Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ernst Heinrich “Teddy” Stauffer was born May 2, 1909 In Murten, Fribourg, Switzerland He was dubbed Germany’s “Swing-King” of the 1930s. He formed the band known as the Teddies, which is also billed as the Original Teddies or the International Teddies, which continued after he left in 1941.
Annual trips to the Swiss cities of St. Moritz, Arosa and also a guest appearance in London, England were responsible for the international fame of the Teddies band. Until 1939, he appeared with his Original Teddies-Band especially in Berlin and Hamburg, Germany. He enjoyed his popularity at the 1936 Olympics, had hits with Goody~Goody, and turned Horst Wessel Lied, the National Socialist’s anthem, into a jazz number in 1938. With his jazzy swing music, however, Stauffer increasingly got in trouble with the Reichsmusikkammer, a Nazi institution that promoted “good German music” which was composed by Aryans and seen as consistent with Nazi ideals.
Returning to Switzerland in 1939, he eventually emigrated to the United States and then to Mexico. His reputation as a playboy and a well~known womanizer who was married to Hedy Lamar, did not sway him from also having affairs with Rita Hayworth and Barbara Hutton.
Violinist, saxophonist and bandleader Teddy Stauffer who was also an actor, nightclub owner, and restaurateur transitioned on August 27, 1991 in Acapulco, Mexico at the age of 82.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Henderson Chambers was born on May 1, 1908 in Alexandria, Louisiana and studied at Leland College and Morehouse College before joining the Neil Montgomery band in 1931. He played in Nashville with Doc Banks in 1932, then with Jack Jackson’s Pullman Porters, Speed Webb, Zack Whyte, and Al Sears in Kentucky.
After two years with Tiny Bradshaw in the middle of the Thirties, Chambers moved to New York City where he played with Chris Columbus at the Savoy Ballroom in 1939-40. Following this he played for the next three years with Louis Armstrong.
Later in the 1940s, he worked with Don Redman, Sy Oliver, Lucky Millinder, and Count Basie. By the 1950s he would spend time with Cab Calloway, Doc Cheatham, Duke Ellington, and Mercer Ellington. For a period he worked as a studio musician, however, after joining Ray Charles’s band from 1961 to 1963, Henderson played with Basie again until 1966.
He recorded seven albums with Count Basie, five with Buck Clayton and ten with Gene Ammons, Cat Anderson, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Edmond Hall, Arthur Prysock & Count Basie, Jimmy Rushing, Frank Sinatra & Count Basie, and Ernie Wilkins.
Trombonist Henderson Chambers’ final performances were with Edgar Battle, shortly before his transition from a heart attack on October 19, 1967 in New York City.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Hymie Schertzer was born Herman Schertzer on April 22, 1909 in New York City, New York and began playing violin when he was nine years old. He picked up the saxophone when he was a teenager and went on to work as a sideman for Gene Kardos at the club Birdland, then joined Benny Goodman’s band, where he was the lead saxophonist until 1938, though he recorded with Goodman intermittently until the mid-1940s.
Between 1938 and 1940 Hymie was in Tommy Dorsey’s band, and recorded in the late 1930s with Bunny Berigan and Lionel Hampton. He worked with Billie Holiday in 1941 and again in 1944, then became a house musician for NBC radio and television.
Working as a session player for studio recordings Schertzer was behind Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Sy Oliver, Louis Armstrong, and Artie Shaw during the years 1947-1953. He continued working with Goodman live, on television, and on record from 1951 until 1969.
Saxophonist and conductor Hymie Schertzer, who was a member of the Tonight Show Band during its Johnny Carson era, transitioned in New York City, on March 22, 1977 at the age of 67.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Richard Cully was born on April 19, 1949 in Manhattan, New York. He began his musical journey at the age of 16 studying with James Rago, Professor of Percussion at the University of Louisville. While still in high school, he formed a very popular quartet, The Charades, then went on to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. There he studied with Alan Dawson and continued his studies with former “Tonight Show” drummer Ed Shaughnessy.
Early in his career Dick performed a variety of musical styles, pop, rock, disco, jazz and country. However, in 1982, he formed the Dick Cully Big Band, a high energy, exciting unit performing a wide variety of arrangements for all age groups. In 1984, he became an artist/endorser for the world famous Slingerland Drum Company.
Cully has worked with Toni Tennille, Sandy Duncan, Florence Henderson, Frank Gorshin, Ray Anthony, Buddy Morrow, Skitch Henderson, Patti Page, Nanette Fabray, Les Elgart, Connie Haines, Bobby Rydell, comedians Foster Brooks and George Kirby. In 1989, the Dick Cully Big Band was chosen as “One of the best bands in the nation” by Down Beat magazine and featured on Black Entertainment Network’s “Jazz Discovery” television program.
Recognized as an educator and clinician, he is the author of Instructional Drum Videos The Workout, Secrets of the World’s Greatest Drummer and More Secrets of the World’s Greatest Drummer, which are in-depth analysis of the late Buddy Rich. Drummer Dick Cully continues to perform and lead his band.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Charlie Smith was born April 15, 1927 in New York City and played locally in the city during the late 1940s before taking a position accompanying Ella Fitzgerald. Working briefly with the Duke Ellington’s Orchestra in 1951 before being replaced by Louie Bellson, he also played with Joe Bushkin, Erroll Garner, Slim Gaillard, Benny Goodman, Hot Lips Page, Oscar Peterson, Artie Shaw, and Slam Stewart.
He performed on television with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker in 1952, and later in the decade worked with Billy Taylor, Aaron Bell, and Wild Bill Davison. Relocating to New Haven around 1960, Smith played with Willie Ruff and Dwike Mitchell in a trio setting.
Drummer Charlie Smith, who was an educator late in his life, transitioned on January 15, 1966 in New Haven, Connecticut.
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