Bernard Anderson

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Bernard Hartwell "Buddy" or "Step Buddy" Anderson (born October 14, 1919 in Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , † May 10, 1997 in Kansas City , Missouri ) was an American jazz trumpeter and pianist who was one of the "forgotten but important “pioneers of modern jazz .

Live and act

Anderson came from a musical family; his older brother played the alto saxophone and was a jazz fan. As a child, Bernard first learned to play the violin; in his youth he got to know various brass instruments , particularly the bugle , when he was a member of the Boy Scouts . His mentor was Zelia M. Breaux , a well-known music teacher in Oklahoma City, under whose direction he played in the marching and school band at Douglas High School. In 1934 he had one of his first professional appearances with the Ted Armstrong Band in Clinton, Oklahoma. In the late 1930s he played in the jazz band at Xavier University in New Orleans. In 1938 he was involved in a record session by Billie Holiday for Vocalion Records (" You Go to My Head ", "The Moon Looks Down and Laughs").

After Anderson returned to Oklahoma City in 1939, he worked in Leslie Sheffield's band, in which guitarist Charlie Christian and tenor saxophonist Henry "Hank" Bridges played and greatly influenced his playing style. The following year he left his hometown and moved to Kansas City, where he first played with Gene Ramey , then with Jay McShann , and went on national tours. First recordings at McShann were recorded in 1940 in Wichita (Kansas) for the radio; as a soloist he is u. a. heard in “Hootie Blues” ( Decca 1941, with Charlie Parker ). Together with McShann he composed "Hootie's Ignorant Oil". Anderson remained in the McShann Band until the United States entered World War II , which then fell apart.

Various short guest appearances in the orchestras of Benny Carter , Sabby Lewis (1943/44) and Roy Eldridge followed ; Anderson joined the Billy Eckstine Orchestra in 1944 , but soon had to give up playing the trumpet because of tuberculosis . He was replaced during a guest appearance in St. Louis by the 18-year-old Miles Davis . In the following years he switched to the piano without continuing to record. In the field of jazz he was involved in six recording sessions between 1940 and 1942.

From then on, Anderson worked primarily as a music author, poet and composer. It was not until the 1980s that he appeared again at the local level as a trumpeter in Oklahoma City; he was also chairman of the local musicians' union. He spent his final years in Kansas City, writing poetry and occasionally appearing in jam sessions for the Mutual Musicians Foundation . Bernard Anderson's estate - in addition to manuscripts, correspondence and compositions, as well as over 3,000 photographs - is kept in the library of the University of Missouri-Kansas City .

Anderson was married to singer Lorraine B. "Jackie" Anderson.

Appreciation

According to Ross Russell , Anderson's style of playing was based on Peanuts Holland and thus more on that of the woodwind than on that of other contemporary swing trumpeters; With his “new linear, semi- legato and slightly sonorous style” he influenced numerous next generation jazz trumpeters such as Dizzy Gillespie and Fats Navarro . According to Gillespie, "Buddy Anderson was the only trumpeter I knew who had the idea of ​​exploring the instrument with the help of the piano." Lester Bowie's playing also made references to Buddy Anderson.

Discographic notes

  • Jay McShann Orchestra: Blues from Kansas City (GRP / Decca Jazz, ed. 1992)
  • Charlie Parker: Bird (The Complete Masters 1941–54) (Universal Music France, ed. 2012)

further reading

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ^ A b c d e f LaBudde Special Collections - Bernard "Step-Buddy" Anderson Collection at the University of Missouri-Kansas City
  2. ^ A b c Ross Russell: Jazz Style in Kansas City and the Southwest . 1982, p. 244 f.
  3. ↑ See also Eugene Chadbournes biography of Bernard Anderson at Allmusic (English)
  4. ^ Scotty Barnhart: The World of Jazz Trumpet: A Comprehensive History & Practical Philosophy . 2005, p. XXI
  5. ↑ On the two tracks (including alternate takes ) Anderson played on May 11, 1938 in New York City alongside Buster Bailey , Babe Russin , Claude Thornhill , John Kirby and Cozy Cole ; see. Information on The Moon Looks Down and Laughs (Alternate Take) at Columbia University
  6. ↑ Dizzy Gillespie, Al Fraser: Dizzy: to be or not to bop - The Autobiography of Dizzy Gillespie . 1982
  7. ↑ Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed August 6, 2015)
  8. ↑ Portrait at Coda Jazz Found  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.codajazzfund.org  
  9. ↑ Dizzy Gillespie emphasized in his memoirs that he met Charlie Parker in 1940 through McShann's trumpeter, Buddy Anderson, at a jam session at the Kentucky Barbecue . See Alyn Shipton: Groovin 'High: The Life of Dizzy Gillespie . 1999
  10. ↑ Navarro and Anderson met in January 1942 at Scott's Theater Restaurant in Kansas City. See Frank Driggs: The Story of Buddy Anderson - Jazz Journal, February 1962, p. 11
  11. ↑ In the original: Now Buddy Anderson was the only trumpet player I knew who had the idea of ​​exploring the instrument through piano. Quoted from Gene Lees: You Can't Steal a Gift: Dizzy, Clark, Milt, and Nat. 2004, page 60.
  12. ↑ Tom Djil: Lester Bowie: A Memoir & Appreciation (2000)
personal data
SURNAME Anderson, Bernard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Anderson, buddy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz trumpeter and pianist
DATE OF BIRTH October 14, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Oklahoma City , Oklahoma
DATE OF DEATH May 10, 1997
Place of death Kansas City (Missouri) , Missouri