Freddie Webster
Frederic "Freddie" Webster (* 8. June 1916 in Cleveland , Ohio ; † 1. April 1947 in Chicago ) was an American jazz trumpeter of swing and bebop .
Webster worked in the Earl Hines big band in his hometown of Cleveland in 1938 and had his own band, touring Ohio with (often with Tadd Dameron ) before moving to New York City in the late 1930s . There he worked with Benny Carter (1939/40), Cab Calloway , Earl Hines (1941), Jimmie Lunceford (1942/3), Lucky Millinder (1942, 1944), John Kirby and other swing band leaders. He also accompanied the young singer Sarah Vaughan on two versions of the song Reverse the Charges, which he composed . He was a regular participant in the jam sessions of the bebop musicians in Minton's Playhouse and became a role model for musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie , Kenny Dorham and the young Miles Davis , as he later noted in his autobiography. "He had a great broad tone like Billy Butterfield , without vibrato," wrote Miles Davis (who took lessons from him and in turn passed on what he had learned at Juilliard School); Kenny Dorham praised his "big pretty sound" and Dizzy Gillespie even praised Webster's play as probably the best sound on the trumpet since its invention .
Despite the recognition of his colleagues ( Bud Powell named his composition " Webb City " after him) Webster was denied great success; after brief guest appearances in Gillespie's band (1945) and Jazz at the Philharmonic , he died of a heart attack in Chicago's Strode Hotel (in Sonny Stitt's hotel room , with whom he performed); there has also been speculation that a heroin overdose may have been to blame for his untimely death. Sonny Rollins ' album Saxophone Colossus contains the title "Strode Rode", which refers to the hotel where Freddie Webster died.
There are only a few recordings of Freddie Webster that adequately reflect his individual style; three recording sessions are representative of this: Sarah Vaughan's recordings for the Musicraft label on May 7, 1946, recordings in the band of Frank Socolow and Bud Powell for the Duke label on May 2, 1945, and radio recordings by the Jimmy Lunceford Band in summer 1943.
He continued to take u. a. with Earl Hines, Lucky Millinder, Benny Carter, Billie Holiday (1944), Georgie Auld , Louis Jordan , Billy Eckstine .
Web links
swell
- Ian Carr , Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley : Rough Guide Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz music. 1700 artists and bands from the beginning until today. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 1999, ISBN 3-476-01584-X , p. 126.
- Martin Kunzler : Jazz Lexicon. Volume 2: M – Z (= rororo-Sachbuch. Vol. 16513). 2nd Edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-499-16513-9 .
Remarks
- ↑ Kunzler Jazzlexikon indicates another possible date of birth 1917
- ↑ Miles Davis suspects in his autobiography that the overdose was actually intended for Stitt. See page 139.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Webster, Freddie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Webster, Frederic |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz trumpeter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 8, 1916 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cleveland |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 1, 1947 |
| Place of death | Chicago |