Al Hall

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Al Hall, circa July 1947.
Photograph by William P. Gottlieb .

Al Hall (actually Alfred Wesley Hall ; * 18th March 1915 in Jacksonville (Florida) ; † 18th January 1988 in New York City ) was an American jazz bassist of Swing . He played with Teddy Wilson .

Live and act

Al Hall grew up in Philadelphia. At a young age he learned the cello and tuba and switched to bass in 1932 . He played in local orchestras before moving to New York in 1936. In 1936/37 he worked there with Billy Hicks , 1937/38 with Skeets Tolbert and from 1939 to 1941 in Teddy Wilson's band . From 1942 to 1943 he played with Ellis Larkins , in 1943/44 with Paul Baron . From 1945 Hall worked preferably in theater orchestras in New York, was involved in the music for the show Jerome Robbins ' Ballet USA in 1958 and accompanied Yves Montand in 1959 . In addition to his main job in various theater orchestras, he still played with jazz musicians such as Count Basie (1952) and Erroll Garner (1956). From 1946 to 1950 he also headed the Wax record company . Al Hall has been involved in recordings by Louis Armstrong , Don Byas , Duke Ellington / Johnny Hodges , Clyde Hart , Budd Johnson , Andy Kirk , Ben Webster , Dickie Wells , Teddy Wilson and others. Although a swing musician, he also recorded with bop musicians such as Bud Powell , Sonny Stitt and Kenny Dorham in 1946 ( The Bebop Boys on Savoy ). In 1946/47 recordings were made under his own name on the wax label. In the 1970s he was a member of Paul Gonsalves' band .

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personal data
SURNAME Hall, Al
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hall, Alfred Wesley
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz bassist
DATE OF BIRTH March 18, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Jacksonville (Florida)
DATE OF DEATH January 18, 1988
Place of death New York City