Historical Dictionary of Jazz. John S. Davis
Читать онлайн книгу.
musicians from the Caribbean area performing with North American jazz musicians, as well as ones with these jazz musicians featured on their own.
ANTOLINI, CHARLY (1937–)
Antolini began his musical career as a marching band drummer and Dixieland drummer in his homeland of Switzerland before the age of 18. At 18, Antolini pursued a professional career as a jazz drummer by moving to Paris and was immediately recruited to perform with many of the top musicians who resided there, including Sidney Bechet and Bill Coleman. Antolini was an original member of the Dixieland group the Tremble Kids, with whom he would perform and record through several stints over the next two decades. Antolini was hired to perform with several big bands in Germany, and he relocated there in 1962. These big bands were led by Erwin Lehn and Kurt Edelhagen and were some of the initial versions of Europe’s popular jazz ensembles, the SWR big band and NDR big band. In the 1970s, Antolini was often used by touring American jazz artists, and he further boosted his career accompanying Thad Jones, Roy Eldridge, Buddy DeFranco, Benny Goodman, and Booker Ervin.
Antolini also began to lead his own groups, the first of which was called Jazz Power and featured trumpet player Lew Soloff, tenor saxophonist Sal Nistico, and alto saxophonist Herb Geller. Jazz Power toured and performed from 1976 through the 1980s. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Antolini performed in a variety of contexts including big bands and piano trios. He was a featured member in Barbara Dennerlein’s trio and was in the group the Super Trio. He currently lives in Munich, Germany, and tours regularly with his own band, Jazz Power.
APEX CLUB
A name used by several jazz clubs, predominantly mentioned in reference to the Apex Club formally located at 330 East 35th street in Chicago’s South Side. The club was made famous by the Apex Club Orchestra that performed there regularly under the direction of Jimmie Noone. The club was shut down in 1930 during a federal raid for breaking Prohibition laws.
APOLLO THEATER
An influential theater founded in Harlem, New York, originally owned and operated as a burlesque theater from 1914 to 1933. The Apollo received its name in 1934 when the theater was converted into a performance space for revues and variety shows. In addition to being a very influential and important venue for social reasons, the Apollo featured many leading jazz artists. Jazz musicians Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Lionel Hampton, Sarah Vaughan, and Thelonious Monk were among the jazz elite that performed there. See also BASIE, WILLIAM “COUNT” (1904–1984); FITZGERALD, ELLA (1917–1996); HOLIDAY, BILLIE (1915–1959).
ARCADIAN SERENADERS
A group of predominantly White musicians originally known as the Original Crescent City Jazzers who performed regularly at the Arcadia Ballroom in St. Louis during the 1920s.
ARC-BRC
An abbreviation for the shared operations of the record labels American Record Company and Brunswick Record Company during the 1930s.
ARGO RECORDS
Record label founded in Chicago by brothers Phil and Leonard Chess. Founded in 1955, Argo was primarily interested in recording blues sessions but quickly expanded to include jazz musicians like James Moody, Ahmad Jamal, and Ramsey Lewis. The label was very important to Chicago’s jazz scene and was viewed as its most important independent record label. Barry Harris, Ira Sullivan, Illinois Jacquet, Gene Ammons, Max Roach, and Red Rodney were all musicians recorded on the label. After complications with the British classical record label also named Argo, the brothers renamed the label as Cadet. The label was eventually sold several times, first to GRT (1969), then to Sugar Hill (1979), and finally to MCA (1985).
ARKANSAS TRAVELERS
An early swing group that recorded on the OKeh and Harmony labels during the 1920s. Members included Jimmy Dorsey, Red Nichols, Miff Mole, and Pee Wee Russell.
ARMED FORCES RADIO SERVICE (AFRS)
A government- and military-sponsored organization and record label dedicated to the broadcasting of shows and concerts to American military bases overseas. Jazz artists were very popular on the label, and artists like Duke Ellington, Benny Carter, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie all made recordings for the AFRS. Seventy-nine transcriptions of concerts were made by the AFRS of the concert series “A Date with Duke” that featured the music of Ellington. In 1948, the AFRS sponsored a short-lived jazz series titled Just Jazz that consisted of recordings made in the Los Angeles area. Much of the material transcribed and recorded as part of the AFRS series was destroyed by the military in the early 1950s.
ARMSTRONG, LILLIAN HARDIN “LIL” (1898–1971)
Armstrong began her professional career as a jazz pianist after moving to Chicago in 1917. She was quickly hired by top Chicago musicians Freddie Keppard, Lawrence Duke, and King Oliver. Being hired by Oliver was a big professional milestone for Armstrong as she was introduced to her future husband, the great trumpet player Louis Armstrong, who was also a member of the band. Lil and Louis were married in 1924 and divorced in 1938. Lil was a huge contributor to Louis Armstrong’s famous Hot Five (1926, Columbia) recordings, both as a performer and composer. Her most famous composition from those sessions is “Struttin’ with Some Barbeque.” In the late 1920s, Armstrong left both groups and was rehired by Freddie Keppard and also toured with Baby Dodds in addition to leading her own groups.
In 1937, she was the house pianist for a series of recordings on Decca. Many of these recordings featured her fronting bands that included many other top musicians. These records are compiled in an album called 1936–1940 (1940, Classics). After ending her relationship with Decca in 1940, Armstrong did not record much for the remainder of her career. She had several brief tours in Europe in the early 1950s until eventually settling in Chicago. She died due to a heart attack during a concert in 1971.
ARMSTRONG, LOUIS (1901–1971)
Armstrong was a performer at a young age, first developing his vocal skills as a street performer in New Orleans at the age of seven. In 1912, Armstrong celebrated New Year’s by firing a pistol into the air, an event that would end up with him being placed in a waifs’ home. During his two years at the home, he decided to learn the cornet. After his release, he was hired by various brass bands throughout New Orleans. He progressed so quickly that in 1917 he was befriended by Joe “King” Oliver, one of the top bandleaders in New Orleans and in the early jazz scene. Oliver started his own band, and Armstrong was hired to take over Oliver’s chair in Kid Ory’s band.
In 1919, Oliver toured Chicago and decided to relocate there. His popularity increased every year, and by 1922 he was considered to be one of the top jazz artists. At this time, he decided to include Armstrong in his band and sent to New Orleans for him. Also at this time, pianist and Armstrong’s future wife “Lil” Hardin was in Oliver’s band, and two years later the two would be married. Armstrong’s tenure with King Oliver lasted only two years, but the band was considered the top working jazz unit of the time. After being talked into leaving Oliver’s band by his wife, Armstrong moved to New York and joined Fletcher Henderson’s band for one year until he was summoned back to Chicago to lead a group with his wife. From 1925 to 1928 he recorded Hot Fives Vol. 1 (1926, Columbia) and Hot Fives and Sevens, Vols. 2–3 (1927, Columbia) with groups that included his wife on piano, Kid Ory on trombone, and Johnny