Teddy McRae

Theodore "Teddy" McRae (* 22. January 1908 in Waycross , Georgia , † 4. March 1999 in New York City ) was an American jazz - saxophonist (tenor), arranger, bandleader and composer of Swing .

McRae grew up in Philadelphia . McRae studied medicine but then switched to music and formed a band with his four brothers in the mid-1920s. In 1926 he played with June Clark . In 1927 he was in New York with his own band and played with Chick Webb , Elmer Snowden , Stuff Smith and Lil Hardin Armstrong . In 1934 he made his first recording with Benny Morton . In 1936 he was back with Chick Webb, where he composed You Showed Me The Way with Ella Fitzgerald (1937). He not only played the saxophone in the band as a soloist, but was also its arranger. After Webb's death, Ella Fitzgerald took over leadership until they broke up in 1941, and McRae was the band's musical director during that time.

While at Webb, he recorded with Teddy Wilson and Red Allen . His compositions Back Bay Shuffle (1938) and Traffic Jam (1939) were hits for Artie Shaw . In 1941/43 he was with Cab Calloway , in 1942 with Jimmie Lunceford , in 1943 with Lionel Hampton and in 1944/45 he was musical director of the big band of Louis Armstrong . In 1945 he had his own big band for a short time.

After that he occasionally played in small groups and concentrated on composition and arranging. In 1958 he founded the short-lived Raecox Records label with Eddie Wilcox . They brought out recordings by Bennie Green and Edmond Hall , among others . In 1955/56 he recorded with champion Jack Dupree and in 1955 and 1958 under his own name.

In addition to the musicians mentioned, he recorded with Benny Morton , Putney Dandridge , Cab Calloway.

Lexical entry

• Carlo Bohländer , Karl Heinz Holler, Christian Pfarr: Reclam's Jazz Guide . 3rd, revised and expanded edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-15-010355-X .

Web links

• Obituary in The Last Post
• Teddy McRae at Allmusic (English)