Frank Melrose
Frank Melrose (* 26. November 1907 in Sumner , Illinois; † 1. September 1941 in Hammond , Indiana; actually Franklyn Taft Melrose ), also known as Kansas City Frank , was an American jazz - and blues - pianist .
Frank Melrose is the younger brother of Walter and Lester Melrose , who founded the Melrose Brothers Music Company in Chicago in 1918 . Frank's first instrument was the violin, later he switched to the piano. His game was heavily influenced by his brothers' business partners, Jelly Roll Morton and Clarence Williams ; In 1924 he left his hometown and worked intermittently in St. Louis (Missouri) , Kansas City , Detroit and occasionally in Chicago clubs with Morton. He then became known in the Chicago blues and jazz scenes of the 1920s and 1930s, a. a. with The Cellar Boys with Wingy Manone and Bud Freeman . In 1928 he made recordings with the Beale Street Washington Band ("Forty and Tight and Piggly Wiggly"); In 1929 his brother Lester took up piano solos from him ("Pass the Jug", "Jelly Roll Stomp"), which were published under the pseudonym "Broadway Rastus".
In 1930 he took on the " Jelly Roll Blues " and other tracks, which appeared on Brunswick Records as Race Records under the pseudonym "Kansas City Frank" and were held for the work of Morton for a while. Further recordings were made in the late 1930s with Wingy Manone and Junie Cobb .
In the 1930s Melrose performed in small clubs and bars, both as a soloist and as a band member. He also worked in a factory to support his family. Occasionally he recorded with Johnny Dodds and other musicians. He had his last recording session in 1941 with Bud Jacobson's Jungle Kings. During the war he was temporarily employed in an armaments factory. Melrose was found dead on the street in 1941 after he was possibly murdered after a riot at a club in Hammond, Indiana .
Web links
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- John Jörgensen and Erik Wiedemann : Jazzlexikon , Munich, Mosaik, 1967
- Rex Harris & Brian Rust : Recorded Jazz: A Critical Guide . London, Penguin Books, 1958.
- Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-14-102327-9 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Melrose, Frank |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Melrose, Franklyn Taft |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz pianist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 26, 1907 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sumner , Illinois , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 1, 1941 |
| Place of death | Hammond , Indiana , USA |