Hal Singer | |
|---|---|
 Singer in 2012 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Harold Joseph Singer |
| Also known as | Hal "Cornbread" Singer |
| Born | (1919-10-08)October 8, 1919 Tulsa,Oklahoma, United States |
| Died | August 18, 2020(2020-08-18) (aged 100) Chatou, France |
| Genres | Jazz,rhythm and blues |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Saxophone |
| Years active | Late 1930s–1990 |
Harold Joseph Singer (October 8, 1919 – August 18, 2020),[1] also known asHal "Cornbread"Singer, was an AmericanR&B andjazz bandleader and saxophonist.
Harold Joseph Singer was born inGreenwood, an African-American district ofTulsa, Oklahoma, to father Charles and mother Anna Mae.[2] His father was employed by an oil-drilling tools manufacturer and his mother was a caterer.[3] He was a survivor of the 1921Tulsa race massacre, during which his family's home was burnt down. Singer and his mother were helped to travel to Kansas City during the riot by his mother's white employer. There they waited out the violence with family until they could return.[3][4] The official records of Singer's birth were destroyed during the violence.[5]
Singer studied violin as a child but later switched to reed instruments. He ultimately settled on the tenor saxophone influenced by hearingBen Webster andLester Young.[4]
On the advice of his father to pursue a "proper" career, Singer attended theHampton Institute and graduated in 1939 with a degree in agriculture. While studying, Singer regularly took time off to tour with local bands.[2]
From the late 1930s, Singer began performing in local bands, includingErnie Fields', before joiningJay McShann's orchestra in 1943 and then moving to New York. After working in other bands, he joinedOran "Hot Lips" Page's band in 1947 and began working as asession musician withKing Records.
In early 1948, he left Page, formed his own small group, and was signed toMercury Records where he cut his first single "Fine As Wine" with a B side "Rock Around the Clock" (not the same tune as theBill Haley recording), co-written withSam Theard.[6] For theSavoy label, he recorded the instrumental "Corn Bread", which made No. 1 on theR&B charts in September 1948, and raised Singer's profile and his nickname. His follow-up the following year, "Beef Stew", was a much smaller hit.
In the early and mid-1950s, he recorded withMercury, toured with R&B artists such asThe Orioles andCharles Brown, and increasingly worked as a session musician. In 1958, he began recording withPrestige Records as a jazz soloist and performing at theMetropole Cafe in New York with jazz musicians such asRoy Eldridge andColeman Hawkins.
In 1965, after touring Europe withEarl Hines' group, Singer remained in France, settling near Paris. He continued to record and also toured extensively around Europe and Africa, performing with theDuke Ellington Orchestra andCharlie Watts.
Singer appears on the 1981 live recordingRocket 88 with the UK-basedboogie-woogie bandRocket 88. Also in the summer of 1981, Singer visited London, where he recorded two albums for John Stedman's record label, JSP. The first album,Swing on it (JSP 1028), was recorded with British musicians, includingJim Mullen,Peter King,Mike Carr and Harold Smith, while the second, recorded a day later with the same group, also featuredJimmy Witherspoon (Big Blues, JSP 1032).
Singer shared artist billing on a recording made in 1989, along withAl Copley,Royal Blue, released on the Black Top label in 1990.
He appeared as an actor in the feature filmTaxi Blues (1990).
Singer's 1969 album,Paris Soul Food, featuring him on saxophone and vocals; Robin Hemingway, vocals, arrangements and album production; andManu Dibango, saxophone, organ and arrangements won a French Record Academy award for best international LP.
In 1974, he went on a State Department tour of Africa withHorace Parlan.[7] Singer was awarded the prestigious title of "Chevalier des Arts" by the French government.
A documentary film,Hal Singer, Keep the Music Going (1999), was directed by Guetty Felin. It was made in collaboration with theCNC in France and the French cable music network Muzzik. The documentary wove into the narrative Singer's personal super-8 movies, archival images of the jazz era, and footage of Singer's home in Paris, in concert and teaching jazz to the younger generation of musicians in France. Spoken-word poetJessica Care Moore is featured in a duet with Singer.
Singer became acentenarian on 8 October 2019.[8] He died on August 18, 2020.[9]
