The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, for one, calls him the finest of all jazz trombonists.. his teens, he was touring with such groups as Peck Kelly's Bad Boys. In 1941, while at the St. Louis airport, he met and fell in love with a pioneer woman pilot. This has a practical effect on trombone playing: in the lower register of the instrument, there are fewer notes in any given position, and often only one position in which a note can be played. He was an admired recording artist, featured on RCA Victor, Columbia, Decca, Capitol, and MGM discs. Jack Teagarden. Privacy Policy | We do not sell or share your personal information | 2023 All About Jazz & Jazz Near You . In 1949, the All-Stars traveled to Europe, where they did 65 concerts in 35 days. Jack Teagardens most important recordings include the recording with Benny Goodman of Basin Street Blues, with Teagarden on both trombone and vocals, which included extra lyrics written by himself and Glenn Miller that later became a standard (and usually unattributed) part of the song lyrics. Jacks brother, Charlie Teagarden, played trumpet off and on in Jacks bands and did freelance work for several well-known bandleaders, including Paul Whiteman, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, and Bob Crosby. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Instead, he used his lips, like a trumpet player, to form many notes. NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 15 (AP) Jack Teagarden, the jazz trombonist and singer, died today in a New Orleans motel. Well, I was hurt. There is a select inner circle whose musicianship has defied the censorship of shifting fashions, and through a special sort of genius created for themselves a vast, impressive symbol synonymous with their name and art. I tried to get him on the WPA symphony where he deserved to be but the stinking little bureaucrat who directed the symphony refused to recognize the cymbalom as a civilized instrument. He headed back to New York, and by 1947 was playing with Louis Armstrongs All Stars, a smaller group that is considered to have been a leader in the anti- bebop traditional jazz revival movement. Reset your passwordClick the eye to show your password. Musician Barney Bigard once told her, You were the only person he could ever talk to., Bigard, from his book on Teagarden: He drank a lot, practically all the time in fact, but he always could play and never showed that liquor He was a quite man. Jack Teagarden. His father, an amateur comet player, worked in the oilfields, and his mother was a local piano instructor and church organist. It is too often for the jazz musician a case of a quick fling before the footlights, then oblivion. His formal train- ing has been acquired on the job. Instrument: Trombone During the 50s, Teagarden tried to stop drinking, and he left Armstrongs band to save his health and his marriage. Pollack's recordings were Teagarden's first. His unusual approach to trombone playing had both a technical and a stylistic component. Mole also specialized in technically spectacular playing, with staccato phrasing, big leaps, and surprising note choices. All these guys were just my fathers friends, she says now. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. He was identified with such tunes as I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues, St. Teagarden has appeared in movies, has sung on the air and on TV, and has recorded actually thousands of sides. Mother Helen was a ragtime pianist. Louis Armstrong, himself in poor health, was so grief-stricken at Teagardens death, Atwell says, that his doctors forced him to bed and wouldnt allow him to attend the funeral. The Fort Lauderdale daughter of jazz trombonist Jack Teagarden recreates the glory days of jazz in the life story or her legendary father. His health grew worse and he suffered recurring bouts of flu and pneumonia. Atwell wishes she had paid closer attention to those around her. His story also epitomizes how music drilled through the racial barriers of the 40s and 50s, setting the tone for Americas integration movement. Jacks fluency on the trombone has continued to amaze everyone. So my Hungarian friend went on the book-binding project but he toted his cymbalom along and the book bindery became the most melodious WPA project that never got off the ground. The effect is a stifled, plaintive sound which makes the instrument sound even more like a blues singer. His voice, with an engaging Southern drawl, ranged somewhere between the rasp of Louis Armstrong and the smooth sound of Bing Crosby, with whom he was professionally associated from time to time. The siege of troubled yearsthe mid-thirties through the late fortiesTeagarden spent as an itinerant jazzman, reckless, unsettled, always on the lookout for a place to blow his horn. [2] In the mid-1920s he started traveling widely around the United States in a quick succession of different bands. All four Teagarden children became prominent musicians. Benny Goodman and His Orchestra - Vocal Refrain by Jack Teagarden. Atwell has never forgiven the media for that. He was an inventor, redesigning mouthpieces, mutes, and water valves [3] Teagarden's early career was as a sideman with the likes of Paul Whiteman and lifelong friend Louis Armstrong. Teagarden, who was simply greatly adored by Tommy Dorsey, is a reasonable candidate for popularity in the golf swing period but he produced a strategic mistake. Jack began on piano at age group five (his mom Helen was a ragtime pianist), turned to baritone horn, and lastly used trombone when he was ten. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. 78_somebody-loves-me_eddie-condon-and-his-orchestra-jack-teagarden-bobby-hackett-billy_gbia0195458b Location USA Scanner Internet Archive Python library 1.9.0 Scanningcenter George Blood, L.P. Eddie Shields, the circulation driver who writes songs, phoned the minute he read about Jack. With abuse heaped upon him, Teagarden became the first white musician to travel on the road with an all-black band. As mentioned above, by the summer of 1928, Teagarden was playing with Ben Pollacks orchestra, and he stayed with Pollack, performing and recording, for nearly five years. Jack took one look and busted out the back door. His recordings of I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues, Texas Tea Party, A Hundred Years from Today(all 1933), Stars Fell on Alabama(1934), I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music (1936), and Nobody Knows the Trouble Ive Seen may be considered his best vocal offerings. Early in 1964 Teagarden cut short a performance in New Orleans because of ill health. Made in 1962, precisely two years before his death, it reflects much that was important about the man and musician; the uncanny precision and languorous passion of his trombone playing, the intimacy . He was considered by many to be the greatest jazz trombonist of his era, but his style was so unusual that others did not follow his example. Leave a comment. Teagarden was born in Vernon, Texas, United States. She also worked with disadvantaged youth. Teagardens life story frames the history of the jazz movement in America, rising through the 20s and 30s, struggling through World War II, and nearly drowned out by the screaming birth of rock and roll in the 50s. "name" : "Jack Teagarden", Among the many landmarks of the jazz scene is one that seems destined to last forever. [2], Teagarden sought financial security during the Great Depression and signed an exclusive contract to play for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra from 1933 through 1938. Teagarden was buried in California. Among the many tunes which are his are Basin Street Blues (he and Glenn Miller combines on the lyrics of the now-famous blues, although neither is credited on the sheet music), Stars Fell on Alabama, Pennies From Heaven, Rockin Chair, and Ive Got a Right to Sing the Blues. My sources disagree concerning which band brought Teagarden to New York, and with whom he made his earliest recording, but there is agreement that he arrived in New York in 1927 and was playing with Ben Pollacks orchestra by 1928. Another interesting aspect of the recordings of this period is that they show very clearly that, unlikely many other jazz musicians of the time, Teagarden was a true improviser, giving notably different solos on different takes of the same piece " even when the recordings were made on the same day. A very interesting documentary about Jack Teagarden. Some sources claim his unusual style of trombone playing stemmed from the fact that he began playing before he was big enough to play in the farther positions. The trombone slide has seven positions where traditionally notated (chromatic scale) pitches can be played. His creative instinct is unerring, rhythmically and harmonic- ally, and is creatively superb. Also Teagarden tuned the two available pianos in the remote city of Kabul, Afghanistan, where most of the populace had never seen brass musical instruments before. [2] In 1946, Teagarden joined Louis Armstrong's All Stars. The group traveled to Europe in the postwar achieving great success. An insurance agent and former Doberman breeder for 30 years, Atwell now trains abused dogs. He played the last six weeks of the tour with a serious hernia, but refused to undergo surgery until the commitments had been filled and all his dates had been played. Mom and I sat down at a table, and when the hand was finished with their set, Dad came down and sat with us. His voice is midway between a heavy drawl and an outright yawn. So the traditional trombone stylists specialized in playing simpler accompaniment parts featuring cute special effects like glissandos. Having grown up in an area with a large black population, Teagarden developed an early appreciation of black music, especially the blues and gospel He was one of the first jazz musicians to incorporate blue notes into his playing. - Jack Sohmer. In 1947, he left the bigband business entirely, playing in ensuing years with Louis Armstrong and with groups he himself headed. Trains, hotels and restaurants often refused them service unless they split up. Fine, we said. Some critics considered him the best man ever on his instrument and one of the handful of jazz musicians, along with such men as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, who deserved to be called geniuses. For several years, however, Jack continued to play with local groups. And as he drove along another car hit him from the rear. Teagarden's early career was as a sideman with the likes of Paul Whiteman and lifelong friend Louis Armstrong. Lots of clips of Jack, including home movies, as well as interviews with musicians who worked with him, . Mr. Teagarden was responsible, in the late twenties, for an addition to jazz folklore. Jack Teagarden was a trombone player, singer, and band leader whose career spanned from the 1. Sometimes there would be more teens at the meetings than older people.. Teagarden left Pollack in 1933, and signed a five-year contract with Paul Whitemans orchestra. What he did that day with a trombone became part of the living legend of Teagarden, a feat that replaced the amused smiles with a deep respect that has been felt since by nearly every jazz buff who ever heard Teagarden jamming his special kind of music. Fort Lauderdale civic activist Vernajean Atwell, stepdaughter of noted trombonist Jack Teagarden plays with her adopted dogs. May 2-7. 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