Jazz Artists Who Have Nicknames

[EKE BBB]

RUSSELL BIG CHIEF MOORE

[EKE BBB]

PUCHO

[EKE BBB]

TITO PUENTE

[EKE BBB]

BIG JOE TURNER

[EKE BBB]

SWEETS EDISON

[patricia]

Thank you EKE BBB. As usual, great pictures. Johnny Wiggs looks somewhat annoyed. I'll bet there's a story there!!

Also, there's no such thing as a bad picture of Joe Williams.

couw, Thank you for the background on CANNONBALL ["cannibal"].

He was indeed a "fine figure of a man".

[Guest patricia d]

Thank you EKE BBB. As usual, great pictures. Johnny Wiggs looks somewhat annoyed. I'll bet there's a story there!!

Also, there's no such thing as a bad picture of Joe Williams.

couw, Thank you for the background on CANNONBALL ["cannibal"].

He was indeed a "fine figure of a man".

OK, guys. I'm moved and I have an extra letter on my "handle", but it's still me.

As soon as I get organized, I'll pick up the thread and continue with the nicknamed jazzers.

[EKE BBB]

Waiting for them, patricia.

Hope all your Dixieland vinyl didn´t get damaged with the moving.

[Guest patricia d]

Waiting for them, patricia.

Hope all your Dixieland vinyl didn´t get damaged with the moving.

I was almost afraid to look, but I don't think anything is broken.

After this many moves, I think seventeen, I know not to pack all my records in one box. I did that once, years ago. The mover didn't realize how heavy the medium-size box was going to be and when he tried to pick it up, it was apparenty nailed to the floor. Take heed. RECORDS ARE HEAVY. If you can't lift the box, the mover probably can't either.

It's all out of order [i alphabetized it a couple of weeks ago] so, at the very least, there's that. My daughter packed them in several boxes, but didn't pay any attention to what order they were in. Shouldn't complain though. Nice of her to help.

Probably by the end of the week, I'll be back up to speed.

[patricia]

Jim very ably fixed my sign-on problem and I have abandoned my temperary "newbie" handle [patricia d] and am once again me.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next up we have JIMMY [Mr Five-By-Five]RUSHING, who was born in Oklahoma City in 1902.

Both of Jimmy's parents were musical and his uncle played piano in a sporting house.

When Jimmy was a young boy, he was known as "Little Jimmy" and was the official pianist the the school dances, or "hops" at Wilberforce University.

Although he made a living, while still at school, playing piano, he described his skill at the time this way, "I could only play in three keys. After a time everything began to sound the same to me and it was then that they asked me to sing".

Jimmy's voice, which was unique in that it had a dramatic, near operatic vibrato, became familiar through his association with Walter Page's band, the Blue Devils.

Jimmy recorded "Blue Devil Blues" with the Benny Moten's band in 1929 on Vocalion. Many of Walter Page's young stars had joined Moten's band, among them Count Basie and Eddie Durham.

After Bennie Moten died in 1935, Rushing joined Count Basie's band.

Rushing stayed with Basie's band until 1948 and by then, besides singing with the band, he had also appeared in films, including "Funzapopping" in 1943 as well as doing some recording with Benny Goodman and Bob Crosby.

When Basie scaled down his organization, Jimmy toured with his own band, which included Buck Clayton and Dicky Wells. He was at the Savoy for two years and was extremely popular when he appeared opposite Basie.

Jimmy then freelanced, producing several hits for John Hammond and touring all over America. He also travelled in Europe and when he was in England in 1957 George Melly said of him, "Jimmy's bulk and it's attendant problems, getting in and out of cars for example, soon appeared irrelevant except to give his movements a deliberation, an almost balletic adjustment of weight in relation to gravity which suggested his inner calm."

As the 1960's blew in, Jimmy was still working hard, appearing with Harry James, Benny Goodman and Eddie Condon, as well as again with Basie. Later in the decade he appeared at the Half Note with Al Cohn and Zoot Sims.

Toward the end of his career, he became a little disappointed in the new generation of accompanists and said, "I never thought the time would come when I would go up on the bandstand, call this or that familiar number and have some of the cats on the stand say 'I don't know it'."

Billie Holiday had said much the same thing fifteen years earlier.

Jimmy's last recording was "The You And Me That Used To Be" and his voice on that recording was noticibly tired. But, that recording was chosen as the number one recording in the Down Beat poll in 1972.

Also, in 1972, sadly, JIMMY RUSHING died of leukemia. He was seventy years old.

Please check out "With Count Basie and Bennie Moten" [1930-8 Giants Of Jazz]

and also, the afore mentioned, "The You And Me That Used To Be" [1971 RCA]

You'll be glad you followed my advice.

Edited April 5, 2004 by patricia

[EKE BBB]

JIMMY RUSHING

(that´s why they called him Mr. Five-by-Five)

BTW: in Basie´s band, Sweets Edison and Prez named just about everybody: Jimmy Rughing was "Honey Bunny Boo" or "Little Jim".

[patricia]

Thank you EKE BBB. Yes, Jimmy was certainly a "fine figure of a man", as my grandfather used to say. His voice though was truly unique.

I particularly liked the comment about his moving in a "balletic" way, as many large people do. Your picture shows him to be a fashion-forward cat, as well as being very handsome. I thought it was interesting that he went from being "Little Jimmy" to "Mr. Five by Five". He got voluptuous, instead of taller.

Even at the last, he still had the voice. Look for his records.

Thank goodness Prez and Sweets nicknamed him, or he wouldn't have qualified for this particular "hang" of fine artists.

Edited April 20, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

Since we mentioned "PREZ" [Lester Willis Young] in connection with Jimmy Rushing, it seems only fair to talk about him next.

Lester was born in Woodville, Mississippi in 1909.

LESTER YOUNG's full nickname, given to him by Billie Holiday was actually "The President" He is acknowledged as the greatest tenor-saxophonist of the classic years, along with Coleman Hawkins.

Dicky Wells described Young this way, "Prez was such a nice fellow, a beautiful, beautiful person. He was full of jokes, harmless, didn't bother nobody, loved everybody. He was the greatest."

In the early days of his career, in the early 1930's, Young played with the Blue Devils, Benny Moten and Count Basie's orchestra.

How Young got into Basie's band was interesting to me. Apparently, he sent a telegram to Basie, described as "strange and urgent" in which he invited himself into the band in 1934. His presence, of course, was met with wholesale approval at Kansas City jam sessions. But, after he joined Fletcher Henderson's orchestra Young was encouraged to find a more personal sound, which he did. He was a natural improvisor, which he had been encouraged to suppress previously, but soon came into his own with Basie's orchestra, setting himself up against Herschel Evans, who was remarkebly similar to Coleman Hawkins in style.

As mentioned earlier, Young loved to give his fellow musicians nicknames. His name for Harry Edison was "Sweets", for Buddy Tate, "Moon" and for Basie, a special one, "The Holy Main".

Prez was also quite a hit with the ladies. As Tate remarked, "I was tired of looking at chicks running in and out".

He was also quite a gambler, crawling back to the bus at the end of the night to what he called the "sweet music of the rolling dice".

Many band members remembered a practical joke of Young's, which involved ringing a bell at any of them who made a mistake.

He was very self-deprecating and evidence of that was his description of the recording dates with Billie Holiday. He said, "She got me little record dates playing behind her, little solos and things like that." Look for the work he did with Billie. Every side is magic.

In 1940 Young left Basie's band, partly due to a downturn in work and partly because of his great friend Herschel Evans' death. He freelanced for a while, as well as co-leading a band with his brother Lee.

Then, in 1943 he re-joined Basie's band for almost a year.

In 1944 Young had just completed a short film, "Jammin' The Blues" for Warner Brothers when he was conscripted into the military. He described this period in his life this way, "It was a nightmare, one mad nightmare. They sent me down to Georgia - that was enough to make me blow my top." He feared his hostile, racist superiors and ended up in a disciplinary centre where whatever was done to him left him with deep mental scars.

When Young came back on the jazz scene, BeBop, new recording techniques and a flotilla of Young imitators, achieving great success with his ideas awaited him.

He became very withdrawn and developed his own monosyllabic language to deal with everyday life. He used the terms "eyes" for desires and "bells" for approval and other strange almost code words.

But, in 1946 he was still a star and was with Jazz At The Philharmonic, playing against his old arch-rival Coleman Hawkins. He stayed for more than ten years.

Young was in and out of the hospital, in the late forties and early fifties, due to poor health. He also smoked like a chimmney, drank way too much, but still managed to put out record after record in his own laid-back style.

As his life drew to an end he seemed to get smaller. One night, quite drunk, according to Buddy Tate, he said "The other ladies, my imitators, are making the money."

Gil Evans recalled, when talking about a proposed collaboration, "He wanted to make the album, but he wanted to die more. He came in from his home on Long Island and decided to stay at the Alvin Hotel, just across from Birdland. He never ate a thing. Then he got back from Paris, got in the hotel room again and had a heart attack"

LESTER "PREZ" YOUNG died in March of 1959. He was fifty years old.

Please look for "Lady Day and Prez" [1930 Giants of Jazz] The musical relationship between Billie Holiday and Lester Young was very special and is clearly illustrated on every track on this collection.

Edited April 4, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

Next up we have the great "JELLY ROLL MORTON"[Ferdenand Lemott], who was born in New Orleans in 1890.

As I researched Jelly Roll, I found that much of the information about his career was made up of grandiose claims and dubious facts, by the man himself. He called himself "The Originator of Jazz Stomps and Blues" and was a tireless self-promoter. Not bad traits, but they tend to muddy the biographical waters.

This much is sure. His flamboyance was a great part of his early success and certainly made him not only one of the most colourful characters of early jazz, but one of the handful recognized by even non-jazzers.

Jelly Roll was playing, hustling and playing pool in the Storyville brothels in 1906 and learned his survival tactics there. He involved himself in the thriving vaudville circuit and worked in a double act as "Morton and Morton" with a partner called "Rose". He was also in music publishing with the Spikes brothers, ran a tailor's shop, promoted boxing, ran dance halls and gambling houses, did a little pimping and also was involved in black-face minstrel shows.

At the same time, with his wife, Anita, who was the sister of bassist, Bill Johnson, he ran a club hotel.

During his most creative period, in 1923, he was in Chicago and recorded some very successful piano solos for Gennett. These included "King Porter Stomp", "Kansas City Stomp" and "The Pearls", which brought him a measure of attention.

When Jelly Roll was not recording, he was touring, both with his own groups and with others' groups, such as Fate Marble and W.C. Handy. He usually denied that anyone else led groups he played with, but they did.

Jelly Roll's greatest sessions are considered to be the ones he did with the Red Hot Peppers.

According to Baby Dodds, "There was a fine spirit in that group at rehearsal. Jelly used to work on each and every number until it satisfied him! You did what Jelly Roll wanted you to do, no more no less."

When Jelly Roll recorded, he would hire what he considered to be reliable musicians for the sessions, mostly Creoles from New Orleans. He paid generously, for the times, $5 for rehearsals and $15 for recording. The material that came out of those sessions was gold, such as "Dead Man Blues" and "Sidewalk Blues". Those two sides are said to have established the Peppers as the number one hot band for Victor.

Then Morton went to New York in 1928. It was, for the most part a disappointing experience for him and he began to lose ground. The new big band era was more popular than the small group jazz he preferred.

Sadly, though he tried, heroically, he was unable to re-create the success in New York that he had enjoyed for so many years in New Orleans. His contract with Victor had expired and was not renewed. He was finding it more and more difficult to find work and even worked in theatre pits, just to make ends meet. He also was hanging around the Rhythm Club as well as over at Lafayette Theatre, despondant and on a decline.

By 1936 he was, as George Hoefer said, "suing the world for recognition". Jelly Roll Morton was playing in a tiny, second-floor club to a small group of dedicated admirers. Among those admirers was Roy Carew.

Interestingly, in 1938 there was a recorded series of memoirs, hosted by Alan Lomax of the Library of Congress folklore archives.

At one point, Jelly Roll, infuriated by a Robert Ripley radio programme, which described W.C. Handy as "the originator of jazz and the blues", Jelly Roll wrote a scathing letter to Down Beat magazine, which said, in part, "I myself happened to be the creator of jazz in the year of 1902"

Well, that reminded the public that he was still alive, although his health was in a definate downslide.

By 1939 Jelly Roll was living in New York again and although he called it "that cruel city", nevertheless he made made more recordings there.

Sadly, the flamboyant Jelly Roll, troubled by asthma, as well as a serious heart condition, drove to California, in search of a more favourable climate, as well as a hope for the success he had once had. He died, insensate, in hospital in 1941.

JELLY ROLL MORTON is acknowledged as the one who took small band jazz to the limits of it's artistic potential. According to Art Hodes, "Jelly Roll was to the small band what Ellington was to the large".

Even today, his music has been carried on by such varied artists as Dick Hyman, Pee Wee Erwin, Kenny Ball, Max Harris and even choreographer, Twyla Tharp.

Lots of Jelly out there, but my favourite is "Jelly Roll Morton 1924-40 Classics].

This is a six volume chronology of his work and it includes the work he did with Red Allen and Albert Nicholas. Look for it.

Edited April 20, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

How many of you have heard of the guitarist/vocalist, "LONNIE" [Alonzo] JOHNSON?

Well, I hadn't.

Johnson was born in 1899 in New Orleans, studying violin as well as guitar and by the time he was eighteen, he was playing in revues. He travelled to London for the first time in 1917 to work there.

When he returned, sadly, he discovered that most of his family had died in the great flu epidemic, so he left New Orleans to try his luck in St Louis and Chicago.

In 1925 he entered and won a talent contest for the OKeh record company and he became a staff musician for the label. Lonnie made records with soon-to-be major stars, such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Eddie Lang, Victoria Spivey and also Spencer Williams.

Then, from 1932-1937 he worked around Cleveland and played for radio, while working a day job.

He followed that with three years with Johnny Dodds in Chicago, as well as leading for himself.

For about four years, Lonnie travelled to Chicago, Detroit and Kansas City, and by the mid-forties he was using an amplified guitar, unusual for the period and his own contemperary ballad style. He had a hit, "Tomorrow Night" in 1948.

In 1952 Johnson travelled to London again and was reviewed by Jazz Journal. The opinion of that publication was that Lonnie "seemed out of practice on his guitar and insisted on featuring many of his own ballad compositions". Not exactly glowing.

Johnson, disheartened, moved back to the U.S. and worked in Cincinnati and then Philidelphia as a chef.

He didn't abandon music though and in 1963 he toured in a blues package with Otis Spann.

From the mid-sixties to his death, Lonnie was a popular figure in Toronto, where he had settled.

LONNIE JOHNSON died in 1970.

There is a collection of Johnson's work that you might find interesting. It is "Playing With Strings" [1927-1940 JSP] which has selections with Armstrong, Ellington, Williams, Dodds and Ory. It's a very nice collection.

Edited April 10, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

In 1895, in Long Branch New Jersey, the drummer, "SONNY" [William Alexander] GREER was born.

Sonny was Duke Ellington's first drummer and many say his best.

Greer was four years older than Ellington and came to New York to work with Elmer Snowden, quite a while before Duke arrived.

He was a colourful character, a fast-talking hipster, a free-spender, who many times found himself having to hustle in pool halls, to get his drums out of hock.

Sonny worked with Ellington's five-piece Washingtonians and then at the Cotton Club, with the larger orchestra. For the club, Greer built up a collection of drums which were supplied by the Leedy Drum Company in Indiana. It is estimated that the drum set which Greer used at the Cotton Club was worth a princely, for the period, $3,000.00. Greer designed for the Leedy company and his collection included chimes, vibes, timpany and gong.

Greer was a powerful, impressive drummer and was an inspiration for those who followed him, such as Gene Krupa.

Greer's drum work was an integral part of what many consider Ellington's greatest work, until 1950.

But, in 1950, Ellington, aware of Greer's very heavy drinking and his occasional less than excellent work, due to it, took on another drummer, Butch Ballard, when he went on a Scandinavian tour.

Well, fur flew and much worse than the usual cussin' out, which was not unusual between Duke and Greer, whose relationship was tempestuous at the best of times.

But this altercation was the turning point between Greer and the Ellington organization.

Sonny walked away from the Ellington orchestra and for the next twenty years, freelanced, with among others, Johnny Hodges' small band. He also worked with "Red" Allen and Tyree Glenn, as well as appearing in films, one of the best known being "The Night They Raided Minsky's"

In 1974, Greer was a part of the tribute arranged by the Ellington scholar, Brooks Kerr and the tour of that show was a raging success, all over the U.S.

I think that Don Byas said it best, if a capsule portrait is to be made of the great Sonny Greer.

Byas said, "I never heard a better drummer for the Ellington band than Sonny Greer. It's funny, for alone or with another band he was nothing exceptional. But he fitted with the Duke as has no one else!"

SONNY GREER died in March of 1982.

To hear the magic of Sonny Greer, as it was experienced in the Ellington years, look for "Swing 1930-1938" [Jazz Classics]. This is the re-mastering by Robert Parker of the big-band aspect of Greer with Duke's band. These years, IMO, were Greer's career peak and the collection is well worth searching out and listening to.

Edited April 15, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

"DOC" [Paul Wesley] EVANS was a cornet-player and leader, who was born in Spring Valley, Minnesota in 1907.

Doc worked with Red Dougherty's band in the 1930's, specializing on cornet, then led his own band through the 1940's mostly in Chicago, but occasionally in New York.

Evans was described as very lyrical and technically accomplished, as well as being respected by his fellow musicians.

What perked up my interest in Evans, was his associations with one of my very favourite jazzers, Miff Mole. Doc played with him in the early forties.

He also was with Tony Parenti and Joe Sullivan during the same period.

From 1947 on, he recorded with his own band. Those recordings included a great series of records for Audiophile in the 1950's which quite often included pianist, John "Knocky" Parker. The recordings also helped to establish Evans as a major-league figure in the revival of jazz, which was taking place.

Throughout the sixties, Evans continued to lead bands as well as directing the Mendota Symphony Orchestra.

Doc Evans made his last recordings in 1975, at the Manassas jazz festival, with Tommy Gwaltney and Bill Allred.

DOC EVANS died in January, of 1977.

Edited April 10, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

Next we have the great baritone saxophonist, "PEPPER" ADAMS [Park Adams 111], who was born in Highland Park, Illinois in 1930.

During his teenage years, Pepper played in Rochester N.Y., then with Lucky Thompson in Detroit. He was sixteen when he was with Thompson and that was also the period when he toured with Lionel Hampton.

Adams served in the military from 1951-1953 and before and after his service he played with fellow Detroiters, Donald Byrd, Kenny Burrell, Tommy Flanagan and the great Elvin Jones.

In the late fifties, Pepper was with Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson and Chet Baker.

In 1957 Adams made his first foray into recording under his own name and these were done on the West Coast.

The next year, in 1958, he moved to New York and based there, playing with Benny Goodman, as well as being an occasional member of Charles Mingus' groups.

Then, after co-leading a quintet with Donald Byrd for four years in the late fifties, early sixties, Adams did some studio work and then became one of the founding members of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis band and was with them from 1965-1978.

He toured Europe with the Jones/Lewis organization as well as recording there, under his own name.

During the 1980's Adams toured solo to Europe as well as to Japan.

Pepper Adams is known as one of the few baritone saxophone players to attempt to play in the post-bop style. His style has been described as having a hard, dry-sounding tone with a very sharp precisions timing and unstoppable almost steamroller-like lines.

PEPPER ADAMS died in Sept of 1986.

If you are interested in a very good album, featuring Pepper, please look for "Conjuration [1983 Reservoir] which is a live set recording which includes, along with Pepper's work, his frontline partner, Kenny Wheeler and is well-worth listening to.

[patricia]

Our next honouree will be the tenor saxophonist, "FLIP" [Joseph] PHILLIPS, who was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1915.

Phillips started working in Brooklyn in 1934 and at first played both alto and clarinet.

When he joined Frankie Newton from 1940-41, he played clarinet.

In 1942, Phillips worked with Benny Goodman and switched to tenor, playing with Wingy Manone and Red Norvo in 1943.

He then went on to play with Woody Herman from 1944-1946.

Flip also toured with Jazz At The Philharmonic, every year, starting in 1946 for the next ten years.

Moving to Florida and played with both Herman and Jazz At The Philharmonic which also included working with JATP bandmate, Bill Harris.

By 1959 Flip had done a European tour with Goodman and followed that with a day job in Florida for fifteen years, as well as leading his own quartet.

Then, the '70's arrived and they found Phillips living in New York and playing more regularly. He toured Europe again and recorded several new albums. By then, our guy was in his seventies and still going strong.

When Flip Phillips came on the scene, he became a star, when most other aspiring tenor players idolized the great Lester Young.

Phillips' chief influences were the work of Young's rival of the time, Coleman Hawkins and also Ben Webster.

Phillips was a great showman and he was always intensely rhythmic, taking the South-Western style honking and shouting to new heights. The crowds loved him.

There was a point where many thought he would outdo Illinois Jacquet as a favourite of those who followed Jazz At The Philharmonic.

He lay fallow for a while, but then staged a comeback in the late seventies, displaying a more mature and less extroverted style, which was very appreciated. Unlike many of his generation of jazzers, he was able to showcase his more quiet style, which had evolved and was more convincing than most of his jazz contemperaries from the earlier years.

If you are interested in hearing Flip's sound, look for "Flip Wails: The Best Of The Verve Years" [1947-57 Verve]. This has a kick-ass improvisation of the almost hackneyed "Singin' In The Rain" that blew me away.

[patricia]

Now we come to a what-might-have-been honouree, "SONNY" [saul] BERMAN, a wonderful trumpet-player, who was born in New Haven Connecticut in 1924.

Sonny played, as a teenager, with many of the big bands of the day, including those led by Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman.

He probably received the most recognition of his skill on the trumpet, as part of Woody Herman's second herd. He was with Herman when he, sadly, died as a result of a drug overdose. Such a waste. Sonny Berman was thought to be one of the most promising soloists of Herman's Second Herd.

If you would like to hear an example of Sonny Berman's skill on the trumpet, look for "Woodchopper's Holiday" [1946 Cool and Blue] This is a recording of a private apartment jam, on which Berman plays with Serge Chaloff and Ralph Burns. There are tracks with Herman's big band, as well as his small group. As I say, what a waste of a great talent.

SONNY BERMAN died in January of 1947. He was twenty-three years old.

[EKE BBB]

SONNY BERMAN

[EKE BBB]

FLIP PHILLIPS

Bill Harris, Denzil Best, Flip Phillips, Billy Bauer, Lennie Tristano, Chubby Jackson,

Pied Piper, New York, N.Y., 1947]

[EKE BBB]

PEPPER ADAMS

[EKE BBB]

DOC EVANS

[EKE BBB]

SONNY GREER