Tommy Benford

Thomas "Tommy" Benford (born April 19, 1905 in Charleston , West Virginia , † March 24, 1994 ) was an American jazz musician ( drums ). Benford was a representative of traditional jazz .

Life

Benford was born in the Appalachians and received solid musical training with his older brother, tuba player Bill Benford, at the Jenkins Orphanage in South Carolina . In 1914 he even went on tour to England with the school orchestra, the Jenkins Orphanage Band . In 1920 he toured with the Green River Minstrel Show and then moved to Washington, DC , where he a. a. played with Elmer Snowden , Edgar Hayes , Charlie Skeet , Jelly Roll Morton , Fats Waller and with the orchestra of his brother Bill (also one month as a substitute with Duke Ellington ). His involvement in recordings by Jelly Roll Morton in 1928 and 1930 (including Kansas City Stomp ) are known. He spent the years 1932 to 1941 in Europe. From 1932 to 1936 Benford was in the orchestra of violinist Eddie South , from 1936 to 1937 with Freddy Taylor and from 1938 with Willie Lewis . Recordings were made with Coleman Hawkins , Bill Coleman , Joe Turner , Django Reinhardt and Sidney Bechet .

From 1943 he played with Noble Sissle and then with Snub Mosley in New York. He played regularly at Jimmy Ryans Club, with swing musicians like Rex Stewart and revival musicians like Muggsy Spanier . From 1948 to 1950, Benford was employed by Bob Wilber . In 1952 he toured with Jimmy Archey in Germany and Switzerland in the late 1950s with the Jazz Train Revue of Eddie Barefield . Two years later, Benford was on tour with Muggsy Spanier in Canada. From 1956 to 1959 he worked with Bob Pilsbury and then again with Jimmy Ryan’s in New York City. In the 1960s he played in the bands of Joe Thomas and Ed Hall. Then he played u. a. with revival bands like the Saints and Sinners by Danny Barker , the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band of Clyde Bernhardt , Bob Greene's World of Jelly Roll Morton and clarinetist Stan MacDonald ( Blue Horizon Jazz Band ).

literature

• Carlo Bohländer, Karl-Heinz Holler: Jazz guide (person part) . Edition Peters, Leipzig 1980.

Web links

• Biography in the Chadbourne Allmusicguide