Big Band: In The Mood

Basie, Count (William Basie)ba’se, 1904–84, American jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer, b. Red Bank, N.J. After working in dance halls and vaudeville in New York City, Basie moved to Kansas City, a major jazz center. There he joined Walter Page’s Blue Devils in 1927, moving to Bennie Morton’s band in 1929. He formed his own band in 1935, and for 40 years it has produced a distinctive sound marked by a powerful yet relaxed attack. Basie’s provocative piano style is characterized by a predominant right hand. Among the many pieces he has composed for his band is “One O’Clock Jump.”

Gene Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was a famous and influential American jazz and big band drummer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.

Many consider Krupa to be one of the most influential drummers of the 20th century, particularly regarding the development of the drum kit. Many jazz historians believe he made history in 1927 as the first kit drummer ever to record using a bass drum pedal. His drum method was published in 1938 and immediately became the standard text. He is also credited with inventing the rim shot on the snare drum. Rhythm, the UK’s best selling drum magazine voted Gene Krupa the third most influential drummer ever, in a poll conducted for its February 2009 issue. Voters included over 50 top-name drummers.

Krupa was born Eugene Bertram Krupa to Polish parents in Chicago, Illinois. He began playing professionally in the mid 1920s with bands in Wisconsin. He broke into the Chicago scene in 1927, when he was picked by MCA to become a member of “Thelma Terry and Her Playboys”, the first notable American Jazz band (outside of all-girl bands) to be led by a female musician. The Playboys were the house band at The Golden Pumpkin nightclub in Chicago and also toured extensively throughout the eastern and central United States.

As one music critic observed, “Jerry [a name which might well stand for Jericho, the way he blows that horn] is definitely one of the better clarinetists in the business.  His range, his imagination, and his technical ability are superb.”

Wald had played the soprano sax at age 7, and later studied the alto saxophone and clarinet with private teachers.

After he formed a big band, they worked regularly in New York City, at Childs’ Spanish Garden in 1941 and the Lincoln Hotel in 1942, and in Chicago, at the Panther Room of the Hotel Sherman in 1943 and at the Hotel’s College Inn during 1944.

“In almost every number the Wald clarinet is a dominant factor,” Will Davidson wrote in the Chicago Daily Tribune. “Not to the obliteration of the ensemble; rather to its advantage.”

Wald and his orchestra made their first records in 1942, for Decca. They also recorded during the 1940s for, at different times, Majestic, Sonora, and Columbia.

They appeared in one movie, “Little Miss Broadway” (a 1947 Columbia Pictures film, not the 1938 Shirley Temple 20th Century-Fox feature).

given name Jervis Wald
birth Jan. 15, 1918, Newark, NJ
death Sept. 1973, Las Vegas, NV
residence 1 Marshall St., Irvington, NJ (1950s)

Historian-author George T. Simon once commented, “Jerry Wald sounded like Artie Shaw, a comparison that Jerry often resented and about which Artie couldn’t have cared less.”

Admittedly, Shaw had been one of Wald’s idols, and in 1942-43 he even hired some of Shaw’s former sidemen, including trumpeter Bernie Privin, alto saxophonist Les Robinson, bassist Sid Weiss, vocalist Anita Boyer; and arrangers Jerry Gray, Ray Conniff, and Bill Challis.

Among the other members of Wald’s bands, at various times, were Johnny Bond, trumpet; Nelson Riddle and Ray Sims, trombones; Bobby Dukoff, Al Cohn, and Bill Perkins, tenor saxophones; Al Haig, piano; Billy Bauer or Artie Ryerson, guitar; Jerry Gilgore or Irv Cottler, drums; Lillian Lane or Ginnie Powell, vocals; and Manny Albam, arranger.

Wald announced plans in late 1946 to drop the large brass section and feature his clarinet with a 15-piece band including one trumpet, a French horn, nine strings, and four rhythm.

In Hollywood from 1949 to 1951, he ran the Studio Club (located across the street from the Palladium) and led a big band there.

He returned to New York City and recorded again for Decca in 1952, making six sides – most featuring vocals by Chris Connor.

In 1953, Wald did a 10-inch “Tops in Pops” LP for an MGM subsidiary, Lion (no.E70014), as part of their new “Designed for Dancing” series. The selections included The Moon Is
Blue, Changing Partners, I Love Paris, and Rags to Riches, and Bill Evans was present on piano.

Evans was back on 1955’s “Listen to the Music of Jerry Wald and His Orchestra” (Kapp KL-1043), which included, among others, several songs by the Gershwins (Who Cares?, I’ve Got a Crush On You, and Maybe) and Rodgers and Hart (Dancing On the Ceiling and Little Girl Blue). Probably because of Evans’ later acclaim as a jazz pianist and composer, the album was reissued by MCA in Japan around 1980.

Wald also did a couple of 45 rpm singles for Kapp, Valley of the Redwoods / Dancing Castanets (K 173X) and Frenchman’s Creek / Mesa Verde (K 212X).

He finished off his recording career with some 45s for smaller companies, Todd (Moon Over Miami / Sheba) and his own Waldork label (The Creeper / Nightmare) in 1958.

Simon acknowledged that Wald’s band always sounded good, “But distinctive, seldom.”

Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 August 25, 1979) led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator.

Stan Kenton was born in Wichita, Kansas, and raised first in Colorado and then in California. He learned piano as a child, and while still a teenager toured with various bands. In June 1941 he formed his own band, which developed into one of the best-known West Coast ensembles of the Forties.

Tex Beneke was born in Texas. He joined the Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1938 as a tenor saxophonist. He quickly became a star with the orchestra with his easy going manner, casual sounding voice and mellifluous saxophone playing. One night while riding to a gig with Glenn Miller in a car, they discussed tunes and Tex suggested a song he knew called “Ida”. He sang it to Miller and Miller is reported to have said, “you know, Tex, we should write an arrangement for you to do that tune. ” They did and he did. It became a hit in 1939 and after that he became a featured singer with the band recording big hits like “I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo”, “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree”, “Chatanooga Choo Choo” and “I Never Knew”. He later took over the band after Miller’s death during the war. He led it from 1946 to 1948 and changed the name to the Tex Beneke Orchestra. He passed away in May of 2000. The band continues under his name and is led by Jim Snodgrass.