [Hartzell Strathdene] PARHAM, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1900. Like most who are nicknamed "tiny", Parham blocked the sun.

In 1925 Parham was touring the Pantages theatre circuit. He later was the musical director for a miriad of theatres and clubs. The Apollo was one of the venues in which he was the MD. At the Apollo, Tiny led a showband and that band fetured the high note trumpeter, Reuben Reeves.

Parham also recorded prolifically with his own band, leading the band and accompanying blues singers of the day.

Some of the compostitions for which he was responsible were "Dixieland Doings", "Blue Island Blues" and "Black Cat Moan".

Tiny Parham's work has often been compared favourably with that of Duke Ellington and Jelly Roll Morton.

Although Tiny Parham was a well-schooled and dynamic player, during the 1930's, he never moved to New York. He had arranged for King Oliver, Earl Hines and also for club floor shows.

By the end of the 1930's Tiny was playing the organ in cinemas, theatres and ice rinks.

TINY PARHAM died in 1943.

Edited March 20, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

NOTE:

I'm in the process of moving and am surrounded by boxes and chaos. As usual, I will pack my soundsytem and my computer last, so I will try to tend my nickname "garden" as best I can. In fact, you may not notice any perceptible difference. But, if there is a break of a few days, I'm not dead, just exhausted.

Bear with me.

Edited March 20, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

One of my favourite trumpet-players is "FATS"[Theodore] NAVARRO was born in Key West in 1923.

Fats played trumpet mostly, but sometimes doubled on tenor saxophone. He toured with Andy Kirk from 1943-1944.

After Kirk, he went with the Billy Eckstine band, replacing Dizzy Gillespie in 1945 an settled in New York.

Fats then recorded with Kenny Clarke, Coleman Hawkins, Eddie Davis and Illinois Jacquet between 1946 and 1947.

He then began his association with Tadd Dameron and also toured with Jazz At The Philharmonic, as well as with the Lionel Hampton band.

Fats also recorded and rehearsed with Benny Goodman, but never recorded with him.

Fats worked with the Dameron sextet, as well as his ten-piece. He also recorded with Bud Powell.

Fats Navarro was articulate and highly intelligent, but unfortunately, became addicted to narcotics.

His style and his tone are unmistakable. He was seen as one of the most gifted of the bebop era trumpet-players. The most unique quality he displayed was what has been described as a clarion quality which set him apart from other Eldridge-inspired sounds which were adopted by Howard McGhee. Navarro played with McGhee in Andy Kirk's band.

Navarro's style is reminicent of the fullness of tone which is associated with Charlie Shavers and Freddie Webster. But, what is different is what could be called a brassy attack that perked up one's ears. He is said to have a sound that is sculpted and not as impetuous as that of Parker, Powll or Gillespie. Because Navarro had a very short life, he didn't have time to reach his full potential, but his disciple, Clifford Brown picked up his baton and ran with it some years later.

FATS NAVARRO died in 1950, having contracted tuberculosis at twenty-seven years old.

[patricia]

In Brooklyn New York, in 1922, the jazz-pianist/composer, "DUKE" [irving Stanley] JORDAN was born.

Although Jordan's career, because of his long absences from the jazz scene, appears to have been a little erratic, he started out working with Coleman Hawkins and with the original Savoy Sultans in the mid-forties.

Then, in the late forties Jordan spent a year with Charlie Parker and nine months with Stan Getz in 1952.

During the 1950's he recorded regularly right through to the 1970's.

There was a renewed interest in jazz during the 1970's and Jordan toured extensively in Europe as well as recoding his compositions for the Steeplechase label in Denmark. Duke still lives in Denmark, unless he's died and I didn't know about it.

Many of Duke Jordan's compositions have become standards, such as his "Jor-du", which was published and credited to a fictitious composer. Jor-du was part of the soundtrack in the French film, "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" in 1959.

DUKE JORDAN has a wonderfully crisp touch and a melodic style in improvisation which is very delightful to hear.

There is a really nice album available, that you might want to look for. It's called "Two Loves" [1973 Steeplechase] and on it is "Jor-du", but also a collection of standards that I think you might enjoy exploring.

Edited March 22, 2004 by patricia

[EKE BBB]

DUKE JORDAN

[EKE BBB]

FATS NAVARRO

[EKE BBB]

TINY PARHAM

[EKE BBB]

CANNONBALL ADDERLEY

[EKE BBB]

RED MCKENZIE

[EKE BBB]

SNOOKY YOUNG

(with Carson Smith)

[EKE BBB]

CLAUDE WILLIAMS

[EKE BBB]

BUDDY PETIT

[EKE BBB]

SNUB MOSLEY

[EKE BBB]

GENE AMMONS

[EKE BBB]

JOE WILLIAMS

[EKE BBB]

JEFF TAIN WATTS

[EKE BBB]

JOHNNY WIGGS

[couw]

I guess this is common knowledge, but it's interesting nonetheless:

Cannonball's nickname is derived from "Cannibal," a name he got in highschool for his more than large appetite. Maybe the full, round figure that resulted from that was instrumental in the tranformation to Cannonball.