George Zack

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George Zack (* around 1910 in Chicago ; † after 1952) was an American musician ( piano , also vocals ) of Chicago jazz .

Live and act

Zack's father was a clarinetist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra ; He studied at the Chicago Conservatory of Music and began his career in the Territory Bands of Mush Oliver and Jimmy Joy . After his return to Chicago worked in the jazz scene of Chicago from the 1930s; he was friends with Tut Soper and played a. a. with Muggsy Spanier and His Ragtime Band, on whose recordings for Bluebird Records in 1939 he was involved.

Due to illness, Zack had to interrupt his music career in the early 1940s. In New York in March 1944 he recorded a number of numbers with trumpeter Max Kaminsky under his own name for the local label Cent, including the Hoagy Carmichael number Snowball , which he usually accompanied with his singing. In 1944 there were three duo sessions with George Wettling for Commodore Records ( Party Piano of the Roaring 20s ); in January 1945 he played with Wild Bill Davison and His Commodores when he replaced Dick Cary for a title . In March and April 1945, numbers such as My Melancholy Baby , Everybody Loves My Baby and Black and Blue emerged in two other Commodore sessions ; here Zack was accompanied by drummer Danny Alvin , at a session in July 1945 again by George Wettling ( My Daddy Rocks Me / Chimes Blues ). During this time he performed with his own combo at the Chicago Hot Club on Dearborn Street. In 1946 he married Donna Berigan, widow of Bunny Berigan , who died in 1942 .

Zack's last recordings were made around 1951 with the Jimmy James 'Jas' band. In the field of jazz he was involved in 12 recording sessions between 1939 and 1951. In Chicago, he appeared in the following years at the Hot Club of Chicago , 7006 Club and Club Silhouette , played with Doc Evans ' Dixieland jazz band and accompanied various singers. In the 1950s he moved to Arizona and played a. a. with Dixielandbands by Ray Bauduc , Nappy Lamare and Bob Scobey . His piano playing was characterized by ragtime and barrelhouse piano .

Discographic notes

  • Commodore Classics-George Zack / George Wettling: Barrelhouse Piano

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Tut Soper's Memories of Chicago in conversation with Bert Whyatt in IAJRC Journal
  2. ↑ a b c Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed January 2, 2016)
  3. ^ Billboard March 9, 1946
  4. ^ Robert Dupuis, Bunny Berigan: Elusive Legend of Jazz . 2005, p. 294.
  5. ↑ Around 1945 his band Windy City Five consisted of Johnny Mendel (tp), Bob McCracken (cl), Pat Pattison (kb), “Hey Hey” Humphreys (dr).
  6. ^ Archives of the Library of the University of Chicago
personal data
SURNAME Zack, George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician (piano, also vocals) of Chicago jazz
DATE OF BIRTH around 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago
DATE OF DEATH after 1952