Willie Bryant (musician)
Willie Bryant (born August 30, 1908 in New Orleans as William Steven Bryant , † February 9, 1964 in Los Angeles ) was an American jazz singer and band leader .
Bryant moved to Chicago with his family in 1912 . He made his debut there in 1928 as a dancer and singer, including with Leonard Reed in vaudeville theaters. He later went to New York and appeared in the 1934 revue Hot Chocolate . He then led a big band in the Kansas City style until 1939 . a. performed at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. The first of two hits that Bryant was able to record was the song "Moonrise on the Lowlands" (# 20) and the song "Is It True What They Say About Dixie?" (# 14) from the same session.
Among the musicians in his orchestra were Benny Carter , Ben Webster and Cozy Cole (1935), Jack Butler (1936), James Archey (1938) and Taft Jordan (1936). In 1945 he recorded the songs Blues round the Clock and It's Over Because We're Through in rhythm and blues style. Bryant formed a band again in 1946, which was disbanded in 1948. Billy Taylor and Dan Minor played in this formation . After that, Bryant worked as a disc jockey and nightclub emcee at the Apollo Theater . He spent his final years in Los Angeles, where he died of a heart attack in 1964.
His daughter Marie Bryant was also a singer and dancer.
literature
- John Jörgensen & Erik Wiedemann : Jazz Lexicon . Munich, Mosaik Verlag, around 1960
- Carlo Bohländer , Karl Heinz Holler, Christian Pfarr: Reclam's Jazz Guide . 4th, revised and supplemented edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-15-010355-X .
- Gerhard Klußmeier : Jazz in the Charts. Another view on jazz history. Liner notes and booklet for the 100 CD edition. Membrane International GmbH. ISBN 978-3-86735-062-4
Web links
- Short portrait and picture in the Vaudeville Museum ( Memento from July 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Information about Bryant's vaudeville phase around 1930
Remarks
- ↑ His accompanists for the April 1936 session for Bluebird Records included u. a. Taft Jordan , Ram Ramirez and Cozy Cole .
- ↑ See Klußmeier.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bryant, Willie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bryant, William Steven (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz singer and band leader |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 30, 1908 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New Orleans , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 9, 1964 |
| Place of death | Los Angeles , USA |