Barrett Deems

Barrett Deems (1955)

Barrett Deems B. (* 1. March 1914 in Springfield (Illinois) ; † 15. September 1998 in Chicago ) was an American jazz - drummer and bandleader who is a member of Louis Armstrong -All-Stars was and as "the fastest Drummers of the World ”was true.

Live and act

Deems began his career with Paul Ash in the late 1920s ; He directed his own formations in the Chicago area before joining Joe Venuti in 1937 , where he played for seven years. He then worked with Jimmy Dorsey (1945), Red Norvo (1948), Charlie Barnet , Muggsy Spanier (1951-54), Bill Harris (1952) and the All-Stars or the orchestra of Louis Armstrong (1954-58). At Armstrong he worked on his albums Satch Plays Fats and Louis Armstrong Plays WC Handy as well as on his recording of Mack the Knife and the film appearance in High Society (1956). In 1959/1960 he led his own band, which performed at Chicago's Brass Rail Club . He also recorded with Art Hodes and was part of Jack Teagarden's band (1960-64) from 1960 to 1964 . In the next few years he played with the Dukes of Dixieland . After Armstrong's death toured with various tribute bands, such as that of John Evers ( Salute to Satchmo ). He also worked with Joe Kelly's Gaslight Band .

Deems was active in The World's Greatest Jazz Band in the early 1970s . In 1976 he went on an Eastern European tour with the Benny Goodman Sextet, then through South America with Wild Bill Davison . In 1983 he recorded with Bud Freeman , in 1988 with Art Hodes ( Pagin 'Mr Jelly ). In his later years he led a big band in Chicago, with whom he recorded the album Deemus for Delmark Records in 1987 ; Clarinetist Chuck Hedges was one of the soloists . Shortly before his death in 1998 due to pneumonia , he worked with an eighteen-member big band modeled on Buddy Rich .

Deems also published a textbook for drummers.

Discographic notes

Deemus (Delmark, 1978)
How D'You Like It So Far? (Delmark, 1994)
Groovin 'Hard (Lydia, 1998)

Lexigraphic entries

Carlo Bohländer Karl Heinz Holler: Reclams Jazzführer (= Reclams. Universal Library. Bd. 10185/10196, ZDB -ID 134899-1 ). Reclam, Stuttgart 1970.
Ian Carr , Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley : Jazz. The Rough Guide. The Rough Guides, London 1995, ISBN 1-85828-137-7 , p. 165.
Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 1999, ISBN 0-19-507418-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Feather / Gitler give the date of birth 1913 differently.
↑ See Jazz Rough Guide and Allmusic.
^ Armstrong Discography ( Memento from August 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

personal data
SURNAME	Deems, Barrett
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Deems, Barrett B.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American jazz drummer and band leader
DATE OF BIRTH	March 1, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH	Springfield (Illinois)
DATE OF DEATH	September 15, 1998
Place of death	Chicago

[1] Feather / Gitler give the date of birth 1913 differently.

[2] See Jazz Rough Guide and Allmusic.

[3] Armstrong Discography ( Memento from August 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive )