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Beschreibung
Jazz legend Cootie Williams left home to start his career as a professional musician at the age of fifteen. In 1940, after eleven years as one of the major soloists with the Duke Ellington orchestra, Williams was lured away to the band of Benny Goodman, one of the most popular bands in the country. At the time, it was a controversial move--it was still taboo for African Americans to share the bandstand with white people. Current references to the move usually reduce it to a song written by Raymond Scott, "When Cootie Left the Duke." In reality, it was a seismic event. The Black press predicted Black bands would collapse from raids on their ranks. White musicians were afraid they would be put out of work. And the white press stirred up visions of Black musicians mixing with white women in the new landscape of integrated orchestras. The twenty years trumpeter Williams spent as a band leader (1942-1962) have been covered in only the barest of details. His involvement in politics and the civil rights movement have not been detailed before. An astute talent scout, Williams and his band launched the careers of Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Earl "Bud" Powell, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and Pearl Bailey. He also was the first to record the music of a young Thelonious Monk, using two of Monk's compositions ("Epistrophy" and "'Round Midnight") as theme songs for his band. Steven C. Bowie respectfully tells Williams's story, from his Alabama ancestry onward, including many new details rediscovered from the historical archives of the African American press and those gleaned from the author's interviews with his friends and colleagues.
Jazz legend Cootie Williams left home to start his career as a professional musician at the age of fifteen. In 1940, after eleven years as one of the major soloists with the Duke Ellington orchestra, Williams was lured away to the band of Benny Goodman, one of the most popular bands in the country. At the time, it was a controversial move--it was still taboo for African Americans to share the bandstand with white people. Current references to the move usually reduce it to a song written by Raymond Scott, "When Cootie Left the Duke." In reality, it was a seismic event. The Black press predicted Black bands would collapse from raids on their ranks. White musicians were afraid they would be put out of work. And the white press stirred up visions of Black musicians mixing with white women in the new landscape of integrated orchestras. The twenty years trumpeter Williams spent as a band leader (1942-1962) have been covered in only the barest of details. His involvement in politics and the civil rights movement have not been detailed before. An astute talent scout, Williams and his band launched the careers of Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Earl "Bud" Powell, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and Pearl Bailey. He also was the first to record the music of a young Thelonious Monk, using two of Monk's compositions ("Epistrophy" and "'Round Midnight") as theme songs for his band. Steven C. Bowie respectfully tells Williams's story, from his Alabama ancestry onward, including many new details rediscovered from the historical archives of the African American press and those gleaned from the author's interviews with his friends and colleagues.
Über den Autor
Steven C. Bowie curates and hosts the Duke Ellington-themed podcast Ellington Reflections. He has presented papers on Cootie Williams and Kenny Burrell for conferences held by the Duke Ellington Society of Sweden and written articles for DownBeat and Jazz Improv magazines.
Details
Erscheinungsjahr: 2025
Genre: Biographien, Importe
Rubrik: Belletristik
Medium: Taschenbuch
Inhalt: Einband - flex.(Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781496859440
ISBN-10: 1496859448
Sprache: Englisch
Einband: Kartoniert / Broschiert
Autor: Bowie, Steven C
Hersteller: University Press of Mississippi
Verantwortliche Person für die EU: Libri GmbH, Europaallee 1, D-36244 Bad Hersfeld, gpsr@libri.de
Maße: 234 x 156 x 27 mm
Von/Mit: Steven C Bowie
Erscheinungsdatum: 06.10.2025
Gewicht: 0,771 kg
Artikel-ID: 134097795

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