Adrian Rollini

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Adrian Rollini at the vibraphone with guitarist Allen Hanlon , probably in the 1940s
Photo: William P. Gottlieb

Adrian Francis Rollini (born June 28, 1903 in New York , † May 15, 1956 in Homestead (Florida) ) was a multi-instrumental jazz musician of the early jazz and swing era. He played bass saxophone , piano , xylophone , vibraphone , celesta and other instruments, including exotic instruments such as the hot fountain pen (a cylindrically drilled, chalumeau- like wooden instrument without keys, with a clarinet mouthpiece) and the couesnophone .

Live and act

Rollini came from a family of musicians; his parents were Ferdinand Rollini and his wife Adele Rollini geb. Augenti; his younger brother was the tenor saxophonist Arthur Rollini . Rollini grew up in Larchmont (USA, New York).

Chopin's Minute Waltz (Op. 64.1), here presented by Muriel Nguyen Xuan

When he was four years old he played a fifteen-minute concert at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, which included a. a. Frédéric Chopin's Waltz of the Minute ; at 14 he had his first own group. In 1922 he achieved his breakthrough in the band California Ramblers , with which he stayed until 1926. There he began with the piano, but then learned the bass saxophone because band leader Ed Kirkeby wanted to use it as a bass instrument together with the tuba . On the unusual bass saxophone he played fluid and modern solos that were twenty years ahead of their time.

From 1924 he led a partial formation of the California Ramblers , the Little Ramblers , and between 1926 and 1927 he became known with the Goofus Five , named after the rare instrument Goofus (Couesnophon) played by Rollini. Rollini played with frequently changing groups, group names and line-ups with many greats in swing as a session musician with Bix Beiderbecke , Red Nichols , Joe Venuti , Frank Trumbauer and Miff Mole . After a failed attempt as a band leader at the Hotel New Yorker , he went to London in 1927 to play with Fred Elizalde at the Savoy . At the end of 1929 he returned to the United States and for the next decade worked mainly as a studio musician with a. a. Miff Mole, Jimmy Dorsey , Coleman Hawkins , Rube Bloom , Bunny Berigan , Red McKenzie and Bobby Hackett .

In April 1934 he came with the song "A Thousand Goodnights" recorded for Vocalion Records for the first time in the national charts; his second and last hit was "Weather Man" in July 1935, with Wingy Manone and Carmen Mastren as band singers. That year he opened his own club, Adrian's Tap Room , in the President's basement on West 48th Street; there played u. a. Wingy Manones Quartet. Since then Rollini has mainly played the vibraphone and played dance music in hotels with his trio. In his last years he no longer played a role in the current development of jazz and was a hotel owner.

As a bass saxophonist, Rollini set standards not only for this rather rare instrument, but above all for the baritone saxophonists of the subsequent swing era . Together with Duke Ellington's Harry Carney and Jimmy Dorsey (who occasionally played the bass saxophone in the twenties) he was one of the first to prove that you can phrase fluently and even gently and sensitively on the lower saxophones. On the vibraphone / xylophone he is one of the pioneers of this instrument with Lionel Hampton and Red Norvo (his first vibraphone recording was released almost at the same time as the first by Hampton), but despite all the technical perfection on this instrument, critics missed the rousing emotionality that distinguished his bass solos.

Adrian Rollini was married to Dorothy Rollini (1905–1977), called Dixie .

In late April 1956, Rollini fell off the stairs of the Green Turtle Inn (which he intended to buy) in Islamorada, Florida Keys. His right foot was almost severed. He was taken to a local hospital and treated. Due to his generally heavy consumption of alcohol and the current forced withdrawal, he fell into delirium tremens. An attempt was made to feed him artificially by pushing a glass tube weighed down with mercury through the esophagus, which was scarred by tuberculosis in his youth. The glass bulb broke in the process. In the autopsy report, cirrhosis of the liver and pneumonia caused by inhalation of the mercury were found. He died on May 15, 1956 in Homestead, Florida .

Honors

In 1998 Rollini was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame .

Groups under his direction

  • Adrian and his Tap Room Gang
  • Adrian Rollini and his Orchestra
  • Adrian Rollini quintets
  • Adrian Rollini Trio
  • Adrian's Ramblers
  • Goofus Five
  • Little Ramblers

Musicians in his groups

Under Adrian Rollini's direction: Charlie Barnet (tenor saxophone), Bunny Berigan (trumpet), Artie Bernstein (bass), Clay Bryson (vocals), Chick Bullock (vocals), Pat Circirello (trumpet), Harry Clark (bass), Jimmy Dorsey (clarinet, alto saxophone), Tommy Dorsey (trombone), Art Drellinger (clarinet, tenor saxophone), Al Duffy (violin), Benny Goodman (clarinet), Irving Goodman (trumpet), George Hnida (bass), Pat Hoke (vocals), Jonah Jones (trumpet), Stan King (drums), Dave Klein (trumpet), Manny Klein (trumpet), Carl Kress (guitar), Gene Krupa (drums), Eddie Lang (guitar), Ella Logan (Vocals), Charlie Magnante (piano, accordion), Dick McDonough (guitar), Johnny McGee (trumpet), Fulton McGrath (piano), Red McKenzie (vocals), Art Miller (bass), Joey Nash (vocals), Gwynn Nestor (Guitar), Al Philburn (trombone), Howard Phillips (vocals), Paul Ricci (clarinet), Buddy Rich (drums), Arthur Rollini (tenor saxophone), Pee Wee Russell (clarinet), Jack Russin (P. iano), Artie Shaw (clarinet, alto saxophone), Al Sidell (drums), Phil Sillman (drums), Howard Smith (piano), Sid Stoneburn (clarinet), Jack Teagarden (trombone), George Van Eps (guitar), Jane Vance (vocals), Joe Venuti (violin), Frank Victor (guitar), Herb Weil (drums, vocals).

Compilations with recordings by Rollini

  • Adrian Rollini - Bouncin 'in Rhythm . 1995 Pavilion Records, Ltd.
  • The Goofus Five . 1998 Timeless Records
  • Tap room swing . 2002 Living Era

Extensive discography

literature

swell

  1. ^ So Gunther Schuller Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development. Oxford University Press, New York 1986, ISBN 0-19-504043-0 , p. 255.
  2. ^ Social Security Death Master File, Social Security Number 101-26-3297 , accessed June 8, 2017.

Web links

Commons : Adrian Rollini  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Rollini, Adrian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rollini, Adrian Francis (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH June 28, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , USA
DATE OF DEATH May 15, 1956
Place of death Homestead (Florida) , USA