Edythe Turnham

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Edythe Turnham (born March 24, 1890 as Edythe Payne in Topeka , Kansas , † October 2, 1950 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American jazz musician (piano) and band leader. From the late 1920s she became known with the Knights of Syncopation .

Career

Edythe Turnham began playing the piano at the age of three. At age 10, she was the pianist in a group of traveling musicians who performed in and around Spokane, which included her father and one other sister. Turnham toured there as a soloist, which she also did in Seattle after the family moved, also playing the piano for a dance school. Turnham founded the band Knights of Syncopation , with whom they made a tour to the stages of the theater operator Orpheum Circuits in Canada in the summer of 1928 . Via the owner of another theater chain, Pantages , Turnham and her band came to Los Angeles in the 1930s, where they performed under the name Dixie Aces . Some of the musicians in the group also worked for the studio bands of the local radio stations (WFWB, WFOX and KGFJ).

Duke Ellington is said to have heard it around 1934 in the Jazzland Café and is quoted as saying: "Girls, you can play, no question about it." Elsewhere, Turnham was referred to as the female counterpart to the cornetist Buddy Bolden . The trumpeter Teddy Buckner (1909–1994) belonged to the Syncopations for a while .

Edythe married Floyd Turnham Sr. circa 1907. The marriage resulted in two children. Her son Floyd Turnham Jr. (1909-1991) came to the Knights of Syncopation at the age of 15 . From the 1940s he went his own way with Les Hite and his band, among others .

Her husband's death in 1936 was a deep turning point for Turnham. She played until about 1945, including in nightclubs in Los Angeles, then fell ill with diabetes , which, according to Floyd Jr., led to her death.

literature

  • Sally Placksin: Jazzwomen: 1900 to the present. Their Words, Lives, and Music . Pluto Press, London and Sydney, 1985, ISBN = 0745300898, pp. 47-49.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Colin Larkin: Turnham Edythe . In: Encyclopedia of Popular Music . Oxford University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4 , doi : 10.1093 / acref / 9780195313734.001.0001 / acref-9780195313734-e-65095 ( oxfordreference.com [accessed April 6, 2020] The exact dates of birth are via ancestry.com. The platform cites the Social Security Index, 1936-2007, USA as its source.).
  2. ^ Holds Annual High Jinks. In: The Spokesman Review . Spokane, Washington November 1, 1917, pp. 11 ( newspapers.com [accessed April 6, 2020] A Spokane Transportation Club celebration mentions Edythe Turnham on piano.).
  3. ↑ A number of advertisements document the appearance of Turnham. Exemplary: Orpheum circuit at The Grand. In: Calgary Herald . Calgary, Alberta, Canada August 14, 1928, p. 8 ( newspapers.com [accessed April 6, 2020]).
  4. ↑ Sally Placksin: Jazzwomen: 1900 to the present. Their Words, Lives, and Music . Pluto Press, London and Sydney 1985, ISBN 0-7453-0089-8 , pp. 48 .
  5. ^ Historical Perspective of Women in Jazz. In: The Los Angeles Times . Los Angeles, California December 15, 1982, p. 109 ( newspapers.com [accessed April 6, 2020]).
  6. ↑ Teddy Buckner. In: The Guardian . London, Greater London, England October 3, 1994, p. 34 ( newspapers.com [accessed April 6, 2020]).
  7. ^ 'Dixieland' Jazz Comes to Columbus. In: The Republic . Columbus, Indiana March 8, 1984, p. 10 ( newspapers.com [accessed April 6, 2020]).
personal data
SURNAME Turnham, Edythe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Payne, Edythe (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician (piano) and band leader
DATE OF BIRTH March 24, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Topeka , Kansas
DATE OF DEATH October 2, 1950
Place of death Los Angeles , California