Phil Napoleon

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Phil Napoleon , actually Filippo Napoli, (born September 2, 1901 in Boston , † September 13, 1990 in North Miami , Florida ) was an American jazz trumpeter and band leader of early New Orleans jazz .

Napoleon enjoyed classical training on the trumpet in his childhood. As a teenager he played in various dance bands. Napoleon was one of the first white musicians on the northeast coast to pick up on the then new New Orleans jazz .

In 1917 he founded the Original Memphis Five with pianist Frank Signorelli , the music of which was based on the model of the Original Dixieland Jass Band . The Original Memphis Five were one of the busiest jazz bands in New York in the 1920s and recorded on many labels under pseudonyms, such as " The Charleston Chasers ". Miff Mole , Red Nichols , Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey , Dave Tough , Pee Wee Russell , Jack Teagarden , Gene Krupa , Glenn Miller , Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang played in the band . After the band split up in 1928, Napoleon worked as a studio musician for NBC radio.

In 1937 he briefly had his own big band, which recorded for Variety, but had little success. From 1943 to 1947 he jumped in the big band of his former orchestra member Jimmy Dorsey in Los Angeles , who ran out of band members during the war. After that he was again an NBC studio musician. 1950 to 1956 he reissued his "Original Memphis Five", which played in "Nick's" in New York. His nephew Marty Napoleon was there too . In 1956 he moved to Miami where he ran his own club "Napoleon's Retreat" and still played frequently. In 1960 he took part in the Newport Jazz Festival and recorded the album Phil Napoleon and His Memphis Five .

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ named after the "Memphis Blues" from WC Handy
  2. ↑ Their first recording was even released as a recording by the ODJB in 1921, with the consent of its leader Nick LaRocca , who had just dissolved his band. Frank Signorelli played briefly in the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1921 .
  3. ↑ Other pseudonyms were "Napoleons Emperors", "The Southland Six", "Bailey's Lucky Seven", "Jazzbo's Carolina Serenaders", "The Cotton Pickers", "Ladd's Black Aces"
  4. ↑ As Charleston Chasers they had three hit hits between 1927 and 1929, "Someday, Sewwtheart", "One Sweet Letter from You" and "Moanin 'Low".
  5. ↑ and in 1927 he briefly led his own dance orchestra
  6. ↑ He can be seen in the film "Four Jills and a Jeep" with Dorsey
personal data
SURNAME Napoleon, Phil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Napoli, Filippo (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz trumpeter and band leader
DATE OF BIRTH September 2, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Boston
DATE OF DEATH September 13, 1990
Place of death North Miami , Florida