Wilton Crawley

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Wilton Crawley (* 1900 ; † 1948 in Maryland ) was an American entertainer, composer and clarinetist .

Crawley formed a first band with his brother Jimmy Crawley when his family moved from Virginia to Philadelphia. During the 1920s he performed as a novelty artist in the vaudeville tradition. Between 1927 and 1930 recordings were made for OKeh and Victor Records , for which Crawley recorded his own compositions. Well-known jazz musicians such as Paul Barbarin , Lonnie Johnson , Red Allen , Pops Foster , Jelly Roll Morton , Luis Russell , Eddie Heywood and Eddie Lang were involved in the recording . After recording with Morton, Crawley moved to England in the early 1930s; after the death of his father and friend Eddie Lang, he had personal problems that interrupted his career and soon made him forget. His best-known pieces include Crawley Clarinet Moan, She's Forty With Me, Put a Flavor to Love, Futuristic Blues and Irony Daddy Blues .

According to Eugene Chadbourne , Crawley's strangely spoken style is reminiscent of later sound experiments by Anthony Braxton , but Crawley's playing has more in common with clarinetists like Mickey Katz , who played with Spike Jones , or with rock music artist Arthur Brown .

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personal data
SURNAME Crawley, Wilton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American entertainer, composer and clarinetist
DATE OF BIRTH 1900
DATE OF DEATH 1948
Place of death Maryland