Hal Kemp

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Hal Kemp (born March 27, 1904 in Marion , Alabama , † December 21, 1940 in Madera , California ) was an American jazz saxophonist (alto), clarinetist, arranger, composer and band leader.

Live and act

Kemp, who already had a band ( The Merrymakers ) in high school , founded his jazz band "Carolina Club Orchestra" as a student at the University of North Carolina (from 1922), with whom he also recorded for Okeh and toured Europe in the summer. In 1927 he left the leadership of the band to his fellow student Kay Kyser (who also became very popular in films) and formed a professional band in New York City with John Scott Trotter (his arranger), Saxie Dowell and singer and drummer Skinnay Ennis , with whom he already had a septet at university , as well as the trumpeters Bunny Berigan and Jack Purvis at times ; Trotter arranged for them. The impresario Fred Waring brought her to the Strand Roof in New York ; But they did not have their breakthrough until 1932 with their engagement in the Chicago Blackhwak Cafe , which was broadcast nationwide by the radio station WGN. Their “sweet sound” with muted trumpets and megaphone-amplified clarinets made the band very popular in the 1930s; her theme song was "How I'll Miss You When Summer Is Gone". They performed in the New York Waldorf-Astoria and the Palmer House in Chicago during the 1930s .

They didn't have any outstanding musicians (only Kemp and Trotter could read sheet music well), but this was offset by Trotter's skilful arrangements (because of the staccato he introduced for the trumpeters, who could not keep the notes well, joked Johnny Mercer , that they would sound like typewriters). They often toured in Europe, where the Prince of Wales was one of their fans. When Trotter (1936) and other prominent musicians like Ennis left the band, it lost its distinctive sound and part of its popularity.

After a stint at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, Kemp was rammed head-on by an oncoming car in the morning fog in the San Joaquin Valley; he died as a result of the car accident (his lungs were injured in the collision and he developed pneumonia). Initially, Bob Allen directed the band on; it was taken over by Art Jarrett in 1941 . Posthumously, Kemp had the hit "It All Comes Back To Me Now" in early 1941, which reached number 5 on the US charts.

In addition to his main instruments, he could also play the trumpet and piano.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ US catalog number: Victor 27255; Joel Whitburn: Record Research, Vol. 1: Top Pop Records 1940-1955 . Record Research Publ., Menomonee Falls, Wisc. 1973, p. 30
  2. ↑ Dt. Ed .: The golden era of big bands . Hannibal-Verlag, Höfen 2004, ISBN 3-85445-243-8 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kemp, Hal
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist and band leader
DATE OF BIRTH March 27, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Marion , Alabama
DATE OF DEATH December 21, 1940
Place of death Madera , California