Paul Jordan (pianist)

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Paul Jordan (* around 1916 in Chicago ; † after 1955 Denver ) was an American jazz pianist , arranger and composer who was best known for his collaboration with swing band leader Artie Shaw .

Live and act

Jordan had the opportunity to play some of his compositions to Artie Shaw in Chicago around 1941. The band leader then hired him to compose and write arrangements for his orchestra; especially classical- influenced pieces. This made Paul Jordan, along with Ray Conniff (“Needlenose”) and Margie Gibson, one of the younger arrangers Shaw hired to realize his symphonic swing concept (in addition to the successful dance music ) with music specially written for the orchestra . Jordan's compositions for Shaw include “Carnival”, “Evensong”, “Suite No. 8 "and" Two in One Blues ".

1942/43 Jordan worked as a pianist and arranger for Bob Chester ; in the post-war period he was active in the Chicago jazz scene. In 1946 he played (among others with Bud Freeman , George Barnes and Mike Rubin ) several titles for the local label Gold Seal. In 1949 he worked again for Artie Shaw ("Carnival"); In early 1950 he accompanied the singer Anita O'Day ("Blues for Bojangles") with a studio sextet under his direction . In the field of jazz he was involved in 22 recording sessions from 1941 to 1956, most recently with Russell Procope ( The Persuasive Sax of Russ Procope ) and Cy Touff ( Doorway to Dixie ).

The pianist and arranger should not be confused with the jazz violinist of the same name, who played in Sammy Stewart 's Ten Knights of Syncopation in the mid-1920s .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tom Nolan: Artie Shaw, King of the Clarinet: His Life and Times . 2011, p. 166
  2. ^ Gunther Schuller : The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945 . 1991
  3. ^ John White: Artie Shaw: His Life and Music . 2004, p. 105
  4. ↑ Anita O'Day with Paul Jordan's Sextet; with John Carroll (tp), Boyd Rolando (ts), Paul Jordan (p), George Barnes (git), Mel Schmidt (kb) and Frank Rullo (dr); see. Tom Lord: Jazz Discography (online)
  5. ↑ a b Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed May 28, 2017)
personal data
SURNAME Jordan, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician, composer and arranger
DATE OF BIRTH around 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago
DATE OF DEATH 20th century
Place of death Denver