Jimmy Shirley
Jimmy Shirley (born May 31, 1913 in Union , South Carolina as James Arthur Shirley, † December 3, 1989 in New York City ) was an American jazz guitarist . He is considered one of the pioneers of the electrically amplified guitar in jazz .
Life
Shirley grew up in Cleveland , Ohio , where he took guitar lessons from his father. He began his career in Cincinnati with J. Frank Terry and Hal Draper (1934-36); from 1935 to 1936 he had his own formation before moving to New York in 1937. There Shirley became a member of the trio of Clarence Profit (1937-41), with which also recordings were made (he had already recorded in 1940 with George Guesnon). He then accompanied Ella Fitzgerald (1942/43) and played irregularly with Herman Chittison (1944-54). During this time he worked with his own bands and with Phil Moore . In 1945, Blue Note made their first record (Jimmy's Blues).
In the late 1940s he turned increasingly to rhythm and blues and went into the studio with Wynonie Harris , Jimmy Rushing , Screamin 'Jay Hawkins and Little Willie John . He also accompanied singers such as Rose Murphy and Barbara Lea.
Shirley has worked on recordings of Artie Shaw (1941), Edmond Hall and Coleman Hawkins (1943), James P. Johnson , Sidney De Paris and Art Hodes (1944), Herman Chittison (1944/45), Leonard Feather ( 1945), Earl Bostic , Pete Brown , Sidney Catlett , John Hardee , Billie Holiday , Pete Johnson , Billy Kyle , Ram Ramirez (1946), and later by Johnny Guarnieri (1975) and Stéphane Grappelli (1978).
Discographic notes
- China Boy (Black & Blue 1975)
Lexical entries
- Bielefeld Catalog 1988
- Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
- Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 1999, ISBN 0-19-507418-1 .
- John Jörgensen, Erik Wiedemann : Jazz Lexicon . Mosaic, Munich, 1967
Web links
- Portrait at classicjazzguitar
- Jimmy Shirley at Allmusic (English)
- Jimmy Shirley at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The 78er was coupled with the T-Bone Blues of the guitarist T-Bone Walker ; the other four recorded titles remained unpublished, see Blue Note Discography 1945
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Shirley, Jimmy |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Shirley, James Arthur |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz guitarist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 31, 1913 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Union , South Carolina |
| DATE OF DEATH | 3rd December 1989 |
| Place of death | New York City |