Hal Singer

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Hal Singer, 2012

Harold "Hal" Joseph Singer (* 8. October 1919 in Tulsa , Oklahoma ; † 18th August 2020 in Chatou , Yvelines , France ) was an American jazz - saxophonist of the swing and rhythm and blues .

Live and act

Singer was one of the survivors of the Tulsa massacre in 1921. His mother, with the help of one of her employers, had managed to fly him to Kansas City; when they returned their entire neighborhood had burned down.

As a child he learned to play the violin. He later switched to the clarinet and finally the tenor saxophone . While studying in the late 1930s, he began his career in local bands in and around Oklahoma City , such as that of Ernie Fields in 1938 and Lloyd Hunter in 1939. He then worked in Kansas City in 1939/40 with Tommy Douglas . In 1943 he became a member of Jay McShann's orchestra and moved to New York . After working with various other bands, he played in Oran's band "Hot Lips" Page in 1947 and worked as a session musician for the small record label King . During this time, recordings were made with Roy Eldridge , Don Byas , Red Allen , Lucky Millinder , Sid Catlett and Duke Ellington (1948).

In 1948 he left Page and formed his own formation. He signed a record deal with the record label Mercury and recorded his first single ("Fine As Wine"). On the B-side was the song "Rock Around the Clock". For the Savoy label he took a. a. with Wynton Kelly and Franklin Skeete on the instrumental track "Corn Bread", which in September 1948 reached number 1 on the rhythm and blues charts .

This is how Hal Singer achieved his greatest popularity. Until 1958 he had his own formations in the rhythm and blues scene. A smaller hit was "Beef Stew" in 1949. Other well-known songs by Singer were "Midnight Jump", "Happy Days", "Hot Bread", "Loose Riff", "Swanee River" and "A Plug for Cliff".

In the early and mid 1950s he made more records with Mercury , toured with various R&B artists such as the Orioles and Charles Brown, and worked as a session musician. In 1958 he recorded an album for Prestige on (Blue Stompin ') , which was also Charlie Shavers , Ray Bryant , Gus Johnson and Wendell Marshall participated. He also performed at the Metropole Club in New York with jazz musicians such as Roy Eldridge and Coleman Hawkins .

After a tour with Earl "Fatha" Hines , Singer stayed in France in 1965 and settled near Paris. He continued to record and toured Europe and Africa, playing with various bands such as Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson , T-Bone Walker , Lonnie Johnson , Charlie Watts , the Duke Ellington Orchestra and the Mojo Blues Band , in England with Mike Carr and the trio of John Cox and in Germany with Charly Antolini . In 1990 he had a film role in Taxi Blues , in which he played a jazz musician. In 1992 he received the Chevalier des Arts award from the French government . In 1995, Singer was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame .

Choice discography

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sébastien Birden: Yvelines: Hal Singer, la légende du jazz, a soufflé sa dernière note. In: leparisien.fr . August 20, 2020, accessed on August 20, 2020 (French).
  2. ↑ DeNeen L. Brown: He's 100, a renowned jazz musician and a survivor of Tulsa's 1921 race massacre. In: washingtonpost.com . June 19, 2020, accessed June 29, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Singer, Hal
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Singer, Harold Joseph; Singer, Hal Joseph (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz saxophonist specializing in swing and rhythm and blues
DATE OF BIRTH October 8, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Tulsa , Oklahoma
DATE OF DEATH August 18, 2020
Place of death Chatou , Yvelines