Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Sonny Greer was born William Alexander Greer on December 13, c. 1895 in Long Branch, New Jersey. He played with Elmer Snowden’s band and the Howard Theatre Orchestra in Washington, D.C., before joining Duke Ellington. Meeting him in 1919, he was Ellington’s first drummer, playing with his quintet, the Washingtonians. He then moved with Ellington into the Cotton Club.
As a result of his job as a designer with the Leedy Drum Company of Indiana, Greer was able to build up a huge drum kit worth over a then-considerable $3,000, including chimes, a gong, timpani, and vibes.
A heavy drinker, as well as a pool-hall hustler when he needed to retrieve his drums from the pawnbroker, in 1950, Ellington responded to his drinking and occasional unreliability by taking a second drummer, Butch Ballard, with them on a tour of Scandinavia. This enraged Greer, and the consequent argument led to their permanent estrangement.
Sonny continued to play, mainly as a freelance drummer, working with musicians such as Johnny Hodges, Red Allen, J. C. Higginbotham, Tyree Glenn, and was there for the iconic 1958 Art Kane black-and-white photograph A Great Day In Harlem. He was part of a tribute to Ellington in 1974, which achieved great success throughout the United States.
Never recording as a leader, he was quite active as a sideman recording with not only seven albums with Duke but another twelve albums with Johnny Hodges, Bernard Addison, Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, Lionel Hampton, Lonnie Johnson, Brooks Kerr, Oscar Pettiford, Rex Stewart, Victoria Spivey, and Josh White.
Drummer Sonny Greer , best known for his work with Duke Ellington, passed away of a heart attack on March 23, 1982 in Lenox Hill, on the upper East side of Manhattan.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John “Jack” Purvis was born in Kokomo, Indiana on December 11, 1906 and became uncontrollable after his mother’s death in 1912. This resulted in being sent to a reform school, but while there, he discovered that he had an uncanny musical ability, and soon became proficient enough to play both the trombone and trumpet professionally. Leaving the reformatory he continued his high school education, while playing paying gigs on the side. One of the earliest jobs he had as a musician was with a band led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Not long afterward, he worked with the dance band of Hal Denman.
After high school he worked in Indiana for a time then went to Lexington, Kentucky where he played with the Original Kentucky NightHawks. Around this time he learned to fly planes. In 1926 he was with Bud Rice and toured New England. The remainder of 1926 and the beginning of 1927 was with Whitey Kaufman’s Original Pennsylvanians. For a short time he played trumpet with Arnold Johnson’s orchestra, and by July 1928 he traveled to France with George Carhart’s band. A brush with the law forced him to return to New York City in 1928.
From 1929 on he joined Hal Kemp’s band and recorded with Kemp, Smith Ballew, Ted Wallace, Rube Bloom, the California Ramblers, and Roy Wilson’s Georgia Crackers. He led a couple of racially mixed recording sessions including the likes of J.C. Higginbotham, and Adrian Rollini. He worked with the Dorsey Brothers, Fletcher Henderson, Fred Waring, Charlie Barnet. the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra.
Moving to Los Angeles, California he found success with radio broadcasting, worked with the George Stoll Orchestra as a writer, and arranged for Warner Bros. Studios. He composed Legends of Haiti for a one hundred and ten piece orchestra.
Arrested in Texas in 1937, he spent a total of nine years in prison for robbery and breaking parole. After his final release he worked at non-musical careers which included working as a chef, aviator, carpenter, radio repairman and a mercenary. One of the earliest trumpeters to incorporate the innovations pioneered by Louis Armstrong in the late 1920s.
His mental stability was always in question, having attempted suicide on several occasions. Trumpeter Jack Purvis, who played trombone, harp, andcomposed Dismal Dan and Down Georgia Way, passed away on March 30, 1962.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Fulton “Fidgy” McGrath was born in Superior, Wisconsin on December 6, 1907. He played with Red Nichols early in the 1930s, then joined the band of the Dorsey boys and worked on their studio recordings and radio broadcasts.. Additionally he worked extensively as a studio musician and in radio orchestras.
From 1935-37 McGrath played in Lennie Hayton’s radio ensemble, before playing later in the decade with Bunny Berigan, Joe Venuti, and Chauncey Morehouse. After spending time in an NBC orchestra, he moved to the West Coast around 1943, where he became a first-call studio musician who worked on film soundtracks in Hollywood.
His compositions include Shim Sham Shimmy and Mandy Is Two, the latter of which was recorded by Billie Holiday.
Pianist and songwriter Fidgy McGrath passed away at the age of 51 on January 1, 1958 in Los Angeles, California.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Eugene Sufana Allen was born on December 5, 1928 in East Chicago, Indiana. He began playing clarinet and piano as a child, and was playing with Louis Prima at age 15 in 1944. He stayed in Prima’s band until 1947, then worked with Claude Thornhill for two years in 1949, and from 1951 to 1953 he played with Tex Beneke.
In 1953 he began playing with the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra, playing with them intermittently until 1961, and also worked with Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Hal McKusick in the 1950s. Toward the end of the decade, and into the early 1960s, Gene worked with Gerry Mulligan, Manny Albam, Woody Herman, Thelonious Monk, and Bob Brookmeyer.
His later associations include work with Urbie Green, Mundell Lowe, Rod Levitt, and Rusty Dedrick. In the calendar year of 1963, Allen successfully played in and recorded with the big bands of Benny Goodman, Thelonious Monk, and Woody Herman.
Baritone saxophonist and bass clarinetist Gene Allen passed away on February 14, 2008.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
George Robert “Rob” Swope was born on December 2, 1926, in Washington, D.C., the younger brother of trombonist Earl Swope. In 1947 he played with Buddy Rich and recorded with Jerry Wald before playing and getting in the studio with Chubby Jackson in 1948-49.
He worked with Gene Krupa in 1949-50, then with Elliot Lawrence in 1950-51. Swope led his own trio in the D.C. area in the early 1950s, and was a member of The Orchestra, the band which accompanied Charlie Parker in 1953 and Dizzy Gillespie in 1955.
Spending time in New York City in the latter half of the Fifties, he played with Larry Sonn, Boyd Raeburn, Claude Thornhill, Jimmy Dorsey, and Louie Bellson. In the 1960s he worked in Washington, D.C. again, often as a leader. Trombonist Rob Swope passed away on January 9, 1967 in Washington, D.C.
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