Boots Douglas

Clifford "Boots" Douglas (* possibly on September 7, 1908 in Temple (Texas) ; † unknown) was an American jazz musician ( drums ) and band leader who toured with a Territory Band in Texas in the 1930s and together during this time with Don Albert's band was one of the most popular bands on the San Antonio swing scene .

Live and act

Douglas started playing drums when he was 15. He first worked in central Texas before moving to San Antonio, where he was active in the local jazz scene. He accompanied Millard McNeal's Southern Melody Boys and after his first own show in 1926 in Turner's Park, San Antonio, founded his own band, Boots and His Buddies , in 1932 , which cultivated an eclectic style and successfully toured the states around Texas. In 1935 Douglas got the opportunity to record for Bluebird Records with his band ; between 1935 and 1938 a total of 42 records were made, including the songs " Ain't Misbehavin ' " and "Blues of Avalon". Lloyd Glenn played with Douglas around 1935 and trombonist George Corley in 1937/38 .

After the band reached the peak of their success in the 1930s, their popularity declined in the years that followed. In 1950 Douglas left the band and moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a part-time musician from then on; his main job was in the district administration. In the field of jazz he was involved in six recording sessions between 1935 and 1938.

Appreciation

According to Ross Russell , Boots and His Buddies “ lacked the cohesion and originality of later bands like Bennie Moten or Count Basie . She often played wrongly and the solos were of poor quality. ”Thomas J. Hennessey notes that some of their recorded tracks are in the southwest Territoy tradition, while others imitate any national style. This showed how much after 1929 the Territory Bands struggled with the dominance of national bands and the taste of their own regional audiences. Gunther Schuller counts the early publications among her better recordings; “Douglas seems to be a really capable drummer - a kind of western chick Webb - who musically supports and drives his band and thus generates good swing and well-balanced ensemble play. On the other hand, it's hard to stand hearing rhythmically listless work in some recordings like The Vamp, Sleepy Gal, Coquette and even Blues of Avalon , not to mention later recordings like The Raggle Taggle, Lonely Moments, Lonesome Road Stomp . It's like he's following the band instead of leading it . "

Discographic notes

• Boots & His Buddies 1935–1937 ( Classics )

Lexical entries

• John Chilton , Who's Who of Jazz: From Storyville to Swing Street . London: Bloomsbury Book Shop, 1970; American ed., New York and Philadelphia: Chilton, 1972; 4th ed., New York: Da Capo Press, 1985.
• Dave Oliphant, Texan Jazz . Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996.
• Gunther Schuller , The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930–1945 . New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Web links

• Clifford Douglas at Allmusic (English)
• Boots and His Buddies at Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cf. u. a. Christopher Wilkinson: Jazz on the Road: Don Albert's Musical Life. 2001
2. ^ Dave Oliphant: Texan Jazz . 1996, page 402
3. ↑ Lawrence Clayton, Joe W. Specht: The Roots of Texas Music . 2005, p. 56.
4. ↑ The band members were Charles Anderson, CH Jones, Percy Bush and L D. Harris (trumpet), George Corley (trombone), Alva (or Alvin) Brooks and Artie Hampton (alto saxophone), Baker Millian and David Ellis (tenor saxophone), AJ Johnson (piano), Jeff Thomas (guitar) and Walter McHenry (double bass); Band vocalists were Celeste Allen, Israel Wicks, Cora Woods and Henderson Glass.
5. ↑ The Handbook of Texas
6. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed August 21, 2015)
7. ^ Ross Russell: Jazz Style in Kansas City and the Southwest . 1982, p. 58.
8. ^ Thomas J. Hennessey: From Jazz to Swing: African-American Jazz Musicians and Their Music, 1890-1935 . 1994.
9. ^ Gunther Schuller: The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945 . 1991