Rod Cless

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Rod Cless
Birth nameRod Cless
Born(1907-05-20)May 20, 1907
Lenox, Iowa, U.S.
DiedDecember 8, 1944(1944-12-08) (aged 37)
New York, U.S.
Genres Jazz
Instrument(s) Saxophone, clarinet

George Roderick Cless (May 20, 1907, in Lenox, Iowa – December 8, 1944, in New York City) [1] was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, perhaps best known for his work on sixteen Muggsy Spanier tunes [2] for Bluebird Records. Additionally, Cless worked with other artists such as Frank Teschemacher, Gene Krupa, Art Hodes, Bobby Hackett, Max Kaminsky and Mezz Mezzrow. [1]

Contents

Death

Walking home from the last night of a job at the Pied Piper (where he played alongside his friend Max Kaminsky) in December 1944, [1] Cless fell over the balcony of his apartment building and died four days later at the age of 37. [3] [4] [5]

Select discography

With Art Hodes

With Muggsy Spanier

With the Rod Cless Quartet

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 505. ISBN   0-85112-939-0.
  2. "Brian Rust Jazz Records, 1897-1942 - Classic Jazz Discography". February 9, 2009. Archived from the original on February 9, 2009. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  3. "Who Remembers Rod Cless?". Jazzlives.wordpress.com. August 20, 2010. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  4. "Rod Cless | Biography & History". AllMusic . Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  5. "Remembering Rod Cless". February 28, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  6. Scott Yanow, review of The Great 16! at Allmusic