Charlie LaVere

Charlie LaVere , also Charles and La Vere, (* as Charles LaVere Johnson July 18, 1910 in Salina, Kansas ; † April 28, 1983 in Ramona (California) ) was an American jazz musician (trumpet, trombone, alto saxophone, piano , Vocals, etc.) and band leader of Swing and Dixieland .

Life

LaVere first played with his cousin as Dan and Stan and then went to Oklahoma City, where he played alto saxophone with the Oklahoma Joy Boys of Herb Cook and the Oklahomans of Frank Williams, with whom he came to New York City. In 1929 he played with Etzi Covato in Pittsburgh. From 1930 to 1932 he was back in Oklahoma City, where he played (as a trombonist) in his own bands and various other bands such as Johnny Dorchester's. He toured with Marshall Van Pool and was in Bermuda with the Sam Robbins Orchestra in 1931 . In 1932 he went to Chicago, where he played with his own bands and recorded with Jack Teagarden (1933) and Wingy Manone . In 1934 he played with Joe Marsala and toured Texas and the Midwest with Eddie Neibauer and Dell Coon. In 1935 he recorded under his own name with an all star band (with Jabbo Smith , Preston Jackson , Joe Marsala, Boyce Brown , Jess Stacy , Zutty Singleton ), including probably the first recording of a sung blues with musicians from different ethnic backgrounds. From 1935 to 1937 he played on the radio with Rico Marcelli (as a pianist), played trumpet and piano with the band of Henry Busse in Joe Sanders' band. In 1937 he went back to New York and played with Paul Whiteman and Jack and Charlie Teagarden.

In 1938 he went to Los Angeles, where he played with Frank Trumbauer and worked in the studios, but also regularly accompanied singers and actors such as Bob Hope and in particular Bing Crosby (until around 1947).

From 1944 to 1950 he led his own band LaVere's Chicago Loopers , with whom he also played on the 1949 Dixieland Jubilee. There he also performed regularly with his Sextet from Hunger .

In 1948 he had a big hit with Maybe you´ll be there with Gordon Jenkins .

In 1950 he recorded with Billie Holiday and in 1951 with Louis Armstrong . He worked regularly at Disneyland in the 1950s . In 1959/60 he toured as a companion for George Burns . In 1960/61 he had his own quintet with Deane Kincaid in New York. In 1961 he moved to Las Vegas and reorganized Bob Crosby 's Bobcats in 1961/62 and played a. a. 1963 with Wingy Manone . In 1963 he moved to Southern California and played on cruises (piano, accordion), among other things. In 1967 he was again in Las Vegas as a pianist and arranger and then worked in Southern California (Los Angeles area) as the head of his own service company for piano repairs and piano parts. But he still appeared occasionally.

Web links

• All music guide
• Website dedicated to him