Babs Gonzales
Babs Gonzales (born October 27, 1919 in Newark , New Jersey as Lee Brown , † January 23, 1980 ibid) was an American singer of bebop .
Live and act
Gonzales learned to play the piano and drums and began working as an accompanist in vocal groups in 1939; he also sang with Benny Goodman . He also wrote arrangements e.g. B. for Lionel Hampton . He became known as a bebop singer in the Vocalese style with his singing group Babs Three Bips and a Bop, founded in 1946 with Tadd Dameron , with whom he a. a. Ornithology by Charlie Parker , Weird Lullaby or Lullaby of the Doomed , Prelude to a Nightmare , Professor Bop and Oop-Pop-A-Da (an original composition, also recorded by Dizzy Gillespie ) at Blue Note (1946 to 1949). His group existed until 1949. Around 1950 he also recorded for Capitol ( Boptionary ). He was then a disc jockey and from 1950 to 1953 singer and road manager for the saxophonist James Moody .
At times he also worked in Hollywood at the end of the 1940s, wore a turban and called himself Ram Singh or Ricardo Gonzales (so as not to be discriminated against as black people in hotels) and worked as a chauffeur for Errol Flynn . He recorded with Art Pepper , Wynton Kelly , Jimmy Smith , Bennie Green (on Soul Stirrin , also by Gonzales, Blue Note 1958), Sonny Rollins (on his first record in 1949), Johnny Griffin and has also performed frequently in Europe, z. B. as one of the first Americans in 1962 at Ronnie Scott’s in London. He was considered an original and tireless promoter of jazz. In 1960 his album Tales of Manhattan was released on the small label Jaro .
Gonzales published three autobiographies (I paid my Dues-good times, No Bread 67, Movin on down the line 75) and also tried his hand at being a beat poet . He is a cousin of the pianist Teddy Brannon .
literature
- Carlo Bohländer , Karl Heinz Holler, Christian Pfarr: Reclam's Jazz Guide . 3rd, revised and expanded edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-15-010355-X .
- Will Friedwald : Swinging Voices of America - A Compendium of Great Voices . Hannibal, St. Andrä-WIERT, 1992. ISBN 3-85445-075-3
Web links
- Babs Gonzales at Discogs (English)
- Biography at Allaboutjazz
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gonzales, Babs |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Brown, Lee |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer of bebop |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 27, 1919 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Newark , New Jersey |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 23, 1980 |
| Place of death | Newark , New Jersey |