Dave Tough

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Dave Tough, 1947 in Eddie Condons Basement, ca.1947.
Photograph by William P. Gottlieb .

David Jarvis "Dave" Tough , sometimes by the first name Davie or Davey, (born April 26, 1907 in Oak Park , Illinois , † December 9, 1948 in Newark , New Jersey ), was a drummer of hot jazz and swing . “A rousing beat and a variable drum technique” made him one of the most important Euro-American drummers in Dixieland and Swing.

Life

Born to well-off parents, his passion for jazz first led him to the Austin High Gang (after the affluent suburb of Chicago, Austin,) where many white jazz musicians, who later played primarily in Eddie Condon's band, began their musical careers. As a close friend of Bud Freeman , he first played in the school holidays in 1923/24 before becoming a professional drummer in 1925. From 1927 to 1929 he played in Europe with Danny Polo and in George Carhart's band in Paris , where he also played with Mezz Mezzrow . After returning in 1929, he played with Benny Goodman and Red Nichols , but then interrupted his music career in the early 1930s due to illness. In 1936 he was briefly in Ray Noble's orchestra and then in 1936/37 in that of Tommy Dorsey . This was followed by engagements with Red Norvo , Bunny Berigan and Benny Goodman (1938 as a temporary replacement for Gene Krupa ), before he played again in 1939 with Tommy and then with Jimmy Dorsey . In addition to swing, he also played Dixieland with Jack Teagarden , Mezz Mezzrow and Bud Freeman. He was briefly in the 1940s with Artie Shaw and Charlie Spivak and played during his military service 1942-1944 in the US Navy in the band of Shaw in the South Pacific. Mainly he is today because of his time in the 1944/45 First Herd of Woody Herman remembered.

In September 1945 he left Herman and worked with Joe Marsala , with Eddie Condon (1946) - his only recordings under his own name come from this year - with Jazz at the Philharmonic , with Charlie Ventura (1947) and in 1947/48 with Muggsy Spaniards . Tough had health problems throughout his life that forced him to take breaks and was also an alcoholic. He died of a broken skull while falling on the street.

Act

Tough was an accomplished and resourceful drummer who led the Down Beat poll in 1945. As one of the first Chicago jazz drummers , he took up the style of African American musicians. Joachim Ernst Berendt supported Jo Jones from the Count Basie Orchestra in developing the drumming for swing big bands (since his time with Tommy Dorsey) . He had no great inclination for virtuoso solos; He was therefore less well known among the audience at the time than stars like Gene Krupa . He was more of a kind of Musicians' Musician who sensitively adjusted himself to the soloists in the big bands in his accompaniment. Tough also had the reputation of an intellectual with a talent for writing, which he later no longer systematically pursued. In the 1930s Tough wrote a regular column for the American jazz magazine Metronome .

Lexigraphic entries

Web links

Notes and sources

  1. ^ Carlo Bohländer, Reclams Jazz Guide
  2. ↑ He himself was not in Austin High School, but the neighboring Oak Park High School and then the Lewis Institute
  3. ↑ Berendt Das Jazzbuch 1981, Krüger, p. 331, calls him the most important drummer who emerged from Chicago jazz
personal data
SURNAME Tough Dave
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tough, Davie; Tough, Davey; Tough, David Jarvis (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz drummer
DATE OF BIRTH April 26, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Oak Park , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH December 9, 1948
Place of death Newark , New Jersey