Edmond Hall, clarinet, 1901, New Orleans
Edmond Hall received his education working with various bands in the New Orleans area during most of the 1920s. About 1928 Edmond moved north to the Chicago area, playing clarinet and baritone sax with numerous local groups and several big swing orchestras He worked in the Claude Hopkins big-band for about six years, and in 1939 switched to small groups including the Teddy Wilson sextet. Around this time Hall had such a solid reputation as an accomplished instrumentalist, Duke Ellington asked him to join his orchestra to replace Barney Bigard. Hall, who was concerned about war-time travel, turned down Ellington's offer. In the mid '40s Edmond began to play more and more Dixieland jazz, performing and recording with Eddie Condon and his group. He started to work for Louis Armstrong in1955, remaining for three years. From 1958 until his death in 1967, Edmond did mostly freelance work. He had a style of his own, featuring a strong drive and beautiful tone. At one period in his career, Edmond played with Charlie Christian, cutting some recordings that were very similar to that of Benny Goodman's quartet with Christian. Hall supplied high energy and hard drive to a band, which became a wonderful background for singers, one of whom was Louis Armstrong. He was an accomplished musician who could move easily to different forms of jazz.
Ellis Larkins, piano, 1923, Baltimore, MD
Ellis Larkins established his reputation by being an accompanist to Ella Fitzgerald on two of her most popular albums: "Ella Sings Gershwin", and "Songs in a Mellow Mood". He went on to work with Joe Williams, Chris Connor, Eartha Kitt, and many other vocalists. Beginning in the 1970's, Ellis had long term engagements in several New York clubs, the kind of work he preferred. He was born into a musical family; his mother playedthe piano, and his father was a violinist in the Baltimore City Colored Orchestra. His father started him on piano when he was only six years old, and within a few years, Ellis was playing in the same orchestra as his father. At fifteen he began studies at The Peabody Conservatory, and two years later he was awarded a full scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music, where he studied for three years. Ellis, a notoriously shy man, recalled the triumphant conclusion to his Juilliard years. "I had to give a little dissertation before I graduated", he said, "but I knew I couldn't get up there and talk. I was standing on a corner of Madison Avenue, on my way to the event, when what I could do came to me: demonstrate the similarities between the melodic lines of Bach and boogie-woogie. The teacher told me afterward that he knew I'd made up the whole thing on the spot, but that I'd done it very well." Larkins sometimes said that he persued a career in jazz because there were few, if any opportunities for black musicians in the classical field. Despite this, Larkins never played like a musician for whom jazz was a second choice. From the late '50s through the late '60s, Ellis did mostly studio work, teaching, and occasional performances with singers. However, he did perform frequently at The Cookery, a restaurant/club in Greenwich Village. Among his last recordings were a wonderful solo recital in 1992 and two beautiful albums with the cornetist Ruby Braff. Ellis Larkins died in 2002.
Oscar Castro-Neves guitar 1940 Brazi
