Bill Jennings (musician)

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William "Bill" Jennings (born September 12, 1919 in Indianapolis ; † 1978 ) was an American guitarist of rhythm & blues and soul jazz .

Live and act

Jennings formed the guitar band Ace, King, and Jack of Spades ( The Spades for short ) with his brother Al Jennings in 1937/38 , which was the backing band for singer Jerry Daniels and came to New York City after appearing in Indianapolis and Cincinnati. There the first recordings were made for the ARC label, but they remained unpublished. In 1946 he played with Stuff Smith , from 1948 with Louis Jordan's Tympani Five , and in 1951 with Chris Columbus in the trio of Wild Bill Davis , which became the model for the trios of Jimmy Smith and Groove Holmes .

Around 1951/52 Jennings recorded for the first time under his own name in a quartet for the Gotham label ("Stompin 'with Bill"); In 1953 he accompanied the blues singer Roy Brown ("Letter from Home", King 5172). In 1954 he played a first album for King Records in Cincinnati ( Guitar Moods ), accompanied by the Leo Parker Quintet. In 1954/55 he presented several singles for King, first the Coleman-Hawkins number "Stuffy" (King 4733), as well as the R&B-oriented original compositions "Big Boy" (King 45-4760) and "633-Knock!" ( King 4786) and the jazz standards “ Sweet and Lovely ” / “ They Can't Take That from Me ” (King 5805).

In the following years he worked in Cincinnati and New York with Bill Doggett , Earl King , Little Willie John , Etta Jones , Bubber Johnson and Titus Turner , from 1959 to 1961 in the working band of Willis "Gator" Jackson ( Keep On A- Blowin ' ). In 1959 he played the album Enough Said for Prestige , on which Brother Jack McDuff , Wendell Marshall and Alvin Johnson played. He was involved in 64 recording sessions from 1937 to 1968, in addition to the aforementioned with Leo Parker, Hot Lips Page (1952) and Betty Roche (1960).

According to Pat Martino , who succeeded him in the Willis Jackson band in the early 1960s, Jennings was addicted to codeine .

Appreciation

Jennings was stylistically influenced by T-Bone Walker ; like Carl Hogan and Roosevelt "Ham" Jackson, he adapted his Jump Blues style. According to the allmusic author Michael G. Nastos, his playing is reminiscent of Tiny Grimes , with borrowings from the early Charlie Christian . John Hammond noted on the down beat in the early 1950s , "Jennings is both an amazingly natural showman and a great instrumentalist." According to BB King , Bill Jennings' guitar playing was both technically and rhythmically demanding. Jennings was left handed. The Rock'n'Roll -Pionier Chuck Berry to be influenced by Carl Hogan (who also played with Louis Jordan) and Bill Jennings.

Discographic notes

  • The Bill Jennings - Leo Parker Quintet: Billy in The Lion's Den (King, 1957)
  • The Complete Early Recordings 1951-1957 ( Fresh Sound Records ), with Leo Parker, Willis Jackson, Bill Doggett, James Orville Johnson , Andrew Johnson, Jack Wilson, Albert "Al" Jennings, Joe Williams, Jimmy Glover, George DeHart, Alvin Johnson , Nita Lore
  • Mood Indigo (King, 1956) with Al Jennings (vibraphone)
  • Enough Said! (Prestige, 1959)
  • Willis Jackson Quintet: Please Mr. Jackson (Prestige, 1959)
  • Bill Jennings With Jack McDuff: Glide On (Prestige, 1960), with Wendell Marshall, Alvin Johnson, Al Jennings
  • Jack McDuff With Bill Jennings: Brother Jack (Prestige, 1960)
  • Willis Jackson, Trudy Pitts & Wild Bill Jennings: Star Bag (Prestige, 1968), with Trudy Pitts , Jimmy Lewis , Bobby Donaldson , Victor Allende

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bob Porter: Soul Jazz: Jazz in the Black Community, 1945-1975 . 2016
  2. ^ Marv Goldberg: More Than Words Can Say: The Ink Spots and Their Music , 1998, p. 35
  3. ↑ Stephen Koch: Louis Jordan: Son of Arkansas, Father of R&B . 2014.
  4. ^ Billboard, December 27, 1952
  5. ^ The Oxford Companion to Jazz , edited by Bill Kirchner . 2005, p. 75
  6. ^ Billboard, September 5, 1960
  7. ↑ Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed May 9, 2017)
  8. ↑ Pat Martino : Here and Now !: The Autobiography of Pat Martino . 2011, p. 30 f.
  9. ↑ The Blues Encyclopedia , edited by Edward Komara and Peter Lee. 2004, p. 387
  10. ^ Jet June 26, 1952
  11. ^ The BB King Reader: 6 Decades of Commentary , edited by Richard Kostelanetz and Jesse Reiswig. 2005, p. 126
  12. ^ Howard A. DeWitt: Chuck Berry, rock 'n' roll music , Pierian Press, Pierian Press, 1985, p. 8
  13. ↑ Information from Fresh Sound Records
personal data
SURNAME Jennings, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jennings, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American R&B and jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH September 12, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Indianapolis
DATE OF DEATH 1978