Fred Guy

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Fred Guy, New York, circa November 1946.
Photograph by William P. Gottlieb .

Fred "Freddie" Guy (* 23. May 1897 in Burkesville , Georgia ; † 22. December 1971 in Chicago , Illinois ) was an American jazz guitarist and banjo player of Swing .

Live and act

Fred Guy grew up in New York . He began his career as a guitarist and banjo player in the Joseph C. Smith orchestra; in 1925 he became a member of Duke Ellington's Washingtonians , where he replaced Elmer Snowden . Guy played in Duke Ellington's orchestras for over twenty years , including the Cotton Club era . At first he only played the banjo; in 1933 he switched to guitar when the rhythm section of the bands changed significantly in jazz. He played Gibson banjos as well as the acoustic guitar models Gibson L-5 and L-7 . Ellington praised Guy's good sense and behavior in his memoirs; he was one of the few members of the band that he took home and brought together with his family.

Fred Guy can be heard on Ellington's early East St. Louis Toodle-Oo ; also in Black and Tan Fantasy . Nevertheless he never appeared as a soloist; therefore his playing on the acoustic guitar is often difficult to hear on recordings. Fred Guy appeared in the film Black Beauty with the Duke Ellington Orchestra; he also took part in his concert in Fargo, North Dakota in 1940 . After he left Ellington's band in 1947, his seat was not refilled. He then worked as manager of a ballroom in Chicago and died there of suicide in 1971 at the age of 74 .

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Summerfield: The Jazz Guitar , p. 109
  2. ↑ cf. Collier, p. 87.
personal data
SURNAME Guy, Fred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Guy, Freddie (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz guitarist and swing banjo player
DATE OF BIRTH May 23, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Burkeville, Georgia
DATE OF DEATH 22nd December 1971
Place of death Chicago