Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Cecil Norman was born on September 29, 1897 in Oldham, Lancashire, United Kingdom. Considered a child prodigy, by the age of 11 he was playing concertos, at 15 he appeared at London’s Aeolian Hall. He was the son of music hall artists, billed as Olga and Otto, with his mother playing trumpet, trombone, concertina and piano.
Cecil stayed in London during World War II, with many engagements to entertain the troops, accompanying Vera Lynn as well as Inga Anderson, who sang with the George Melachrino Orchestra. After serving in World War I, he switched from classical to popular music, partly due to developing neuritis in the right hand, which forced him to give up the piano for a couple of years. Thereafter Cecil specialised in dance music, it being less likely to aggravate his condition.
He played in so many popular bands it’s hard to list them all, however in 1924 along with his alto saxophonist brother Leslie began their own band at the Savoy Hotel for tea dances and the Bekeley Hotel in the evenings. They soon moved to the Empress Rooms where they played seven days a week plus tea dances. At times, either he or his brother were in charge and arranging for the Savoy Plaza Band and Savoy Dance Band. In 1927, the Norman Brothers Band moved to Carlton Hotel. In 1928, Cecil went to America and had Rudy Vallee introduce him around, including to Bert Lown, whom he joined in New York.
Moving back to London in 1929, Cecil played and recorded with Fred Elizalde Band in 1930 before moving to Jerry Hoey’s band and Melville Gideon’s band in 1931. He went on to join several other bands in London and Australia, including the BBC Dance Orchestra. He stayed in London during World War II, with many engagements to entertain the troops, accompanying Vera Lynn as well as Inga Anderson, who sang with the George Melachrino Orchestra.
After the war, Norman formed the Rhythm Players that became the cornerstone of the BBC’s Music While You Work program in the 1950’s. Over the course of his career he composed several instrumental numbers. He retired in 1962 when he was 65 after suffering an accident. He returned one last time for a 15-minute spot in 1970, ending his more than sixty years in music.
Dance pianist & composer Cecil Norman, who used the pseudonym Norman Sissel for some Norman Sissel And His Rhythm Twisters recordings, died February 8, 1988 aged 91 in East Sussex, England.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Fletcher Smith was born on September 22, 1913 in Lincoln, Nebraska and was orphaned by the age of eight. He and his siblings moved in with their grandfather who had a nine-room house. When the Lloyd Hunter Serenaders came through Lincoln and there was a guitar player there named Finney. He asked Finney to teah him to play if he could get his uncle to buy him a banjo. He wrote out a chart of chords and gave him lessons when he came back.
Smith played for Cootie Williams in 1943 and in the following years with Slim Gaillard, King Perry, Varetta Dillard, Jimmy Rushing, Big Maybelle, Linda Hopkins, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Stick McGhee, Mickey Baker, Percy Mayfield, and Geechie Smith. In the Fifties he performed with Earl Bostic, Percy Mayfield, Benny Carter, Billy Eckstine, Lionel Hampton, Les Hite, and the Ink Spots, among others.
Under his own name, Fletcher Smith’s Squares and Fletcher Smith’s band, he played in the 1950s and recorded several singles such as Mean Poor Gal, Ting Ting Boom Scat or Shout, Shout, Shout. He recorded extensively as a sideman and toured most of the United States with various organizations. During the early 1970s he was a popular artist in Paris, France performing with the Golden Gate Quartet. From 1981 to 1991 he was featured in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Upon his return to Los Angeles, he became one of the mainstays of the Southern California music scene, he continued playing and honing his book of tunes and arrangements until his death. Pianist and bandleader Fletcher Smith died on August 15, 1993 in Los Angeles, California.
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WYCLIFFE GORDON & ERIC REED WORKSHOP
The duo will present a workshop for musicians and jazz lovers at the Hammonds House Museum. Registration is required. To reserve your spot, click HERE.
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WYCLIFFE GORDON & ERIC REED
Wycliffe Gordon and Eric Reed are veteran members of the Wynton Marsalis Septet and original members of Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Wycliffe Gordon has had an impressive career touring the world performing hard-swinging straight-ahead jazz, receiving great acclaim from audiences and critics alike. His unmatched modern mastery of the plunger mute and his exceptional technique and signature sound, has solidified Gordon a place in musical history known as one of the top trombonists of his generation.
When you think of hard-driving swing, daring expression, sophistication and elegance in artistry, formidable technique and a thunderous sound, there are only a very small handful of contemporary pianists you think of and one of them is most assuredly Eric Reed. But don’t think of him as just a pianist; Eric is one of his generation’s most advanced thinkers in music.
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