Pee Wee Erwin

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George "Pee Wee" Erwin (born May 30, 1913 in Falls City , Nebraska , † June 20, 1981 in Teaneck , New Jersey ) was an American jazz trumpeter of Dixieland Jazz .

Erwin came from a musical family, learned the trumpet from the age of 4, was heard on the radio for the first time at the age of 8, played in local bands and from 1931 to 1933 in the band of Joe Haymes and 1933/4 in that of Isham Jones . He then worked in New York as a studio musician. In 1934/5 he played with Benny Goodman on the radio, in 1935 with Ray Noble , in 1936 again with Goodman (as the successor to Bunny Berigan ) and from 1937 to 1939 with Tommy Dorsey . In the 1940s he tried to start his own band twice without much success (1941/42 and 1946). From 1949 and during the 1950s he played Dixieland Jazz with his own band at Nick's in Greenwich Village , New York, and in the 1960s he had a trumpet school with Chris Griffin , while he was otherwise at CBS on television shows such as Carol Burnett and Jackie Gleason was busy. From 1963 he also had a weekly jazz show on the radio (with Ed Joyce). In the 1970s he went on a European tour with Warren Covington , his own "Kings of Jazz" and the "New York Jazz Repertory Company". Until shortly before his death he recorded several albums under his own name. He had his last appearance in 1981 in the Netherlands. In 1987 his autobiography "This Horn for Hire" (Scarecrow Press) was published, which he wrote with the bassist and jazz journalist Warren Vache Sr. , whose son Warren Vaché Jr. is also a jazz trumpeter and a student of Erwin.

Discographic notes

  • Dr. Jazz Vol. 14: Pee Wee Erwin (Storyville, 1952)
  • Complete Fifties Recordings (Lonehill Records, 1955/1956)
  • Swingin 'That Music (Jazzology, 1980) with Ike Isaacs

Web links

  • Biography in Scott Yanow's All Music Guide
  • Biography at Altissimo-Music by Brian Peerless

Remarks

  1. ↑ Nick's in the 50s photos by Pee Wee Erwin et al. ( Memento of the original from May 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Riverwalk Jazz @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.riverwalkjazz.org
personal data
SURNAME Erwin, Pee Wee
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Erwin, George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz trumpeter of Dixieland Jazz
DATE OF BIRTH May 30, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Falls City
DATE OF DEATH June 20, 1981
Place of death Teaneck