Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Ulysses Livingston was born on January 29, 1912 in Bristol, Tennessee and played in the band of the West Virginia State College. He began his  professional career in music in the Horace Henderson band as a roadie, or, as Henderson called them, valet.

After his period with Henderson he played guitar in carnival bands on traveling road shows. By the middle of the 1930s he began to get jazz gigs with Lil Armstrong, Frankie Newton, Sammy Price, Coleman Hawkins, and Benny Carter.

Moving to New York City, Ulysses accompanied Ella Fitzgerald on tour and on record. He served briefly in the military during World War II, but returned to jazz playing on the West Coast in 1943. He played with Cee Pee Johnson in Hawaii four years later.

Alongside his guitar playing, Livingston also sang with the Spirits of Rhythm, and led a group called the Four Blazes. From the 1950s he did freelance work with West Coast jazz musicians and also became active as a record producer.

He would go on to record with the Varsity Seven, Jazz At The Philharmonic, Illinois Jacquet, Rex Stewart’s Big Eight, Pete Johnson and numerous others. Guitarist Ulysses Livingston, who also played and recorded on electric bass guitar, transitioned on October 7, 1988 in Los Angeles, California.

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