Boyd Atkins

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Boyd Atkins performing in Chicago's South Side Cabaret in 1941

Boyd Atkins (* 1900 in Paducah , McCracken County , Kentucky , USA ; † March 1, 1965 in Cook County , Illinois , USA) was an American jazz and blues musician ( clarinet , saxophone , violin ), composer and arranger .

Career

Boyd Atkins began his musical career in the late 1910s when he appeared in the band of Fate Marable on Mississippi river steamers. In the early 1920s he was part of the St. Louis jazz scene , where he played in Dewey Jackson's band. Atkins then moved to Chicago and directed his own formation, which also included Kid Ory ; he also worked with Earl Hines and Carroll Dickerson . In 1927 he became a member of Louis Armstrong's orchestra, which performed at the Sunset Cafe in Chicago; Atkins played the clarinet, soprano and alto saxophone there. Armstrong's band also played Atkins' most famous track, Heebie Jeebies , which he co-wrote with Connee Boswell . Later in the 1920s he had his own band called The Firecrackers .

Between 1931 and 1934 he played with Eli Rice and appeared in the middle of the decade as a band leader in Minneapolis ; there he also played with Rook Ganz . In 1940 he was a member of the Society Swingsters , which performed in Peoria, Illinois . After his return to Chicago in 1951 he worked mainly as an arranger and often played with blues musicians such as Elmore James , with whom he recorded a record in 1953, and then with Magic Sam . In the late 1950s he retired from the music business.

Later famous jazz musicians who started their careers with Atkins included Milt Hinton and Lester Young .

Discography

  • Louis Armstrong: Hot Five and Hot Seven, Vol. 2 (JSP, 1927)
  • Elmore James and His Broomdusters: The Resurrection of Elmore James (Anthology of the Blues, 1955/56)
  • Magic Sam: Charly Blues Masterworks Vol. 29: West Side Soul (Charly, 1957–1960)

swell

  • "New Orleans Jazz, a Family Album" by Al Rose and Edmond Souchon
  • Interview with Kid Ory in LIFE magazine on April 20, 1957

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Atkins, Boyd
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Paducah , McCracken County , Kentucky , USA
DATE OF DEATH March 1, 1965
Place of death Cook County , Illinois , USA