Herb Hardesty

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Herb Hardesty as a saxophonist in 1980

Herbert "Herb" Hardesty (born March 3, 1925 in New Orleans , † December 3, 2016 in Las Vegas ) was an American rhythm and blues musician (trumpet, baritone and tenor saxophone), composer and band leader.

Live and act

Herb Hardesty took trumpet lessons when he was seven. He switched to the saxophone during World War II when he was a radio technician in the Army Air Corps . After his discharge from the army, he studied at Dillard University and formed his own band. In the late 1940s he played with Roy Brown , with whom he also went on tour, and with Professor Longhair , Smiley Lewis . Between 1947 and 1953 he was a regular member of Dave Bartholomew's studio band and also began to work as a soloist.

Imperial 78s from Fats Domino with Herb Hardesty: The Fat Man

He played u. a. also with Sidney Desvigne , Papa Celestin , Joe Robichaux , Ivory Joe Hunter , Clarence Gatemouth Brown and Pee Wee Crayton . He was best known as an accompanist for artists such as Fats Domino , whose recordings such as The Fat Man , I'm Walking and When My Dreamboat Comes Home he shaped with his saxophone style. Hardesty was an admirer of Charlie Parker and combined his style with the rhythm'n'blues music of his hometown.

He also worked on recordings of Shirley Goodman ( I'm Gone, 1952), Smiley Lewis (I Hear You Knocking), Bobby Mitchell , Lloyd Price , Big Joe Turner ( Jumpin 'Tonight, 1950) and T-Bone Walker with; He was also involved as a session musician on recordings for groups such as Shirley & Lee, The Spiders, Jewel King and Archibald. From 1955 Hardesty played regularly in Fats Dominos Band, in which he also excelled as a soloist.

Under his own name, he played a few songs for Mutual Records in the late 1950s, such as the ska song Just a Little Bit of Everything, which was taken over by Federal Records in 1961. Between 1958 and 1962 Hardesty recorded other instrumental numbers under his own name for Mercury, Paoli and Federal.

In 1970 he left the domino band and worked in Las Vegas, where he a. a. Has had engagements at the Hilton Hotel and has accompanied guest artists such as BB King , The Coasters and Tony Bennett . During this time he also toured with the Count Basie Orchestra and Tom Waits . He continued to work occasionally with Fats Domino through the 1970s; in the 1990s he returned regularly to his band.

At the New Orleans Jazzfest 2000 Hardesty was a guest soloist on the Music Heritage Stage. In 2000 and 2003 he was a guest musician in Europe, invited to a concert tour by the Barrelhouse Jazz Band and the Maryland Jazz Band of Cologne . In Germany he made a guest appearance. a. with Frank Muschalle ; in the early 2000s he performed in New Orleans with drummer Earl Palmer .

Hardesty has also been involved in the score of such films as the Blues Brothers , Full Throttle to San Fernando (1980), Shake, Rattle and Rock (1994), The Girl Can't Help It, and Let the Good Times Roll .

Discographic notes

  • Fats Domino: They Call Me the Fat Man: The Legendary Imperial Recordings (1991)

swell

  • Bielefeld Catalog 1988
  • Rhythm 'n' Blues Magazine 1945–1954 - Shouters ( liner notes, membrane, 2005)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Herb Hardesty, best known as Fats Domino's saxophonist, dies at 91 . Obituary in WWL-TV, December 4, 2016, accessed December 7, 2016 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Hardesty, Herb
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hardesty, Herbert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American rhythm and blues musician (trumpet, baritone and tenor saxophone), composer and band leader
DATE OF BIRTH March 3, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH New Orleans
DATE OF DEATH 3rd December 2016
Place of death Las Vegas