Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden Trombonist (1905-1964)

Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (August 20, 1905 in Vernon, Texas - January 15, 1964) was an influential jazz trombonist and vocalist. His brother Charlie and his sister Norma also became noted professional musicians. Teagarden's father was an amateur brass band trumpeter and started young Jack on baritone horn; by age 10 he had switched to trombone. He first heard jazz music played by the Louisiana Five and decided to play in the new style. Image File history File links JackTeagarden. ... August 20 is the 232nd day of the year (233rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Vernon is a city located in Wilbarger County, Texas. ... January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Nintendo 64 emulator, see 1964 (Emulator). ... Jazz is an original American musical art form originating around the early 1920s in New Orleans, rooted in Western music technique and theory, and is marked by the profound cultural contributions of African Americans. ... A trombonist is a musician who plays the trombone. ... In music a singer or vocalist is a type of musician who sings, i. ... Norma Teagarden was a notable jazz pianist. ... In the UK a baritone horn, most often shortened to baritone, is a bass Saxhorn in Bb, which is also at trombone/trumpet pitch. ... A lip-reed aerophone with a predominantly cylindrical bore, the trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... Jazz is an original American musical art form originating around the early 1920s in New Orleans, rooted in Western music technique and theory, and is marked by the profound cultural contributions of African Americans. ...

Teagarden's trombone style was largely self-taught, and he developed many unusual alternative positions and novel special effects on the instrument. He is usually considered the most innovative jazz trombone stylist of the pre-Bebop era, and did much to expand the role of the instrument beyond the old tailgate style role of the early New Orleans brass bands. Chief among his contributions to the language of jazz trombonists was his ability to interject the blues or merely a "blue feeling" into virtually any piece of music. Bebop or bop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody. ... New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ...

By 1920 Jack Teagarden was playing professionally in San Antonio, Texas, including with the band of pianist Peck Kelley. In the mid 1920s he started traveling widely around the United States in a quick succession of different bands. In 1927, he came to New York City where he worked with several bands. By 1928 he played for the Ben Pollack band. In the late 1920s he recorded with such notable bandleaders and sidemen as Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Bix Beiderbecke, Red Nichols, Jimmy McPartland, Mezz Mezzrow, Glenn Miller, and Eddie Condon. Glenn Miller and Teagarden collaborated to provide lyrics and a verse to Spencer William's' 'Basin Street Blues, which in that amended form became one of the numbers that Teagarden played until the end of his days. 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Nickname: Alamo City Official website: www. ... The 1920s were a decade sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... Nickname: The Big Apple Official website: City of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area Total 468. ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Ben Pollack (June 22, 1903 - June 7, 1971) was a drummer and bandleader from the mid 1920s through the swing era. ... Louis Armstrongs stage personality matched his flashy trumpet as captured in this photo by William P. Gottlieb. ... Benny Goodman, born Benjamin David Goodman, (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was a famous Jazz musician, known as King of Swing, Patriarch of the Clarinet, The Professor, and Swings Senior Statesman. // Childhood and early years Goodman was born in Chicago, the son of poor Jewish immigrants who lived... Bix Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was a notable jazz cornet player. ... Ernest Loring Red Nichols (May 8, 1905–June 28, 1965) was a United States jazz cornettist. ... Milton Mesirow, much better known as Mezz Mezzrow (9 November 1899 - 5 August 1972) was an American Jewish jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist from Chicago, Illinois. ... Major Glenn Miller Glenn Miller (born Alton Glen Miller on March 1, 1904, in Clarinda, Iowa) was an American jazz musician and band leader in the swing era who was probably the genres best-selling performer from 1939-42. ... Albert Edwin Condon, better known as Eddie Condon, (16 November 1904–4 August 1973) was a jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. ... Major Glenn Miller Glenn Miller (born Alton Glen Miller on March 1, 1904, in Clarinda, Iowa) was an American jazz musician and band leader in the swing era who was probably the genres best-selling performer from 1939-42. ...

In the early 1930s Teagarden was based in Chicago, for some time playing with the band of Wingy Manone. He played at the Century of Progress exposition in Chicago. Teagarden sought financial security during The Great Depression and signed an exclusive contract to play for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra from 1933 through 1938. The contract with Whiteman's band provided him with financial security but prevented him from playing an active part in the musical advances of the mid-thirties swing era. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ... Joseph Matthews Manone, much better known as Wingy Manone (13 February 1900 - 9 July 1982) was a jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. ... A 1933 Century of Progress worlds fair poster The Century of Progress Exposition was a worlds fair held in Chicago, Illinois from 1933-1934 to celebrate Chicagos centennial. ... The Great Depression was a global economic slump that began in 1929 and bottomed in 1933. ... Paul Whiteman (March 28, 1890 - December 29, 1967) was a popular United States orchestral leader. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Teagarden then started leading his own big band. In spite of Teagarden's best efforts, the band was not a commercial success, and Jack was brought to the brink of bankruptcy. A big band is a large musical ensemble that plays jazz music. ...

In 1946 Jack joined Louis Armstrong's All Stars. Armstrong and Teagarden's work together shows a wonderful rapport, in particular their patented duet on Rocking Chair. In late 1951 Teagarden left to again lead his own band, then co-led a band with Earl Hines, then again with a group under his own name with whom he toured Asia in 1958 and 1959. 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Louis Armstrongs stage personality matched his flashy trumpet as captured in this photo by William P. Gottlieb. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Earl Hines - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Asia is the largest and most populous region or continent depending on the definition. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Teagarden was also a prolific and popular singer. He sang in a lyric baritone-tenor voice. His singing is best remembered for duets with Louis Armstrong and Johnny Mercer. Louis Armstrongs stage personality matched his flashy trumpet as captured in this photo by William P. Gottlieb. ... Johnny Mercer John Herndon Johnny Mercer (November 18, 1909 - June 25, 1976) was a lyricist and composer. ...

Teagarden appeared in the movies Birth of the Blues (1941), The Glass Wall (1953), and Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959). He was an admired recording artist, featured on RCA Victor, Columbia, Decca, Capitol, and MGM discs. As a jazz artist he won the 1944 Esquire magazine Gold Award, was highly rated in the Metronome polls of 1937-42 and 1945, and was selected for the Playboy magazine All Star Band, 1957-60. movie poster for The Glass Wall The Glass Wall is a black-and-white 1953 film directed by Maxwell Shane. ... Jazz on a Summers Day is a 1959 documentary film set at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. ... Sony BMG Music Entertainment is the result of a 50/50 joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment (part of Sony) and BMG Entertainment (part of Bertelsmann AG) completed in August 2004. ... Decca Records is a record label that was established in 1929. ... Photo of the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, DC, December 2003. ... MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ... Esquire is a magazine for men owned by the Hearst Corporation. ... A mechanical wind-up metronome in motion A digital metronome set to pulse at four beats per measure at a tempo of 130 BPM A metronome is a device that produces a regulated pulse, usually used to keep a beat steady in musical compositions. ... Classic Playboy logo. ...

Teagarden was the featured perfomer at the Newport Jazz Festival of 1957. Saturday Review wrote in 1964 that he "walked with artistic dignity all his life," and the same year Newsweek praised his "mature approach to trombone jazz." The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every August in Newport, Rhode Island. ...

Richard M. Sudhalter writes (in 'Lost Chords: White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz', Oxford University Press 1999): "The late trumpet player Don Goldie, who spent four years in Teagarden's band and had known him since childhood 'always got a feeling that a lot of happiness was locked away inside Jack, really padlocked, and never came out...just this feeling of sadness. It was always there'.

"Jack Teagarden died, alone, in his room at the Prince Conti Hotel in the French Quarter of New Orleans on January 15, 1964. He was only 58. "I sometimes think people like Jack were just go-betweens," Bobby Hackett told a friend. "The Good Lord said, 'Now you go and show 'em what it is', and he did. I think everybody familiar with Jack Teagarden knows that he was something that happens just once. It won't happen again. Not that way..." French Quarter: upper Chartres street looking down towards Jackson Square and the spires of St. ... New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ... For the Nintendo 64 emulator, see 1964 (Emulator). ...

"...Connie Jones, the New Orleans cornetist working with Jack Teagarden at the time of the trombonist's death, was a pallbearer for the wake, held at a funeral parlor on leafy St. Charles Avenue: 'I remember seeing him there in a coffin, a travelling coffin. They were going to fly him to Los Angeles for burial right after that. The coffin was open and I remember thinking 'Boy he really looks uncomfortable in there'.

"'Not that he was that tall. Maybe five foot ten or so, at most. But he was kinda wide across the shoulders - and most of all he just gave you the impression he was a big man, in every way. In that coffin, - well, I can't really explain it, but he seemed to be scrunched up into a space that was too small to contain him'". He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, California. Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in Los Angeles, California, on the south edge of the San Fernando Valley by Burbank (and on the north side of the Santa Monica Mountains from Hollywood). ... Nickname: City of Angels Official website: http://www. ...

A lovely coda to Teagarden's recording career is the album "Think Well of Me", recorded in January 1962 and made up of his singing and trombone playing, accompanied by strings, on compositions by his old musical associate Willard Robison: available on Verve CD 314 557 101-2

External links

• Official Jack Teagarden Site
• Jack Teagarden discography (Music City)
• A Tribute To Jack Teagarden