Mirror Willcox
Newell "Spiegle" Willcox (born May 2, 1903 in Sherburne (New York) , † August 25, 1999 in Cortland (New York) ) was an American jazz trombonist .
Wilcox learned valve trombone from his father, Lynn Willcox, when they were both playing in a local band in Cortland. When he attended the Manlius Military Academy from 1918 to 1920, he switched to the slide trombone. He then played in the Al Deisseroth Orchestra in Syracuse (New York) , in 1922 with Tige Jewett and then in Bob Causer's Big Four, which in 1924 became the Collegians of Paul Whiteman , where he played with Bix Beiderbecke . In 1925 he was in the Lakeside Park Band in Auburn (New York) and briefly with the California Ramblers before he joined the Jean Goldkette orchestra (as the successor to Tommy Dorsey ), which he with a short break in the band of Henry Thies until June 1927 belonged. The band included Bix Beiderbecke, Jimmy Dorsey , Frankie Trumbauer , Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti . He then played in the bands of Joe Venuti, Russ Morgan and Jimmy Dorsey, but from 1927 pursued a career outside of music in the family business in New York State. For a while he also led his own, locally very successful band in the Syracuse area.
In 1975 he experienced a comeback on the occasion of a tribute concert for Bix Beiderbecke with other former members of the Goldkette Orchestra in Carnegie Hall . After that he played regularly well into old age at festivals in Europe and the USA, especially the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee . He also sang and recorded an album under his own name ( Jazz Keeps You Young 1994, Challenge Records, with the Menno Daams Sextet). He lived for a long time in Cincinnatus, New York .
He first recorded with the Whiteman Collegians in 1923, his first solo in 1926 with Goldkette (Lonesome and Sorry). As a contemporary witness, he spoke about Bix Beiderbecke in a 1981 documentary and in Ken Burns' jazz series .
In 1995 he received the Benny Carter Award from the American Federation of Jazz Societies .
Lexical entry
- Ian Carr , Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley : Rough Guide Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz music. 1700 artists and bands from the beginning until today. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 1999, ISBN 3-476-01584-X .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Willcox, mirror |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Willcox, Newell |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz trombonist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 2, 1903 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sherburne (New York) , New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 25, 1999 |
| Place of death | Cortland (New York) , New York |