Albert Ammons
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Albert C. Ammons |
| Born | September 23, 1907 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Died | December 2, 1949 (aged 42) Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Genres | Jazz, blues, boogie-woogie |
| Occupations | Pianist |
| Years active | 1920s–1949 |
| Labels | Vocalion, Blue Note, Delmark, Mercury |
Albert Ammons (September 23, 1907 – December 2, 1949)[1] was an American pianist and player of boogie-woogie, a bluesy jazz style popular from the late 1930s into the mid-1940s.
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Life and career [edit]
Born Albert C. Ammons in Chicago, Illinois, his parents were pianists, and he had learned to play by the age of ten. He also played percussion in the drum and bugle corps as a teenager and was soon performing with bands on the Chicago club scene. After World War I he became interested in the blues, learning by listening to Chicago pianists Hersal Thomas and the brothers Alonzo and Jimmy Yancey.[2] In the early to mid-1920s Ammons worked as a cab driver for the Silver Taxicab Company. In 1924 he met a fellow taxi driver who also played piano, Meade Lux Lewis. Soon the two players began working as a team, performing at club parties. Ammons started his own band at the Club DeLisa in 1934 and remained at the club for the next two years.[3]
During that time he played with a five piece unit that included Guy Kelly, Dalbert Bright, Jimmy Hoskins, and Israel Crosby. Ammons also recorded as Albert Ammons's Rhythm Kings for Decca Records in 1936. The Rhythm Kings' version of "Swanee River Boogie" sold a million copies. Ammons moved from Chicago to New York, where he teamed up with another pianist, Pete Johnson.[3] The two performed regularly at the Café Society,[3] occasionally joined by Meade Lux Lewis, and performed with other noted jazz artists such as Benny Goodman and Harry James.
In 1938 Ammons appeared at Carnegie Hall with Johnson and Lewis at From Spirituals to Swing, an event that helped launch the boogie-woogie craze.[3] Two weeks later, record producer Alfred Lion, who had attended John H. Hammond's From Spirituals to Swing concert on December 23, 1938, which had introduced Ammons and Lewis, started Blue Note Records, recording nine Ammons solos including "The Blues" and "Boogie Woogie Stomp", eight by Lewis and a pair of duets in a one-day session in a rented studio.[4]
In 1941, Ammons' boogie music was accompanied by drawn-on-film animation in the short film Boogie-Doodle by Norman McLaren.[5] Ammons played himself in the movie Boogie-Woogie Dream (1944), with Lena Horne and Pete Johnson.[6] As a sideman with Sippie Wallace in the 1940s Ammons recorded a session with his son, the tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons.[3] Although the boogie-woogie fad began to die down in 1945 Ammons had no difficulty securing work. He continued to tour as a solo artist and between 1946 and 1949 recorded his last sides for Mercury Records with bassist Israel Crosby.
During the last few years of his life Ammons played mainly in Chicago's Beehive Club and the Tailspin Club and a few days before he died he played at Mama Yancey's parlor.[7] In 1949, his final year, he was given the honour to play at President Harry S. Truman's inauguration.[8] Albert Ammons died on December 2, 1949 in Chicago[1] and was interred at the Lincoln Cemetery, at Kedzie Avenue in Blue Island, Worth Township, Cook County, Illinois.
Legacy [edit]
Ammons has had wide influence on countless pianists such as Dave Alexander, Dr. John, Hadda Brooks, Johnnie Johnson, Ray Bryant, Erroll Garner, Katie Webster, Axel Zwingenberger, and the German pianist Joerg Hegemann. The latter honoured Ammons, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Ammons's birth in 2007, with his album A Tribute To Albert Ammons.
Album discography [edit]
| Year of release | Album title | Record label |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | King of Boogie Woogie (1939-1949) | Blues Classics |
| 1951 | Boogie Woogie Classics | Blue Note Records |
| 1975 | King of Blues and Boogie Woogie 1907-1949 | Oldie Blues |
| 1982 | King of Blues and Boogie Woogie 1907-1949 Vol. 2[9] | Oldie Blues |
| 1992 | The First Day | Blue Note |
| 2004 | The Boogie Woogie Trio, Vols. 1-2 | Storyville |
Bibliography [edit]
- Boogie Woogie Stomp - Albert Ammons & His Music by Christopher I. Page, 1997; ISBN 978-1-885066-32-9
See also [edit]
- List of blues musicians
- List of boogie woogie musicians
- List of jazz pianists
- List of Mercury Records artists
References [edit]
- ^ a b Dead Rock Stars website - accessed February 2008
- ^ Santelli, Robert. The Big Book of Blues, Penguin Books, page 13, (2001) - ISBN 0-14-100145-3
- ^ a b c d e Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. p. 88. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
- ^ Vladimir, Bogdanov. All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues, By Bogdanov, Backbeat Books, page 14, (2003) - ISBN 0-87930-736-6
- ^ Bill Kirchner, ed. (May 2005). The Oxford Companion to Jazz. Oxford University Press. p. 771. ISBN 978-0-19-518359-7.
- ^ Imdb: Boogie-Woogie Dream" (1944)
- ^ Olderen, Martin van, Albert Ammons - King of Blues and Boogie Woogie 1907-1949, liner notes, Oldie Blues OL 2807, 1975
- ^ Feather, Leonard G. Encyclopedia of Jazz, Horizon Press, page 101, (1960) - ISBN 0-8180-1203-X
- ^ King of Blues and Boogie Woogie 1907-1949 Vol. 2 at Discogs Retrieved 13 May 2013
External links [edit]
- E-Notes: Albert Ammons
- BBC: Albert Ammons
- Find a Grave
- Jazz Police article on Albert Ammons Centennial Celebration
- Watch the 1941 short film Boogie-Doodle
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