Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Jimmy Lytell was born on December 1, 1904 in New York, NY. His first professional experience came at age twelve, and by the beginning of the 1920s he was recording with early jazz ensembles. Jimmy played in the Original Indiana Five in 1921 and the Original Memphis Five from 1922 – 1925, and also played in the Original Dixieland Jazz Band for two years beginning in1922.

After the 1920s Lytell rarely performed in jazz settings, spending more time as a studio and orchestra musician. He worked as a staff musician for NBC during this time. From 1949 into the late 1950s he appeared in the New Original Memphis Five revival band, and recorded with Connee Boswell late in the 1950s.

As a leader, he recorded 18 titles during the Roaring Twenties and six more for London Records in 1950. Clarinetist Jimmy Lytell, player of Dixieland and early jazz continued to perform up until a year before his death on November 28, 1972 in Kings Point, New York.

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