Al Starita

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Al Starita (* around 1900; † unknown) was an American jazz musician ( alto saxophone , clarinet , also vocals , arrangement ) who worked successfully as a band leader in London in the 1920s .

Live and act

Starita worked in the New York music scene from the early 1920s; first recordings were made in 1921 with The Four Bright Sparks ("High Society Blues" (Columbia), with Van Phillips , Arthur Young or Sid Bright , Len Fillis , Rudy Starita ). In 1921 he also recorded the title "Wang Wang Blues" under his own name.

In the following years he worked with his brother Ray in London; In 1923 they belonged to the house band of the Savoy Hotel, The Savoy Orpheans . In 1924 he recorded with the Savoy Orpheans ("Eccentric"), as well as with The Finney Tribe around the alto saxophonist Herb Finney. Together with Jack Hylton he led the Kit-Cat-Band , which appeared in the London club of the same name and which also included Ted Heath and Sid Bright . With the band Starita also made recordings for His Master's Voice and Columbia ("That's my Hap-hap-happiness"); some titles like "Cover Me Up with Sunshine", "Sad'n'Blue" or "South Wind" appeared under Jack Hylton's Hyltonians , with which HMV tried to build on the success of Paul Whiteman .

In the following years Starita also led the quartet The Gilt-Edged Four , which also included Sid Bright, Max Goldberg (trumpet) and Len Fillis (banjo, guitar) (“Don't Bring Lulu”, Columbia). From 1928 he directed the big band The Piccadilly Players , of which Sylvester Ahola was also a member. With the band he recorded numbers like Gershwin's "He Loves and She Loves" (from the musical Funny Face from 1928), "Counting the Milestones", " If I Had You " and "He's a Good Man to Have Around" (with Eddie Collis, vocals). In 1929 he accompanied Fred Astaire with his orchestra ("Not My Girl" / "Louisiana"). In the field of jazz he was involved in 53 recording sessions between 1921 and 1929. In 1929 he left England and worked as an orchestra conductor in Australia, but without taking up any further.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard M. Sudhalter: Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael . Oxford, London: Oxford University Press 2003, p. 35.
  2. ↑ a b Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed November 18, 2017)
  3. ↑ Catherine Tackley: The Evolution of Jazz in Britain, 1880-1935. London / New York: Routledge 2017, p. 198
  4. ^ Peter Martland: Recording History: The British Record Industry, 1888-1931 . London, Toronto: Scarecrow Press, 2013, p. 324.
  5. ^ The Oxford Companion to Australian Jazz , ed. by Bruce Johnson, London a. a .: Oxford University Press, 1987
personal data
SURNAME Starita, Al
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH around 1900
DATE OF DEATH 20th century