Daily Dose Of Jazz…
James Benjamin Sherman was born on August 17, 1908 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He played piano in dance bands in the late 1920s and played on and off with Jimmy Gorham in the metropolitan Philadelphia area. In 1930 he began playing on a steamboat in Alphonso Trent’s band, then played in the 1930s with Peanuts Holland, Al Sears, Stuff Smith, Lil Armstrong, Putney Dandridge, Mildred Bailey, and Billie Holiday.
From the mid- to late ’30s Jimmy played in various swing groups but is best known for his hand in composing the jazz standard Lover Man, co-written with Jimmy Davis and Roger Ramirez, and was first recorded by Billie Holiday
He became the pianist and arranger for The Charioteers in 1938, remaining with the group until 1952. Following this he played primarily locally in eastern Pennsylvania. In 1960 he took up a residency at Miss Jeanne’s Crossroad Tavern in Chester County, Pennsylvania, where he played until shortly before his death.
Pianist and arranger Jimmy Sherman died on October 11, 1975 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Peter Edwin Bocage was born on July 31, 1887 in New Orleans, Louisiana. At 21, he played violin as the leader of a ragtime band, the Superior Orchestra, which included Bunk Johnson.
He played trumpet in the Tuxedo Orchestra, the Onward Brass Band, and as the leader of the Excelsior Brass Band. He played with King Oliver’s band, the Fate Marable Orchestra, and A. J. Piron.
Heading to New York City he performed with Sidney Bechet and at the Cotton Club. He made records with Piron’s New Orleans Orchestra in 1923, and later with his band the Creole Serenaders.
As an educator he taught Louis Armstrong how to read music notes. Both jazz musicians met during jam sessions and created a friendship through music. In later years he performed at Preservation Hall in New Orleans.
Trumpeter and violinist Peter Bocage died in his hometown on December 3, 1967.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Albert Wynn was born on July 29, 1907 in New Orleans, Louisiana but grew up in Chicago, Illinois where he began his professional career as a trombonist. His first appearance on record in 1926 backing Ma Rainey and the following year he played and recorded in St. Louis, Missouri with Charlie Creath.
Wynn went on to work with Earl Hines’s band briefly in 1928 before assembling a group of his own. Later that same year he joined the Sam Wooding Orchestra on their European tour and didn’t return to the United States until 1932 when he would live in New York City for a short time before going back to Chicago.
He was a member of Sidney Bechet’s New Orleans Feetwarmers for a stint going on to work with the bands of Jesse Stone, Carroll Dickerson, Richard M. Jones, and the Earl Hines Orchestra once again. During the late 1930’s and early ’40’s Albert played in the big band of Fletcher Henderson and the short lived assembly of Jimmie Noone.
Settling into semi-retirement he ran a Chicago record store and enjoined his final professional band work as a member of Franz Jackson’s Original Jazz All-Stars from 1956 to 1960 and the Gold Coast Jazz Band from 1960 to 1964.
Trombonist Albert Wynn died on May 1, 1973.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Clarence Holiday was born Clarence Halliday on July 23, 1898 in Baltimore, Maryland and attended a boys’ school with the banjo player Elmer Snowden. Both of them played banjo with various local jazz bands, including the Eubie Blake band. At the age of 16, he became the unmarried father of Billie Holiday, who was born to 19-year-old Sarah Fagan, but rarely visited them. He moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania when he was 21 years old.
Holiday played rhythm guitar and banjo as a member of the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra from 1928 to 1933. He went on to record the following year with Benny Carter, then Bob Howard in 1935 and worked with Charlie Turner, Louis Metcalf, and the Don Redman Big Band between 193 and 1937.
Exposed to mustard gas while serving in World War I, he later fell ill with a lung disorder while on tour in Texas. Refused treatment at a local hospital when he finally managed to see a doctor, Clarence was only allowed in the Jim Crow ward of the Veterans Hospital. By then pneumonia had set in and without antibiotics, the illness was fatal.
Guitarist and banjoist Clarence Holiday died in Dallas, Texas on March 1, 1937.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Thomas Jefferson was born on June 20, 1920 in Chicago, Illinois. He played drums and French horn while young before switching to trumpet and was strongly influenced by Louis Armstrong. His professional career began when he was 14 playing with Billie and De De Pierce.
He played with Papa Celestin’s orchestra in 1936, as well as with New Orleans jazz musicians Sidney Desvigne and Armand “Jump” Jackson. The 1950s saw him working with Johnny St. Cyr, Santo Pecora, and George Lewis. In 1966, Andrew Morgan recruited Jefferson to play lead trumpet for the Young Tuxedo Brass Band. Subsequently, Jefferson led a jazz band which performed at the New Orleans jazz club Maison Bourbon.
Thomas recorded sparingly as a leader; sessions include dates for Southland Records in the 1960s and Maison Bourbon Records in the 1970s. Jefferson had a cameo as a jazz musician in the 1975 film Hard Times.
Trumpeter Thomas Jefferson, who recorded six albums as a leader and played Dixieland, died in New Orleans, Louisiana on December 13, 1986.
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