Sonny Clay

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Sonny Clay (born May 15, 1899 in Chapel Hill (Texas) as William Rogers Campbell Clay , † April 13, 1973 in Los Angeles ) was an American jazz musician ( drums , piano ) and band leader.

Life

Sonny Clay moved to Phoenix, Arizona with his family in 1908 . As a teenager he played in local bands; from 1918 he went on tour in the southwest of the USA, played in smaller ensembles in California, Arizona and Tijuana (Mexico). There he was a member of the band Jelly Roll Morton as a drummer . Around 1921 he moved to Los Angeles and played with Reb Spikes' and Kid Ory's Original Creole Jazz Band . The first recordings were made when he accompanied the blues singer Camille Allen; he also recorded two pages of his own for the Sunset Records label. In the mid-1920s he put his own band together and got an engagement in the Plantation Club . Under the band name Sonny Clay's Plantation Orchestra , recordings for Sunset and Vocalion were made from 1925 ; further appearances in the Plantation Club followed until 1927. The band also included the young trombonist Britt Woodman .

In January 1928, Clay went on a tour of Australia with his band, along with an Afro-American vaudeville production called Sonny Clay and the Colored Idea . The troupe included dancers, vocal groups, including the young singer Ivie Anderson , who later became known in the Duke Ellington Orchestra . While on tour, band members got into trouble when they were charged with relationships with Australian women; the tour's outstanding appearances were canceled and various members of Clay's group were detained. He then returned to Los Angeles and formed a ten-piece ensemble called The Dixie Serenaders , with whom he performed in the Los Angeles area until he disbanded them in the early 1930s. Until the beginning of the Second World War , Clay then appeared as a soloist in clubs in the city. During the war he was a band leader in a special services division . After the war he continued his club appearances as a pianist; In the late 1940s he left the music business to work for the post office. It was not until the end of the 1950s that he appeared again as a soloist; The last recordings were made in 1960.

Discographic notes

  • West Coast Jazz (1922–1932, ed. 2003)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Clay, Sonny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Clay, William Rogers Campbell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician (drums, piano) and band leader
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Chapel Hill, Texas
DATE OF DEATH April 13, 1973
Place of death los Angeles