Ace Harris

Asa "Ace" Harris (born April 1, 1910 in New York City , † June 11, 1964 in Chicago ) was an American pianist , singer , arranger and band leader in the field of rhythm & blues and jazz .

Live and act

Harris learned to play the piano as a child and played in various Territory bands during the 1930s, in 1932 with Billy Steward's band Celery City Serenaders , which regularly toured the seaside resorts of the east coast of the USA from Florida , and from 1935 with Bill Mears ' Sunset Royal Serenaders . In 1937, after the death of front man Steve Washington, Harris took over the direction of the Sunset Royal Serenaders and on October 25, 1937 played some titles such as Hurly Burly and Rhythm 'Bout Town for Vocalion as Ace Harris & his Sunset Royal Orchestra , among its musicians bassist Al Lucas also belonged. He worked with the group until 1939, when he stayed in New York.

In early 1944 Harris took on with Hot Lips Page and then worked as a musician and arranger in the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra, with which recordings were made. His boogie-woogie piano and vocals can be heard in titles like Caldonia (# 2 on the R&B charts in 1945), Let's Have Fun Tonight (1946) and Hawk's Boogie (# 2, 1947). He stayed with Hawkins until 1947 and worked again in his orchestra in 1950/51 when he took part in its recordings for Coral , as in its last R&R chart success Tennessee Waltz , which rose to # 6 on the charts in 1950. He also worked on Bobby Smith's recordings for Apollo ( Blue Keys / Wee Gee Blues , 1951).

Harris recorded 1945-47 under his own name for the label Hub and Sterling with smaller formations, such as Lucky Millinder's Shorty's Got to Go . In his band played alongside the vocalist Manhattan Paul u. a. also the saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and the bassist Grachan Moncur II . Further recordings were made in 1950/51 with a Jump Blues band for Coral ( Two Wrong Neve Made a Right / Sentimental Tears ). He made his last recordings under his own name for Brunswick in 1953 ( Please Don't Put Me Down ). In the same year he quit his activities as a band leader and moved to Chicago to perform as a soloist. In 1954 he had an engagement at the Cloister Inn in Chicago. With the Erskine Hawkins Band he recorded some singles such as Put Your Feet Down on the Ground for Decca in 1955 , and the following year he was a guest soloist on his LP After Hours . In 1956 he was still involved in Sil Austin's hit Slow Walk ; in the years that followed, Ace Harris was forgotten and died in Chicago in June 1964 at the age of 54.

His daughter Asa is a singer in the Gene Esposito Jazz Orchestra in Chicago.

Discographic notes

• The Chronological Ace Harris 1937-52 (Jazz Classics, ed. 2004)
• Buddy Charles & Ace Harris: Zonky (Audo Fidelity)

Web links

• Portrait at Rockabilly

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jørgen Grunnet Jepsen: Jazz records, 1942-1965: a discography, Volume 4, Part 2
2. ^ Billboard, September 26, 1953