Albert Ammons
Albert Ammons (born September 23, 1907 in Chicago , Illinois ; † December 2, 1949 ibid) was an American pianist who was mainly known for his boogie-woogie interpretations and compositions.
Live and act
Ammons, the son of a pianist couple, learned to play the piano at the age of ten. His interest in blues was aroused by recordings by Hersal Thomas and Jimmy Yancey . Originally a taxi driver, Ammons had his first musical experience in 1929 with François Moseley , in Chicago clubs in the early 1930s. In 1934 he had his own band, the Rhythm Kings , with which he made the first recordings for the Decca label in 1936 , on which the trumpeter Guy Kelly and the bassist Israel Crosby participated. Their cover version of the Swanee River Boogie sold over a million copies. Recordings were also made for Decca with singer Sam Theard as Oscar's Chicago Swingers .
Despite this success, he left Chicago and went to New York. In 1938 he performed with pianists Meade Lux Lewis (with whom he had been close friends since he was a taxi driver) and Pete Johnson at New York's Carnegie Hall at John Hammond's famous Spirituals to Swing concert. He made regular appearances at the New York Café Society . Ammons was involved in the boogie-woogie fever of the time, which made the three (Ammons, Johnson, Lewis) the best-known pianists of their time.
In the 1940s he lived temporarily in New York, where he appeared with Benny Goodman and Harry James , among others , in 1949 Ammons took on with the band of Lionel Hampton and played at the inauguration of President Harry S. Truman . With Israel Crosby the last recordings were made for Mercury Records . In 1947 he had a hit in the "Race Records" charts with Swanee River Boogie .
Together with Meade “Lux” Lewis, he deserves the credit of being the musician of the first records made in 1939 by the young jazz label Blue Note Records . Many boogie pianists refer to him as their greatest influence (e.g. Dave Alexander , Dr. John , Hadda Brooks , Johnnie Johnson , Ray Bryant, Erroll Garner , Frank Muschalle , Katie Webster , Axel Zwingenberger ). The German boogie pianist Jörg Hegemann released the album A Tribute To Albert Ammons in 2007 on the occasion of Ammons' 100th birthday .
Albert Ammons is the father of the tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons and the grandfather of the singer Lila Ammons.
Discographic notes
- Albert Ammons 1936–1939 (Classics)
- Boogie Woogie Man (Topaz) with Harry James , Frankie Newton , Hot Lips Page , JC Higginbotham , Vic Dickenson , Sid Catlett
Collections
- The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis ( Mosaic , 1983) - solo piano
literature
- Ian Carr , Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley : Rough Guide Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz. 1800 bands and artists from the beginning until today. 2nd, expanded and updated edition. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2004, ISBN 3-476-01892-X .
- Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide of Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
- Christopher I. Page: Boogie Woogie Stomp - Albert Ammons & His Music . Northeast Ohio Jazz Society, Cleveland OH 1997, ISBN 978-1-885066-32-9 .
- Robert Santelli: The Big Book Of Blues. A Biographical Encyclopedia . Pavilion, London 1993, ISBN 0-14-015939-8 , pp. 10 f.
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Ammons, Albert |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American boogie woogie pianist |
DATE OF BIRTH | September 23, 1907 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Chicago , Illinois |
DATE OF DEATH | December 2, 1949 |
Place of death | Chicago , Illinois |