Harlan Lattimore

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Harlan Lattimore (born November 25, 1908 in Cincinnati , Ohio , † July 1980 ) was an American jazz singer .

biography

The baritone singer Harlan Lattimore, who worked in various jazz orchestras in the 1930s, including Don Redman , was popular as the "black Bing Crosby ". He grew up in Cincinnati, where he attended college and became known for broadcasts on the WLW radio station; he accompanied his singing with the guitar. In March 1932 he came to New York City , where he recorded with Fletcher Henderson's orchestra ("I Wanna Count Sheep"). Soon after, Don Redman signed him as a band vocalist. The first recordings were made in 1932 when he was heard as the chorus singer in Lee Wiley's song "Got the South in My Soul". Between 1932 and 1936 he recorded about twenty tracks with Redman's orchestra, some of which were also released under Lattimore's name (such as "Chant of the Weed", "I Heard" and 1932 "The Reefer Man" as Harlan Lattimore and the Connie's Inn Orchestra on Columbia ); the connection with the band leader existed throughout the 30s. His recordings with Don Redman's orchestra included a. " Doin 'the New Low Down " 1932 and "Shuffle Your Feat" 1933.

His singing, the timbre of which was strongly reminiscent of Bing Crosby, was also heard on studio recordings as a refrain singer with the (white) dance orchestras of Victor Young , Abe Lyman and Isham Jones ; He also had two recording sessions with Fletcher Henderson and others with smaller American Record Company labels such as Melotone , Banner , Oriole , Romeo and Perfect . Lattimore could also be heard in the radio broadcasts of that time with Redman, in whose band he was also seen in a Vitaphone short film in which he sings a version of Harold Arlen's "Ill Wind".

His career was constantly overshadowed by drug problems; after 1937 he spent some time in prison. After his military service in World War II, he disappeared from the music scene. A short comeback attempt in the late 1940s failed and Harlan Lattimore lived forgotten until his death in 1980.

Appreciation

According to Will Friedwald , Harlan Lattimore could have become the first African American entertainment star; “However, his (drug) addiction was just one of his problems and provided the racist society with the excuse to put him behind bars for a far worse crime (namely) the fact that a black singer dares to love sing, especially if white women could hear it ”.

It was Harlan Lattimore's merit as an Afro-American singer to have been a role model for later artists such as Nat King Cole or Billy Eckstine . He remembered him in 1947 as "one of the guys who inspired me".

Discographic notes

  • Fletcher Henderson 1931-1932 & 1932-1934 ( Classics )
  • Don Redman 1931-1933 (Classics)

swell

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Quoted from W. Friedwald, p. 182. In his book Swinging Voices of America he explains that it was only Herb Jeffries with “Flamingo” (1940) and Duke Ellington in his back to break this taboo. (P. 184)
  2. ↑ Quoted from W. Friedwald, p. 183.
personal data
SURNAME Lattimore, Harlan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz singer
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Cincinnati
DATE OF DEATH July 1980