Aaron Bell

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Samuel Aaron Bell (* 24. April 1922 in Muskogee, Oklahoma ; † 28. July 2003 in New York City ) was an American jazz - bassist and pianist of Swing .

Bell played after a school music degree in New Orleans and five years of military service in 1947 with Andy Kirk . Then followed a few years of studying music in New York City and working at a high school as a music teacher. He had first engagements with Ed Wilcox, then with Lucky Millinder , Teddy Wilson , Eddie Heywood and Lester Young in the early 1950s. Bell then had his own trio with pianist Charles Bateman and drummer Charlie Smith (1954–56), then directed an orchestra for the Broadway play Compulsion (1957–1958), worked for television and played briefly with the trio of 1959 Billy Taylor . In the spring of 1960 Bell became a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra for two years , with whom he stayed in Europe in 1961. The Duke also took part in the 1962 recordings of the record John Coltrane and Duke Ellington . Bell later taught at various universities and composed for the theater, for example for the La Mama off-off roadway theater . With La Mama he also made a European tour in the summer of 1978, on which the Cotton Club Gala was shown, a revue with the program with which the legendary Cotton Club of New York was opened. Bell was the musical director of this program and directed the stage orchestra in which u. a. the trumpeter Taft Jordan took part.

During his career, Aaron Bell made records with Cat Anderson , Buck Clayton , Johnny Hodges , Billie Holiday , Jimmy Rushing , Charlie Shavers , Friedrich Gulda and Urbie Green . In 1985 he appeared at a series of events by the Ellington Society with The Duke's Men in New York. In the 1990s, recordings were made with Harold Ashby .

In 1992, Bell was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame .

Discographic notes

  • Jimmy Rushing: His Complete Vanguard Recordings (Vanguard, 1954-57)
  • Lester Young: Masters of Jazz (Storyville, 1951–56)
  • Duke Ellington: The Girl's Suite / The Perume Suite (Columbia 1957–61), Piano In the Background (Columbia, 1960), Featuring Paul Gonsalves (OJC, 1962), Piano In The Foreground (Columbia, 1963)
  • Duke Ellington And John Coltrane ( Impulse , 1962).
  • Johnny Hodges: Triple Play (Bluebird, 1967)
  • Harold Ashby: I'm Old Fashioned (Stash, 1991)

Lexical entries

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bell, Aaron
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bell, Samuel Aaron (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz bassist
DATE OF BIRTH April 24, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Muskogee, Oklahoma
DATE OF DEATH July 28, 2003
Place of death New York City