Morris McClure, better known under the stage name Red Mack (born January 18, 1912, Memphis, Tennessee - June 14, 1993, Los Angeles, California) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist.
Mack was raised in Los Angeles and was a pianist for his local Church of God in Christ as a youth. After learning trumpet as a teenager, he played with Sonny Clay and Les Hite, the latter alongside Louis Armstrong. From 1931 to 1933 he worked with Charlie Echols, then joined Gene Coy's band in Chicago; around this time he also played with Erskine Tate. He moved back to Los Angeles and worked again with Echols as a drummer in 1934, and worked later in the decade with Floyd Ray, Alton Redd, Lorenzo Flennoy, and Lionel Hampton. He also appeared in several Hollywood films.
Around 1940 he joined Will Osborne's band; as a black musician, Mack's arrival made the group interracial, and Mack was often treated poorly as a result. [1] The group disbanded in 1941, and Mack moved back to Los Angeles once again, working there with Lee Young, Monette Moore, Barney Bigard, and Kid Ory. He toured Alaska with Luke Jones in 1945 and worked with him for several years thereafter, as well as with Jimmy Mundy and with his own ensembles. A group led by Mack was the house band at The Downbeat, a Los Angeles jazz club, late in the 1950s. He was cast as a bandmember of Kid Ory's in the 1955 film The Benny Goodman Story , but he does not play on the soundtrack; his on-screen trumpeting is actually performed by Alvin Alcorn. [1] He was less active as a trumpeter later in his career but continued to perform on keyboards into the 1970s.
Benjamin David Goodman was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing".
Edward "Kid" Ory was an American jazz composer, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans jazz.
Jimmie Noone was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. After beginning his career in New Orleans, he led Jimmie Noone's Apex Club Orchestra, a Chicago band that recorded for Vocalion and Decca. Classical composer Maurice Ravel acknowledged basing his Boléro on an improvisation by Noone. At the time of his death Noone was leading a quartet in Los Angeles and was part of an all-star band that was reviving interest in traditional New Orleans jazz in the 1940s.
Albany Leon "Barney" Bigard was an American jazz clarinetist known for his 15-year tenure with Duke Ellington. He also played tenor saxophone.
Thomas "Papa Mutt" Carey was an American jazz trumpeter.
Henry James "Red" Allen Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose playing has been claimed by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and others as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong.
Mel Powell was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, and the founding dean of the music department at the California Institute of the Arts. He served as a music educator for over 40 years, first at Mannes College of Music and Queens College, then Yale University, and finally at CalArts. During his early career he worked as a jazz pianist. His classic Big Band compositions include "Mission to Moscow", "My Guy's Come Back", "Clarinade", "The Earl", and "Bubble Bath".
Conrad Joseph Gozzo was an American trumpet player. He was a member of the NBC Hollywood staff orchestra at the time of his death.
Wilbur Dorsey "Buck" Clayton was an American jazz trumpeter who was a member of Count Basie's orchestra. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong, first hearing the record "Confessin' that I Love You" as he passed by a shop window.
Teddy Buckner was an American jazz trumpeter associated with Dixieland music.
Harry Aaron Finkelman, known professionally as Ziggy Elman, was an American jazz trumpeter associated with Benny Goodman, though he also led his own group, Ziggy Elman and His Orchestra.
Marty Marsala was an American jazz trumpeter born in Chicago, perhaps best known for working from 1926-1946 with his brother Joe Marsala in a big band in New York City and Chicago. He had also toured with various artists, such as Chico Marx and Miff Mole, to name a few. During the 1940s Marsala was a celebrated West Coast jazz trumpeter, commuting back and forth from Chicago to San Francisco frequently. In various club settings Marsala shared stages with Earl Hines and Sidney Bechet.
Murray McEachern was a Canadian jazz trombonist and alto saxophonist, perhaps best known for having played trombone for Benny Goodman from 1936 to 1937. McEachern is also remembered for playing both the trombone and alto saxophone for the Casa Loma Orchestra from 1937 to 1941.
Arthur Bernstein was an American jazz double bassist.
Arthur Budd Scott was an American jazz guitarist, banjoist and singer. He was one of the earliest musicians associated with the New Orleans jazz scene. As a violinist he performed with James Reese Europe's Clef Club Orchestra at a historic 1912 concert at Carnegie Hall, and the following year worked with Europe's ensemble on the first jazz recordings on the Victor label.
Arvell Shaw was an American jazz double-bassist, best known for his work with Louis Armstrong.
Robert Edward McCracken was an American jazz clarinetist.
The Benny Goodman Story is a 1956 American musical biographical film starring Steve Allen and Donna Reed, written and directed by Valentine Davies, and released by Universal-International. The film was intended as a follow-up to Universal's 1954 hit The Glenn Miller Story, dramatizing a popular bandleader's life.
The Orson Welles Almanac is a 1944 CBS Radio series directed and hosted by Orson Welles. Broadcast live on the Columbia Pacific Network, the 30-minute variety program was heard Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET January 26 – July 19, 1944. The series was sponsored by Mobilgas and Mobiloil. Many of the shows originated from U.S. military camps, where Welles and his repertory company and guests entertained the troops with a reduced version of The Mercury Wonder Show. The performances of the all-star jazz band that Welles brought together for the show were an important force in the revival of traditional New Orleans jazz in the 1940s.
Charlie Echols was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He led several California-based dance bands in the 1930s that featured a large number of important early jazz and swing sidemen.