Eddie South

Eddie South.
Photography by William P. Gottlieb .

Eddie South (born November 27, 1904 in Louisiana / Missouri, † April 25, 1962 in Chicago ) was an American violinist .

Live and act

South was considered a musical prodigy and received classical training on the violin at the Chicago Musical College (founded by Florenz Ziegfeld in 1867) . Because of the limited performance opportunities for African Americans in this area, he turned to jazz music. First he played in vaudeville orchestras that were open to jazz influences, especially with Freddie Keppard , Jimmy Wade , Charles Elgar and Erskine Tate . In 1927 he founded his own group, Eddie South and his Alabamians , named after the Alabama Clubwas named in Chicago, where they first performed. He toured Europe with this group (from 1928 to 1930). After his stay in Europe, during which recordings were made for the Swing label , influences from Hungarian folk music and Roma music became apparent in his playing . Billy Taylor , Milt Hinton and Tommy Benford played in later bands . On a visit to Europe in 1937 he also played with Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli .

South was regularly on the radio and occasionally on television, but only recorded one record in the LP era, The Distinguished Violin of Eddie South (1958).

literature

• Richard Cook : Jazz Encyclopedia . London 2007, ISBN 978-0-14-102646-6 .
• Anthony Barnett, Black Gypsy: The Recordings of Eddie South: An Annotated Discography. AB Fable, Lewes, East Sussex, 1999, ISBN 0-907954-26-X .

swell

• Red Hot Jazz Archive: Eddie South and his Alabamians (discography)
• African-American Registry: Eddie South (biography)