Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra
James Melvin “Jimmie” Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.
Lunceford was born in Fulton, Mississippi. Little is known about his parents, though his father was a choirmaster in Warren, Ohio, before the family moved to Denver. He went to high school in Denver and studied music under Wilberforce J. Whiteman, father of Paul Whiteman, whose band was soon to acquire a national reputation. After high school he continued his studies at Fisk University. During 1922, Lunceford played alto saxophone in a local band led by George Morrison which included Andy Kirk, another musician destined for fame as a bandleader.
In 1927, while teaching at Manassas High School in Memphis, Tennessee, he organized a student band, the Chickasaw Syncopators, whose name was changed to the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra when it began touring. Lunceford was the first high school band director in Memphis. This band recorded in 1927 and 1930. After a period of touring, the band accepted a booking at the Harlem nightclub The Cotton Club in 1934. The Cotton Club had already featured Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, who won their first widespread fame from their inventive shows for the Cotton Club’s all-white patrons. Lunceford’s orchestra, with their tight musicianship and often outrageous humor in their music and lyrics made an ideal band for the club, and Lunceford’s reputation began to steadily grow.
Comedy and vaudeville played a distinct part in Lunceford’s presentation. Songs such as “Rhythm Is Our Business”, “I’m Nuts about Screwy Music”, “I Want the Waiter (With the Water)”, and “Four or Five Times” displayed a playful sense of swing, often through clever arrangements by trumpeter Sy Oliver and bizarre lyrics. Lunceford’s stage shows often included costumes, skits, and obvious jabs at mainstream white jazz bands, such as Paul Whiteman’s and Guy Lombardo’s.
Despite the band’s comic veneer, Lunceford always maintained professionalism in the music befitting a former teacher; this professionalism paid off and during the apex of swing in the 1930s, the Orchestra was considered the equal of Duke Ellington’s, Earl Hines’ or Count Basie’s. This precision can be heard in such pieces as “Wham (Re-Bop-Boom-Bam)”, “Lunceford Special”, “For Dancers Only”, “Uptown Blues”, and “Stratosphere”. The band’s noted saxophone section was led by alto sax player Willie Smith. Lunceford often used a conducting baton to lead his band.
The orchestra began recording for the Decca label and later signed with the Columbia subsidiary Vocalion in 1938. They toured Europe extensively in 1937, but had to cancel a second tour in 1939 because of the outbreak of World War II. Columbia dropped Lunceford in 1940 because of flagging sales. (Oliver departed the group before the scheduled European tour to take a position as an arranger for Tommy Dorsey). Lunceford returned to the Decca label. The orchestra appeared in the 1941 movie Blues in the Night.
On July 12, 1947, while playing in Seaside, Oregon, Lunceford collapsed and died from cardiac arrest during an autograph session, aged 45. Allegations and rumors circulated that Jimmie had been poisoned by a fish-restaurant owner who was unhappy at having to serve a “Negro” in his establishment.[citation needed] This story is given credence by the fact other members of Lunceford’s band who ate at this restaurant were sickened within hours of the meal. He was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis.
Band members, notably Eddie Wilcox and Joe Thomas kept the band going for a time but finally had to break up the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra in 1949.
In 1999, band-leader Robert Veen and a team of musicians set out to acquire permission to use the original band charts and arrangements of the Jimmie Lunceford canon. The Jimmie Lunceford Legacy Orchestra officially debuted in July 2005 at the North Sea Jazz Festival.
The Jimmie Lunceford Jamboree Festival was founded in 2007 by Ron Herd II a.k.a. R2C2H2 Tha Artivist and Artstorian, with the aim of increasing recognition of Lunceford’s contribution to jazz, particularly in Memphis, Tennessee. The Jimmie Lunceford Legacy Awards was created by the Jimmie Lunceford Jamboree Festival to honor exceptional musicians with Memphis ties as well as those who have dedicated their careers to excellence in music and music education.
On July 19, 2009, a brass note was dedicated to Lunceford on Beale Street.
Prior to Lunceford’s success on Decca (beginning September 1934), he made the following recordings:
“In Dat Mornin’”/”Sweet Rhythm” (Victor V-38141)- recorded Memphis, June 6, 1930
“Flaming Reeds and Screaming Brass”/”While Love Lasts” (Columbia tests - not issued until the late 1960s on LP) - recorded New York, May 15, 1933
“Jazznocracy”/”Chillen”, Get Up (Victor 24522)
“White Heat”/”Leaving Me” (Victor 24586) - both recorded New York, January 26, 1934
“Breakfast Ball”/”Here Goes” (Victor 24601)
“Swingin’ Uptown”/”Remember When” (Victor 24669) - both recorded New York, March 20, 1934
The Decca recordings
Stomp it Off (1934-1935 Decca recordings) (GRP CD)
Swingsation (1935-1939 Decca recordings) (1998 GRP CD)
Lunceford Special (1939 Columbia recordings) (ca 1975 Columbia LP)
Rhythm is Our Business (1933-1940, both periods and record companies, successively) (ASV CD)
For Dancers Only (GRP/Decca) (1994)
Jukebox Hits: 1937-1947 (Acrobat) (2005)
Life is Fine or Quadromania (Membran/Quadromania Jazz) (2006) Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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