Lonnie Simmons

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lonnie Simmons (* around 1914 ; † January 1, 1995 in Chicago ) was an American jazz musician ( tenor saxophone , clarinet , piano , organ ).

Live and act

Lonnie Simmons played in the band des Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston, South Carolina when he was ten . At the age of 15 he performed with local bands in night clubs; The young Julian Dash also played in his band Charleston Nighthawks . He then moved to New York City where a sister lived. He performed in clubs such as Yeah Man Club , Tillie's Chicken Shack and in theater touring groups before working for Fats Waller in the late 1930s , with whom he first recorded for RCA Victor in 1938 . In the early 1940s he appeared in the backing band of Ella Fitzgerald in New York's Roseland Ballroom , followed by recordings for Decca Records . From the beginning of the following decade he lived in Chicago, working mainly as a night club organist; He also played with Red Saunders in Chicago and worked with his own formations with which he a. a. performed in the Pershing Lounge and Club Silhouette . Recordings under his own name were made in 1951 for Parrot Records ("Lonnie's Blues / I Can't Get Started "). In 1966 he still recorded with Jack McDuff . In the field of jazz he was involved in seven recording sessions between 1938 and 1966. In later years he also worked as a police photographer and restaurant manager. He died on New Years Eve 1995 at the age of eighty of complications from a stroke while performing at Biasetti's Steak House (1625 W. Irving St.) ´ where he had performed for the last 25 years of his life.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ - ( Memento of the original from October 31, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.highbeam.com
  2. ^ The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz , edited by Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler , p. 166
  3. ↑ Sonny Thompson sometimes played in his band; see. Larry Birnbaum: Before Elvis: The Prehistory of Rock 'n' Roll , p. 118.
  4. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed October 12, 2013)
personal data
SURNAME Simmons, Lonnie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH around 1914
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 1995
Place of death Chicago