Billy Banks (singer)

William "Billy" Banks (* 1908 in Alton , Illinois ; † 19th October 1967 in Tokyo ) was an American jazz - singer .

Billy Banks became known in jazz circles when producer Irving Mills invited him to record with a multiracial group of musicians including Red Allen , Pee Wee Russell , Fats Waller , Tommy Dorsey , Eddie Condon and Zutty Singleton under the name Billy Banks' Rhythmmakers in 1932; this created the tracks "Spider Crawl" and "Yellow Dog Blues". Most of the African-American musicians were from Luis Russell's band , while Mills brought the white musicians into the studio. Because of his female voice, it was thought at the time that the recordings were made by Una Mae Carlisle , but Banks was actually the singer. With Luis Russell's band he worked as a showman and singer, later he worked with Noble Sissle . From 1938 to 1951 he appeared on Billy Rose cabaret shows such as his Diamond Horseshoe ; then he settled in England in 1952, where recordings with Freddy Randall's orchestra were made. In the 1950s he toured Europe, Australia and East Asia. In 1954 an album was created in Denmark with Cy Laurie . In the late 1950s he moved to Japan , where he died in Tokyo in 1967.

Discographic notes

• Billy Banks 1932 ( Classics ) with Fats Waller, Gene Krupa , Eddie Condon , Red Allen, Pee Wee Russell, Zutty Singleton , Tommy Dorsey
• Henry Red Allen: Henry Allen Collection Vol. 1 (Collectors, 1932)
• Sidney Bechet: 1937-1938 (Classics)
• Pee Wee Russell The Land of Oz (Topaz, 1927-1944)

literature

• Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .
• John Jörgensen & Erik Wiedemann : Jazz Lexicon . Munich, mosaic, ca.1960.

Web links

• Billy Banks in the All Music Guide