Albert Ammons

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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.

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personal data
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