Joe Steele

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Joseph AE "Joe" Steele (born December 17, 1899 in Savannah , † February 5, 1964 in New York City ) was an American jazz pianist and arranger .

Steele came from Savannah, studied at the New England Conservatory and had a band in New York in the 1920s, the u. a. Ward Pinkett , Langston Curl , Bubber Miley , Johnny Hodges and Harry Carney . In 1926 he was involved as a pianist in the recording of the Savoy Bearcats . In 1929 he had an engagement at the Bamboo Inn in Harlem and recorded four records for Victor with musicians like Wendell Culley and Jimmy Archey , including his composition Coal Yard Shuffle and Top and Bottom , named after Ward Pinkett's favorite drink. From 1932 to 1936 he was a pianist and arranger in Chick Webb 's orchestra . In 1931 Steele appeared in Lew Leslie's music revue Rhapsody in Black in Boston. He also arranged for Duke Ellington , Fletcher Henderson , Paul Whiteman and Cab Calloway . In later years he lived in New York City until his death in 1964; However, no further recordings were made.

Discographic notes

  • Chick Webb and Ella Fitzgerald - Princess of the Savoy (1936-1939) ( MCA Records , ed. 1980)
  • Various - 1930s Jazz Big Bands (Columbia, ed. 1987)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince: Frommer's Portable Savannah. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken 2011, ISBN 978-0-470-88728-8 , p. 23 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  2. ↑ Barry Kernfeld (ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Vol. 3: Nightclubs - Zwingenberger. 2nd edition. Grove, New York 2002, ISBN 1-561-59284-6 , p. 654.
  3. ^ Albert J. McCarthy: Big band jazz . Exeter, New York 1983, ISBN 0-671-06138-0 , p. 51 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  4. ^ Discography at Redhotjazz
  5. ↑ Notes at Hotjazzpie
  6. ^ Charles J. Elmore: Savannah Georgia. Arcadia Publishing, Charleston 2002, ISBN 0-7385-1408-X , p. 112 ( limited preview in Google book search).
personal data
SURNAME Steele, Joe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Steele, Joseph Alexander Ellis (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz pianist and arranger
DATE OF BIRTH December 17, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Savannah (Georgia)
DATE OF DEATH 5th February 1964
Place of death New York City