Ernest Wilson Myers

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Ernest Wilson "Serious" Myers (born October 2, 1906 in Germantown , Pennsylvania , † July 10, 1992 in Philadelphia ) was an American jazz musician ( double bass , also arrangement , vocals ).

Live and act

Myers began his career as a drummer in the touring band of Bessie Smith . He also played clarinet , trombone , then guitar and banjo in his early years before the bass became his main instrument. From 1931 he worked - initially as a guitarist - with King Oliver and finally with the New Orleans Feetwarmers around Tommy Ladnier and Sidney Bechet , with whom he made his first recordings in 1932. In the track "Shag" (1932) he can be heard as a vocalist. In 1934 he played with the Spirits of Rhythm (inter alia with Leo Watson and Teddy Bunn ), in 1936 with Jonah Jones , Joe Marsala , Eddie Condon and George Wettling in the orchestra of the singer-pianist Dick Porter . In 1936 he accompanied Putney Dandridge on recordings before going on a European tour with Lucky Millinder in 1937 .

Myers then stayed in Paris for several years ; there he was involved in Eddie South record sessions with Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli , played with Alix Combelle , Willie Lewis and His Entertainers, for whom he also arranged (" Doin 'the New Low Down ", " Basin Street Blues "). He also worked during this time with Bill Coleman , Greta Keller , in 1939 with Oscar Alemán , Frank "Big Boy" Goudie , Freddy Johnson and Louis Bacon ; In 1938/39 he also led his own jazz band. When war broke out, he returned to New York; in the following years he played a. a. with Mezz Mezzrow , Sidney Bechet ("Preachin 'Blues"), Josh White , Everett Barksdale and in the orchestra of Benny Carter , on whose recordings he was involved with Billie Holiday (" St. Louis Blues " / "Loveless Love"). He also wrote arrangements for Jimmy Dorsey and in 1944 he belonged to the Trio Plink, Plank, Plunk with pianist Bob Mosley and drummer Tiger Haynes . In 1943 and 1946 he played briefly in the Duke Ellington Orchestra , in 1945 in the trio of Ray Stokes (with Buddy Christian ), he also took part in apartment sessions with Timme Rosenkrantz with Argonne Thornton and Ray Perry . In the field of jazz he was involved in 33 recording sessions between 1931 and 1946, most recently with Rex Stewart . In later years Myers initially had a local band in his hometown of Philadelphia, where he also increasingly worked as a preacher and eventually gave up music.

His nickname came from Myers' fondness for classical music .

Lexical entry

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 333. ISBN 978-0313344237 . Different life dates at Ernest Wilson Myers at Discogs (English)
  2. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed May 1, 2017)
personal data
SURNAME Myers, Ernest Wilson
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Myers, Wilson
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Germantown, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH July 10, 1992
Place of death Philadelphia