Clyde Bernhardt

Clyde Bernhardt (* 11. July 1905 in Gold Hill , North Carolina ; † 20th May 1986 in Newark ) was an American jazz - trombonist and bandleader .

Live and act

Bernhardt grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and began playing the trombone when he was 17. In the 1920s he began his career in ensembles such as Bill Eady's Ellwood Syncopators, Tillie Vennie, Odie Cromwell's Wolverine Syncopators, Charlie Grear's Original Midnite Ramblers, the Richard Cheatham Orchestra, the Whitman Sisters, the Honey Brown Orchestra and Ray Parker. In 1931 he worked at King Oliver ; mid-decade he also starred with Alex Hill , The Alabamians, Billy Fowler, Ira Coffey 's Walkathonians, and Vernon Andrade .

In 1937 he became a member of Edgar Hayes ' orchestra, in which he remained until 1942; then he worked in the bands of Jay McShann , Cecil Scott , Luis Russell , Leonard Feather , Pete Johnson , Wynonie Harris , Claude Hopkins and with Paul and Dud Bascomb . During this time he also directed his own formations, called The Blue Blazers , before he played again with Luis Russell from 1948 to 1951. Between 1946 and 1953 he recorded some 78s under his own name ; then he also sang under the pseudonym Ed Barron .

From 1952 to 1970 he played part-time in the Joe Garlands Society Orchestra, otherwise worked outside the music business. Between 1972 and 1979 he directed the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band ; Doc Cheatham , Charlie Holmes , Happy Caldwell , Tommy Benford , Francis Williams and Miss Rhapsody also played in the formation . After 1979 health reasons forced him to give up the leadership of the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band; but he played in Barry Martyn's Legends of Jazz formation until his death in 1986 . Shortly before, he published his autobiography, which he had written with Sheldon Harris ( I Remember ).

Web links

• Clyde Bernhardt biography by Scott Yanow on Allmusic