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Harry James?


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Robert P
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2020 9:48 pm    Post subject: Re: Harry James Reply with quote

Tony Scodwell wrote:
Yeah, I guess whoever said Harry was just a fancy trumpet player and not a jazz player certainly knew his stuff. This video was proof of that.

Tony Scodwell
www.scodwellusa.com

I hope you're being facetious.

I imagine you're referring to Wynton's youthful braying on the Trumpet Kings video where Harry is the only white player who even gets mentioned and only to say "that's some fancy playing, but it's not jazz" - re: the Concerto For Trumpet film performance.
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bunny
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 03, 2020 6:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great comments! Here are some Teddy Wilson personnel lists:

Harry James, trumpet; Benny Morton, trombone; Benny Carter, Edgar Sampson, alto sax; Herschel Evans, Lester Young, tenor sax; Teddy Wilson, piano; Albert Casey, guitar; Walter Page, bass; Jo Jones, drums; Billie Holiday, vocals.

Harry James, trumpet; Buster Bailey, clarinet; Johnny Hodges, alto sax; Teddy Wilson, piano; Allan Reuss, guitar; John Kirby, bass; Cozy Cole, drums; Helen Ward, vocals #1-3.

These are just examples of sessions Harry was playing. Too bad Teddy and Lionel, etc. didn't have a real expert to set them straight!
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Robert P
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:09 pm    Post subject: Re: Harry James? Reply with quote

khedger wrote:
I'm not a big fan of the style of his music...I mean, I don't hate it or anything, but I tend to gravitate toward more modern players.

To each their own but when you say "the style of his music" - are you talking about the big band hit parade stuff? Harry did a lot of playing outside of that realm.

Ever heard this?



Link

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Tony Scodwell
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:32 am    Post subject: Harry's listening habits Reply with quote

I asked Harry when on his band in 1965 who he enjoyed listening to. "I really enjoy listening to Clifford Brown".

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Robert P
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 3:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A couple more off the beaten path Hi-Fi recordings by Harry. My parents had a 45 with these on it in their record collection.

From what I heard he used to play Three For The Show in performance but he refused to allow Betty Grable to dance to it in their show. I imagine it'll become apparent why when you hear it.



Link




Link

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deleted_user_02066fd
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 4:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My maternal grandfather was from Naples and ended up living with relatives in New Haven Ct when he was 9. He had a younger brother who played trumpet and eventually came to America as a young adult.
My Great Uncle Louie settled in Milford, Conn. and was a professional musician when theaters kept musicians on staff. He didn't work a day job, he played 5-6 nights a week, invested wisely in property and was a very wealthy man. He was about 80 when I was born in 56 and had retired. I only heard him play a little bit of this or that.
One of my uncles who would have been a young man in Harry's heyday asked Uncle Louie what he thought about Harry. He said that Harry was a fabulous trumpeter. If my Uncle Louie said Harry could play then Harry was a beast.
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rothman
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 08, 2020 2:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hard to explain what it was, a gift, that if he had to play the C scale just by itself, could do it eerily good. Eager to often nail the pi$$ out of notes under low C also, as heard on 'Cherry'.

No work ethic to practice, an older guy here, near 70...and again, seems to have both power, and a lock on the center of a note, in a way that's unusual.


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adagiotrumpet
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 08, 2020 7:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

rothman wrote:
Hard to explain what it was, a gift, that if he had to play the C scale just by itself, could do it eerily good. Eager to often nail the pi$$ out of notes under low C also, as heard on 'Cherry'.

No work ethic to practice, an older guy here, near 70...and again, seems to have both power, and a lock on the center of a note, in a way that's unusual.


Link


Harry was 55 in 1971. He died in 1983 at the age of 67.
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kehaulani
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 08, 2020 11:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Young Man with a Horn on T.V. in some areas tonight. A little hokey at times (what movie about musicians isn't?) but nice playing by Harry James as well as nice singing by Doris Day.
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rothman
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 08, 2020 1:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

adagiotrumpet wrote:

Harry was 55 in 1971. He died in 1983 at the age of 67.


Physically, a wreck at 55.. packs of cigarettes a day, full set of denture to play on, vodka at breakfast, .470 horn that sat in the case...
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rothman
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 12:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Betty Grable...a great talent and wonderful wife to him.



Last edited by rothman on Sun May 28, 2023 9:47 pm; edited 3 times in total
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GeorgeB
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 3:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kehaulani wrote:
Young Man with a Horn on T.V. in some areas tonight. A little hokey at times (what movie about musicians isn't?) but nice playing by Harry James as well as nice singing by Doris Day.


I have that movie in my collection. I've played it often. And yes, great playing by Harry. It is supposed to be loosely based on the life of Bix.

Oh, and also on last night was A Man Called Adam, starring Sammy Davis Jr. as the trumpet ( actually flugel ) player. Apparently this one is loosely based on Miles Davis. Very loosely.
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kehaulani
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 6:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

GeorgeB wrote:
And yes, great playing by Harry. It is supposed to be loosely based on the life of Bix.


IMO, that's Hollywood hype. I saw little in the film that would put it into a Beiderbecke biography category.
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TrpPro
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 9:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvFqN7uVP3g
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Tony Scodwell
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2020 8:45 am    Post subject: Harryat 55 Reply with quote

Rothman, you are quite mistaken with your comments on Harry, aged 55.

No question he drank heavily, Smirnoff red label being his choice. He smoked somewhat but not packs a day. At the age of 55 he was still playing at the Harry James level of prior years and not until two years before he died did his playing suffer. Living to 67 was certainly not long enough but I spoke with him a week prior to his death and he said he wouldn't have changed a thing. When I joined the band in 1963 I was just a kid of 21. Even then he could consume a lot of vodka but not affect his playing in the least. We did four sets a night in the Flamingo lounge, the last set at 4am. Harry would come on stage after the opener (which Buddy Rich called) and sit on stool with just the rhythm section of Buddy, Red Kelly and Jack Percival playing something like "Lush Life" or another beautiful ballad. The band would sit there and it would almost bring tears to your eyes with the beauty of his playing. He had an iron constitution and like I said, only a couple years before he died did it affect him.

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rothman
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2020 1:41 pm    Post subject: Re: Harryat 55 Reply with quote

Tony Scodwell wrote:

No question he drank heavily, Smirnoff red label being his choice. He smoked somewhat but not packs a day. At the age of 55 he was still playing at the Harry James level of prior years and not until two years before he died did his playing suffer. Living to 67 was certainly not long enough but I spoke with him a week prior to his death and he said he wouldn't have changed a thing.


I heard Jerome Callet attribute his throat cancer to 2 packs a day. Glad to hear it was less than 2....or under a pack. You didn't mention the denture, but generally speaking, performance is going to change under that circumstance. How many bottles, fifths, he consumed in a day in not known. Perhaps he was a 'functioning alcoholic' along with a cast iron constitution. But he doesn't impress me as the same level of player at 55 that he was at 25. .
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rothman
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2020 3:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

https://ytcropper.com/cropped/h-5ee169fe2262c

Last edited by rothman on Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:27 am; edited 1 time in total
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Robert P
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2020 6:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

TrpPro wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvFqN7uVP3g

Dang. With a capital Dang.
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khedger
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rothman wrote:


Betty Grable could swing a club and was a 6 handicap. To the press, she would say it was 17. Harry hit the jackpot with her.



Anybody who was with Betty Grable definitely hit the jackpot, but it wasn't because of her golf game!!!!

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khedger
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:20 pm    Post subject: Re: Harryat 55 Reply with quote

rothman wrote:
Tony Scodwell wrote:

No question he drank heavily, Smirnoff red label being his choice. He smoked somewhat but not packs a day. At the age of 55 he was still playing at the Harry James level of prior years and not until two years before he died did his playing suffer. Living to 67 was certainly not long enough but I spoke with him a week prior to his death and he said he wouldn't have changed a thing.


I heard Jerome Callet attribute his throat cancer to 2 packs a day. Glad to hear it was less than 2....or under a pack. You didn't mention the denture, but generally speaking, performance is going to change under that circumstance. How many bottles, fifths, he consumed in a day in not known. Perhaps he was a 'functioning alcoholic' along with a cast iron constitution. But he doesn't impress me as the same level of player at 55 that he was at 25. .


Not to be argumentative, and your point is well taken, but I don't think there are many monster players who at 55 play like they did when they were 25.
Am I wrong?

keith
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