Gene Krupa and His Orchestra

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Gene Krupa, Washington, DC, between 1938 and 1948. Photo: William P. Gottlieb .

Gene Krupa and His Orchestra , also Gene Krupa, His Drums & His Orchestra or Gene Krupa Orchestra for short, was a big band led by the drummer Gene Krupa and existed from late 1938 to early 1943 and from mid-1944 to 1951.

Between 1941 and 1943 the band celebrated their greatest successes with the entry of trumpeter Roy Eldridge and singer Anita O'Day with pop and swing numbers like theirs. In his solos, which Eldridge played in the high registers, for example "in the lyrical processing" of " Rockin 'Chair ", the first traces of the upcoming bebop sounded . "O'Day, on the other hand, impressed with her talent for scat singing with a hip, restrained phrasing of even the guttiest material".

1938-1943

During his time as a drummer with Benny Goodman , Krupa legally recorded a number of titles with soloists such as Chu Berry , Vido Musso twice under his own name (as Gene Krupa and His Chicagoans in November 1935 for Parlophone and in February 1936 as Gene Krupa's Swing Band ) , Israel Crosby (for whom Krupa wrote “Blues for Israel”) and Roy Eldridge , including vowel numbers with Helen Ward , Irene Daye and Jerry Kruger . A few months after the spectacular Carnegie Hall concert , which took place in January 1938, Krupa left Goodman's orchestra and founded his own big band.

At the end of May 1938 the new band had a chart success (# 15) with the instrumental number “Grandfather's Clock”, a composition from 1876 by Henry Clay Work ; At the end of June, Claude Thornhill's number “Fare Thee Well, Annie Laurie” also hit the American charts, with Jerry Kruger as the band vocalist (# 18). Krupa was able to land another success with the instrumental number "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-Der-E", which rose to position 15 in the US charts. Henry J. Sayers wrote the song "Ta-Ra-Ra Boom-De-Ay (1891)" in 1891, using elements of German folk songs ; the British Lottie Collins made him known in 1891 in her shows at New York's Koster & Bial's Theater .

Sam Donahue, appearance at the New York jazz club Aquarium, approx. December 1946.
Photograph by William P. Gottlieb .

Since November 1938 Krupa had clearly adapted his arrangements to the sound of the Benny Goodman Orchestra. Krupas Orchester recorded a number of titles for Brunswick Records in 1939/40 ; In addition to the two band vocalists Irene Daye , Jerry Kruger and the bandleader on drums, the trumpeters Nate Kazebier , Shorty Sherock and Corky Cornelius , the trombonist Floyd O'Brien , the tenor saxophonist Sam Donahue , the clarinetist Sam Musician, influenced by Artie Shaw , and the pianist Milt Raskin appears as a soloist, especially in instrumental numbers such as George Olsen's “The Madam Swings It”, Duke Ellington's “Hodge Podge”, “My Old Kentucky Home”, “On the Beam”, “Symphony in Riffs”, “ Three Little” Words ”, in“ Drummin 'Man ”and the two-part, seven-minute“ Blue Rhythm Fantasy ”,“ The Rumba Jumps ”and“ Boog It ”.

In May 1940 Krupa's big band had another chart success with “Boog It”; the Cab Calloway number rose to # 13 on the hit parade, which they did again in September with Teddy Hills “Blue Rhythm Fantasy I&II” (# 26), in November with the Hollaender / Loesser number “Moon over Burma” (# 14) , "Drummer Boy" (# 24) and in December with the movie song "Down Argentine Way" ( Gordon / Warren , # 23). In the second half of 1940 was next to Irene Daye (for example in "The Sergeant Was Shy" or "Washington and Lee Swing") Howard Dulany band vocalist at Krupa, mainly contributing ballads; Daye and Dulany also sang in the duo "You Forgot About Me". Later Johnny Desmond , Buddy Hughues and Dave Lambert were also singers with Krupa.

At the beginning of 1941 Krupa's big band had further chart successes in the USA with "High on the Windy Mill" (# 2, with Howard Dulany), "Tonight (Perfidia)" (# 15), "It Comes Back to Me Now" (# 2) , "Drum Boogie" (# 26), " There'll Be Some Changes Made " (# 12, all with Irene Daye) and in June 41 with "The Things I Love" (# 16, with Dulany).

Charlie Ventura, circa October 1946.
Photograph by William P. Gottlieb .

1941 Anita O'Day replaced Irene Daye as vocalist in the big band; with the new singer, Krupa had her first hits in June '41 with " Georgia on My Mind " (# 1), "Let Me Off Uptown" (# 10; she sang the number in a duet with Roy Eldridge ) and with "Just a Little Bit South of North Carolina ”, which hit # 4 on the charts. She can also be heard with the tracks "Massachusetts", Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark" and "Murder, He Says", another band vocalist was trumpeter Roy Eldridge ("Knock Me a Kiss"), as a soloist in the instrumental number "That Drummer's Band ”.

With the arrival of Anita O'Day and Roy Eldridge, the popularity of the big band increased enormously. Another entry was the saxophonist Charlie Ventura . Roy Eldridge soon transformed the orchestra from a pop music -focused dance band to more jazz- influenced music; and Anita O'Day was simply the most swinging of all the singers Krupa had. This change can be heard in titles such as “After You've Gone”, “Stop! The Red Light's On "," Let Me Off Uptown "," Thanks for the Boogie Ride "," Knock Me a Kiss "," Bop Boogie "and in the then unreleased song" Barrelhouse Bessie from Basin Street "from 1942.

At the beginning of 1942 the big band, this time with Johnny Desmond still had medium chart successes with the title song from the Abbott & Costello film Keep 'em Flying (# 21) and in June, shortly before the recording ban , with “Knock Me a Kiss” ( # 24, with Roy Eldridge, vocals); However, the big band could not hold its own against the popular swing orchestras of Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey , Harry James , Benny Goodman , Woody Herman and above all Glenn Miller . After last appearances in early 1943 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles and the Sherman Hotel in Chicago, where radio recordings were made, Krupa broke up the big band and formed the short-lived band That Swings With Strings ; he also worked with the Gene Krupa Trio with Buddy DeFranco and Dodo Marmarosa .

1944-1951

Edwin Finckel, approx. 1946. Photo: Gottlieb

Krupa reactivated his big band in mid-1944; in August 1944 she appeared on the radio station NBC ( AFRS for the Record ); shortly afterwards to record several record sides for V-Disc (“ The Very Thought of You ”), from November '44 again for Columbia (“I Walked in with My Eyes Wide Open”, with Buddy Stewart ). Anita O'Day was there for a short time as a band singer ("Chickery Chick"), in 1946 she was replaced by Carolyn Gray . Instrumentalists such as Al Porcino , Red Rodney , Sam Marowitz , Urbie Green , Charlie Ventura, Teddy Napoleon and guitarist Mike Triscari now played in the big band . Krupa had first successful titles - this time with Buddy Stewart as the band singer - with the title track from the western Along the Navajo Trail by Frank McDonald (# 7) and a cover version of the song "Just a Little Fond Adffection (# 20)" from the music film Swing Parade of 1946 , where Connee Boswell had introduced him, in December with the hit "Chickery Chick" (# 10), which Anita O'Day sang.

In 1946 the young baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan joined the band, other saxophonists were Frank Rosolino , Charlie Kennedy , Don Fagerquist and Buddy Wise, who died early . Mulligan also worked as an arranger and helped Krupa achieve commercial success with the bebop-oriented number "Disc Jockey Jump"; other arrangers of this band were George Williams and Eddie Finckel . While the young Gerry Mulligan took up the musical changes that came with the bebop, Williams, Finckel and Gene Krupa themselves struggled with the new forms of play; 1947-49 attempts were made to respond with numbers like “Gene's Boogie”, “Bop Boogie” or “Lemon Drop” (with Frank Rosolino as soloist) with “a model big band bop”.

The second edition of the Gene Krupa Orchestra also had hits with titles like "Drummin 'Man", "Drum Boogie", "Bolero at the Savoy", "Let Me Off Uptown" (1941), " Rockin' Chair ", " After You." 've Gone ”,“ Leave Us Leap ”(1945),“ Body and Soul ”and“ Opus # 1 ”. In the early 1950s, only a few recordings of the big band were made; the last record session took place on July 30, 1951 in New York.

In later years, Gene Krupa put together big band formations for vinyl recordings, for example in 1956 with Anita O'Day and Roy Eldridge in the Verve session Drummer Man produced by Norman Granz , in which the three musicians recorded their successful tracks from the 1940s again. also with Gerry Mulligan for the album Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements (Verve, 1959), with Hank Jones , Phil Woods and Danny Bank as soloists and in the same year for the biopic The Gene Krpa Story .

Filmographic and discographic references

Film appearances

Gene Krupa appeared with his orchestra in two soundies : Let me off uptown and Thanks for the Boogie Ride (both in 1942 with Anita O'Day and Roy Eldridge). He was seen in several "musical shorts" with his orchestra, including a. Follow That Music (1946), Drummer Man (1947), Thrills of Music: Gene Krupa and His Orchestra (1948, with "Bop Boogie") and music films, as in the Bob Hope film Some Like It Hot (1939, Directed by George Archainbaud ), Whirlwind of Love (1941, directed by Howard Hawks ), in George White's Scandals (1945, directed by Felix E. Feist ), Beat the Band (1947, directed by John H. Auer ), Glamor Girl (directed by Arthur Dreifuss ) and in Smart Politics (1949, directed by Will Jason ).

The 78 Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-Der-E from 1938, with the Krupas Bigband rose to # 15 in the US charts in February 1939.

Shellac records

Gene Krupa and His Orchestra recorded their first records (such as Walkin 'and Swingin' / Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down , # 8253) for Brunswick Records in New York, and from 1939/40 also for Columbia and Okeh Records . In 1944/45 the 78s Let Me Off Uptown (# 197, coupled with Mexican Hat Dance by Les Brown ), Drummer's Band / Drum Boogie (# 279), Jose Gonzalez / Ooh, Hot Dawg (# 543) and the vocal number Opus were released 1 (with Anita O'Day, # 555) on V-Disc . The recordings of the second orchestra after 1945 (in addition to the new editions of older titles) were published by Columbia, and from 1950 by RCA Victor .

Original albums

  • Drummin 'with Krupa (Columbia, 4 shellac records, 1946)
  • Gene Krupa (Columbia, LP, 1948)
  • Gene Krupa Plays "Fats" Waller for Dancing (RCA Victor, 1949)

Compilations

  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1935–1938 ( Classics )
  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1938 (Classics)
  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1939 (Classics)
  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1939–1940 (Classics)
  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1940, Vol. 2 (Classics)
  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1940, Vol. 3 (Classics)
  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1941 (Classics)
  • Dum Boogie (Columbia, rec. 1940–41)
  • Roy Eldridge with the Gene Krupa Orchestra featuring Anita O'Day: Uptown (1941–49, Columbia)
  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1941–1942 (Classics)
  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1942–1945 (Classic)
  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1945 (Classics)
  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1945–1946 (Classics)
  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1946 (Classics)
  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1946–1947 (Classics)
  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1947–1949 (Classics)
  • Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1949–1951 (Classics)
  • The Best of Gene Krupa: Drummin Man (Columbia)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Martin Kunzler : Jazzlexikon , Volume 1. Reinbek: Rowohlt TB 1993, p. 660 f.
  2. ^ Buddy Siegel: Review of the album Roy Eldridge with the Gene Krupa Orchestra featuring Anita O'Day "Uptown" (1941-49) Columbia (1994) in the Los Angeles Times
  3. ↑ Gene Krupa And His Orchestra - 1935-1938 (Classics) at Discogs
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Gerhard Klußmeier : Jazz in the Charts. Another view on jazz history. Liner notes and booklet for the 100 CD edition. Membrane International GmbH. ISBN 978-3-86735-062-4
  5. ^ Review of the album Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1939 by Scott Yanow at Allmusic (English). Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  6. ^ Review of the album Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1939-1940 by Scott Yanow at Allmusic (English). Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  7. ↑ Review of Scott Yanow's Radio Years 1940 album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  8. ↑ Review of the album Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1940, Vol. 2 by Scott Yanow at Allmusic (English). Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  9. ^ Review of the album Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1940, Vol. 3 by Scott Yanow at Allmusic (English). Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  10. ^ Richard Grudens: The Music Men: The Guys who Sang with the Bands and Beyond . Stony Brook (New York), Celebrities Profiles Publ. 1998, p. 213.
  11. ^ Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .
  12. ↑ review of the album Roy Eldright with Gene Krupa & His Orchestra: Uptown of Cub Coda at Allmusic (English). Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  13. ↑ In July 1942 with the line-up Roy Eldridge (tp, vcl), Mickey Mangano, Norman Murphy, Al Beck (tp), Greg Phillips (tb), Tommy Pederson (tb, arr), Babe Wagner (tb), Sam Musician ( cl, as), Ben Feman (as), Jimmy Migliori, Don Brassfield (ts), Rex Kittig (bar), Joe Springer (p), Teddy Walters (git), Ed Mihelich (kb) Gene Krupa (dr), Anita O'Day (vcl). Leroy Elton Hill (arr); see. Tom Lord: Jazz Discography (online)
  14. ↑ a b Tom Lord : Jazz Discography (online), accessed October 14, 2017
  15. ↑ Review of the album Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 1942-1945 by Scott Yanow at Allmusic (English). Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  16. ↑ Cast: Tommy Allison, Marty Olson, Pinky Savitt, Al Stearns (tp), Leon Cox, Bill Culley, Tommy Pederson (tb), Ray de Geer, Harry Klee (as), Don Brassfield, Charlie Ventura (ts), Stuart Olson (bar), Teddy Napoleon (p), George Cuomo (git), Sid Weiss (kb), Gene Krupa, Joe Dale (dr).
  17. ^ A b Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide To Jazz on CD . (8th ed.) Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 . P. 766 ff.
  18. ↑ From the music film George White's Scandals .
  19. ^ Review of the album The Best of Gene Krupa: Drummin Man by Scott Yanow at Allmusic . Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  20. ↑ Gene Krupa and His Orchestra: Joe Cadot, Bill Robbins, Mike Shain (tp) Eddie Aulino, Earl Holt (tb) Reggie Merrill (as) Harold Fleitman, Frank Salto (ts) Harold Lockwood (bar) Dave Silverman (p) George Atwood (b) Gene Krupa (d) Joe Tucker (vcl) George Williams (arr). See Tom Lord: Jazz Discography (online)
  21. ↑ Review of Bob Rusch's Drummer Man album on Allmusic . Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  22. ^ Scott MacGillivray & Ted Okuda, The Soundies Book, iUniverse, Lincoln, 2007, p. 150
  23. ↑ Directed by Arthur Dreifuss. Krupa's big band played the titles Boogie Blues, Opus 145, Dark Eyes and Up An Atom . See David Meeker, Jazz in the Movies, Da Capo Press, New York, 1982, also Jazz on the Screen, Library of Congress, Washington DC, 2008
  24. ↑ a b c d e f g David Meeker, Jazz in the Movies, Da Capo Press, New York, 1982, also Jazz on the Screen, Library of Congress, Washington DC, 2008
  25. ↑ Gene Krupa and his orchestra, 1938-1951 , ed. by George I. Hall and William Korst. Erngeobil Publications, 1968.
  26. ↑ Gene Krupa and His Orchestra at Discogs (English)