Harry Babasin

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Harry Babasin (born March 19, 1921 in Dallas , Texas , † May 21, 1988 in Los Angeles ) was an American jazz musician ( double bass and cello ).

Live and act

Babasin grew up in Vernon, Texas , where his father Yervant Harry Babasinian was a dentist and his mother Minnette was a public school teacher. As a child he received lessons from his mother and played numerous instruments such as bassoon , double bass, cello and clarinet . He attended the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (later Texas A&M University ) for a short time before moving to the North State Teachers College in Denton, where he first came into contact with jazz music. With his friend Herb Ellis , he performed in local concerts; In 1942 the two musicians became members of Harry Fisk's orchestra . A little later Babasin played with Jimmy Joy in the American Midwest, in 1943 with Bob Strong in New York City.

There Babasin worked in the 1940s with Gene Krupa , Boyd Raeburn ( Boyd Meets Stravinsky ) and Charlie Barnet , with whom he went to California , where he again worked with Raeburn, then with Benny Goodman and in 1948 with Woody Herman and His Orchestra played. In the 1950s he worked mainly in Hollywood for radio, television and film productions. In 1956 he founded the jazz combo Jazzpickers ; In 1959 he was briefly with Harry James , then played again with Charlie Barnet and Phil Moody (1963).

Babasin was the first to use the pizzicato style of playing on the jazz cello for a record (with Dodo Marmarosa , December 3, 1947). This technique was then adopted by his colleague Oscar Pettiford . Babasin took part in the 1952 Inglewood Jam session with Charlie Parker and Chet Baker and also made recordings with Laurindo Almeida ( Brazillliance ), Bob Enevoldsen , Herbie Harper , Barney Kessel , Lou Levy , Bud Shank , Lucky Thompson and Sonny Criss and played the cello -Duets with Oscar Pettiford. He starred in the film A Song Is Born by Howard Hawks (1948) with. In 1954 he founded the short-lived record label Nocturne Records, on the music a. a. by Bob Enevoldsen, Virgil Gonsalves , Herbie Harper, Bud Shank, Lou Levy and Earl Hines , and his recordings were republished by his son Von Babasin in 1998.

In the 1960s, Babasin worked again with Barnet and accompanied Bob Hope . In 1974 he helped found the Los Angeles Theaseum archive , which specialized in the preservation and archiving of historical recordings. He made his last tour with pianist John Banister (whom he was nicknamed the bear ) in 1985.

Discographic notes

  • Benny Goodman: The Complete 1947-1949 Small Group Sessions (Blue Moon)
  • Boyd Raeburn: Boyd Meets Stravinski (Savoy, 1945-47)
  • Sonny Criss: California Boppin ' (Fresh Sound Records, 1947)
  • Jimmy Giuffre : Trios Live (contains Harry Babasin & His Orchestra's pieces: Four Brothers, When You're Smiling (January 1948) with Hal McKusick , Jimmy Giuffre)
  • Dexter Gordon & Wardell Gray : All Stars - The Hunt (Savoiy, 1947)
  • Charlie Parker, Chet Baker: Inglewood Jam (Fresh Sound, 1952)
  • Pete Rugolo : Adventures in Rhythm, Introducing Pete Rugolo, Rugolomania (all Fresh Sound Rec., 1954)
  • Bud Shank: Jazz in Hollywood (OJC, 1954)

literature

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Harry Babasin's father was of Armenian descent. The family name was Americanized differently. This is why the name variant "Babashin" is more common.
  2. ↑ a b c d Laurie E. Jasinski (Ed.) Handbook of Texas Online
  3. ↑ Babasin was the owner of The Trade Winds , which was furnished in the Polynesian style and a popular meeting place for local jazz musicians; Babasin held a jam session every Monday evening . He asked Bob Andrews, a young jazz fanatic, to organize a recording device when Baker and Parker announced they were going to have a jam session. Quoted from: Ken Poston: liner notes on Inglewood Jam
  4. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed September 5, 015)
personal data
SURNAME Babasin, Harry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Babashin, Harry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician (double bass, also cello)
DATE OF BIRTH March 19, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Dallas
DATE OF DEATH May 21, 1988
Place of death los Angeles