Babe Wagner

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Ellsworth "Babe" Wagner (born 1913 or 1914 in New Ulm, Minnesota ; † 1949 ) was an American jazz trombonist and later leader of a polka band with whom he toured the Midwest in the late 1940s .

Live and act

Wagner came from a musical family of German origin; first he learned piano , violin , then saxophone , drums and finally trombone . At the age of 15 he played in the Whoopee John Band, then toured with various dance orchestras as far as Chicago , where his first recordings were made in 1939. In the following years he was a member of the orchestra of Gene Krupa , with whom he went on numerous tours, appeared in films such as The Call of the Canyon (1941, with Irene Daye ) and was involved in 70 recording sessions between 1940 and 1943.

After leaving Krupa he played in the band of Harry Blons (Harry Raymond Yblonski) in St. Paul (which Doc Evans also belonged to); after his return to New Ulm in 1946 he founded his own old-time and polka band, the Minnesota Dutchmen , in which his brothers Virgil and Deward also played. In 1947/48 Columbia released several 78 records such as Doghouse Polka , Bummel Petrus , Dutch Festival , Oneta Polka / New Ulm Waltz and Lights Out Waltz / Upside Down Polka . Bands like Six Fat Dutchmen, Fezz Fritsche and Babe Wagner's Dutchmen made New Ulm a "Music City of the North". Wagner died in 1949 at the age of 35 as a result of a traffic accident. His band, The Babe Wagner Band , continued after his death into the early 1960s.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A Passion for Polka . 1992, p. 156
  2. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed August 24, 2015)
  3. ↑ Jay Goetting: Joined at the Hip: A History of Jazz in the Twin Cities . 2011
  4. ↑ Babe Wagner at Allmusic (English)
  5. ^ Billboard June 5, 1948
  6. ^ Columbia 1234-F
  7. ^ Billboard Nov. 12, 1949
  8. ^ Rick March, Dick Blau: Polka Heartland: Why the Midwest Loves to Polka . 2015
personal data
SURNAME Wagner, babe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wagner, Ellsworth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH 1913 or 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH New Ulm, Minnesota
DATE OF DEATH 1949