Paul Francis Webster (August 24, 1909 - May 6, 1966) was a jazz trumpeter in the big band era. He was a high-note specialist for Jimmie Lunceford's band, and later played in several other big bands.
Webster was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on August 24, 1909. [1] He attended Fisk University. [2]
Webster became a professional musician around 1927. [1] He played in bands led by George E. Lee (1927), Bennie Moten (1927–28), Paul Banks (1930), and Jap Allen (around 1930). [1] He joined Jimmie Lunceford's band in 1931, then moved to Tommy Douglas (around the same year), and vocalist Eli Rice (1933–34). [1]
Webster returned to Lunceford in 1935, [3] and became known as a high-note specialist. [1] He appeared on film in Jimmie Lunceford and His Dance Orchestra, which was made in 1936. [1] After leaving Lunceford in 1944, he joined Cab Calloway's band, and played with them on and off into the 1950s. [1] He was part of other bands in the same period, including those led by Charlie Barnet (1946–47, and 1952–53), Sy Oliver (1947), Eddie Wilcox, and Count Basie (1950). [1] He played part-time from 1953 into the 1960s. [1] Webster died in New York on May 6, 1966. [1]
With Jimmie Lunceford
With others
Cabell Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the swing era. His niche of mixing jazz and vaudeville won him acclaim during a career that spanned over 65 years.
James Melvin Lunceford was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.
The Cotton Club was a New York City nightclub from 1923 to 1940. It was located on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue (1923–1936), then briefly in the midtown Theater District (1936–1940). The club operated during the United States' era of Prohibition and Jim Crow era racial segregation. Black people initially could not patronize the Cotton Club, but the venue featured many of the most popular black entertainers of the era, including musicians Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Chick Webb, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Fats Waller, Willie Bryant; vocalists Adelaide Hall, Ethel Waters, Cab Calloway, Bessie Smith, Lillie Delk Christian, Aida Ward, Avon Long, the Dandridge Sisters, the Will Vodery choir, The Mills Brothers, Nina Mae McKinney, Billie Holiday, Midge Williams, Lena Horne, and dancers such as Katherine Dunham, Bill Robinson, The Nicholas Brothers, Charles 'Honi' Coles, Leonard Reed, Stepin Fetchit, the Berry Brothers, The Four Step Brothers, Jeni Le Gon and Earl Snakehips Tucker.
The swing era was the period (1933–1947) when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States, especially for teenagers. Though this was its most popular period, the music had actually been around since the late 1920s and early 1930s, being played by black bands led by such artists as Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Bennie Moten, Cab Calloway, Earl Hines, and Fletcher Henderson, and white bands from the 1920s led by the likes of Jean Goldkette, Russ Morgan and Isham Jones. An early milestone in the era was from "the King of Swing" Benny Goodman's performance at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles on August 21, 1935, bringing the music to the rest of the country. The 1930s also became the era of other great soloists: the tenor saxophonists Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Lester Young; the alto saxophonists Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges; the drummers Chick Webb, Gene Krupa, Jo Jones and Sid Catlett; the pianists Fats Waller and Teddy Wilson; the trumpeters Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Bunny Berigan, and Rex Stewart.
Tommy Stevenson was a jazz trumpet player in the big band era. He was the first high note trumpeter to be featured on recordings.
William Randolph "Cozy" Cole was an American jazz drummer who worked with Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong among others and led his own groups.
Jonah Jones was a jazz trumpeter who created concise versions of jazz and swing and jazz standards that appealed to a mass audience. In the jazz community, he is known for his work with Stuff Smith. He was sometimes referred to as "King Louis II", a reference to Louis Armstrong. Jones started playing alto saxophone at the age of 12 in the Booker T. Washington Community Center band in Louisville, Kentucky, before quickly transitioning to trumpet, where he excelled.
Edward Durham was an American jazz guitarist, trombonist, composer, and arranger. He was one of the pioneers of the electric guitar in jazz. The orchestras of Bennie Moten, Jimmie Lunceford, Count Basie, and Glenn Miller took great benefit from his composing and arranging skill.
Edward Joseph Bertolatus, also known as Eddie Bert, was an American jazz trombonist.
"The Honeydripper " is an R&B song by Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers which topped the US Billboard R&B chart for 18 weeks, from September 1945 to January 1946.
Herbert Lee "Peanuts" Holland was an American jazz trumpeter best known for his contributions in swing jazz.
Teddy McRae was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and arranger.
Dick Vance was an American jazz trumpeter and arranger.
Chronological Classics was a French compact disc reissue label. Gilles Pétard, the original owner, intended to release the complete master takes of all jazz and swing recordings that were issued on 78 rpm. By the time the label suspended operations in July 2008, its scope had extended to LPs.
"Avalon" is a 1920 popular song written by Al Jolson, Buddy DeSylva and Vincent Rose referencing Avalon, California. It was introduced by Jolson and interpolated in the musicals Sinbad and Bombo. Jolson's recording rose to number two on the charts in 1921. The song was possibly written by Rose, but Jolson's popularity as a performer allowed him to claim composer co-credit. Originally, only Rose and Jolson were credited, and DeSylva's name was added later.
Will Hudson(néArthur Murray Hainer; March 8, 1908 – July 16, 1981) was a Canadian-born American composer, arranger, and big band leader who worked from the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s.
The Cotton Club Boys were African American chorus line entertainers who, from 1934, performed class act dance routines in musical revues produced by the Cotton Club until 1940, when the club closed, then as part of Cab Calloway's revue on tour through 1942.
Elmer Crumbley was an American trombonist.
Miller Brothers and Lois, a renowned tap dance class act team, comprising Danny Miller, George Miller and Lois Bright, was a peak of platform dancing with the tall and graceful Lois said to distinguish the trio. The group performed the majority of their act on platforms of various heights, with the initial platform spelling out M-I-L-L-E-R. They performed over-the-tops, barrel turns and wings on six-foot-high pedestals. They toured theatres coast to coast with Jimmy Lunceford and his Orchestra, Cab Calloway and his Orchestra, and the Count Basie Band.