 
Chester Rosson (May 1997) Extravagantly praised by some critics as the greatest jazz trombonist to date, Jack Teagarden was a legend from the time he emerged as a recording artist in the twenties until his untimely death in 1964. Famous for a relaxed and easy style that belied his formidable technique, Teagarden's playing was admired by all but seldom imitated. Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden was born into a remarkable musical family that produced three other noted jazz musicians, brothers Charles (trumpet) and Cub (drums) as well as sister, Norma Teagarden (piano). Jack's father worked in the oilfield and played cornet as an amateur, but Jack's mother, Helen, seems to have conveyed the musical spark to all her children. As a piano teacher and church organist, she started all off with piano instruction at an early age. Jack switched to the trombone by the age of 7, however, and soon he and his mother were playing duets to accompany silent movies at the Vernon Theatre. After the father's death in 1918 the family moved first to Nebraska, then Oklahoma City. Three years later Jack Teagarden left home at the age of 16 to play professionally with the well-known Peck Kelley band of Houston. Teagarden was already so proficient that Paul Whiteman, who was then recruiting in Texas, was ready to hire him and take him away to New York. But Teagarden opted to keep Texas as his home base, playing with several different organizations until 1927. That year Teagarden left for New York, expecting to audition for Paul Whiteman's famous orchestra. Instead he ended up competing with Glenn Miller for a seat in another well-known orchestra of the day led by Ben Pollack. Numerous recordings with such greats as Red Nichols, Benny Goodman, and Louis Armstrong followed, and in 1933 Teagarden signed to play with Whiteman for five years. Critics note that Teagarden's jazz feeling brought a fresh sound to Whiteman's rather stodgy style of white jazz. With that obligation behind him, Teagarden organized his own band in 1939, which struggled financially through the war years before folding in 1947. In the late forties he recorded with Louis Armstrong's All-Stars some of the cuts that form the basis for his continuing reputation. From 1951 on Teagarden led small groups that often drew on the talents of his other family members Charlie and Norma. In addition to his trombone solos, Teagarden also sang in a sleepy blues style that is immortalized in such classics as "Stars Fell on Alabama" and "The Sheik of Araby." A heavy playing schedule and a fondness for strong drink are usually cited as contributing causes for his early death from pneumonia in 1964. |
||||
|
||||
read about this period
