Kid Ory | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Ory in 1944 with the All Star Jazz Group assembled for the CBS showThe Orson Welles Almanac | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edouard Ory |
| Born | (1886-12-25)December 25, 1886 LaPlace, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | January 23, 1973(1973-01-23) (aged 86) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, traditional Creole |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, promoter |
| Instrument | Trombone |
| Years active | 1910–1966 |
| Labels | Columbia,Okeh Records, Exner,Crescent,Good Time Jazz,Verve |
| Spouse | Elizabeth[1] |
Edward "Kid"Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973)[2] was an Americanjazz composer,trombonist andbandleader. One of the early users of theglissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element ofNew Orleans jazz.
He was born nearLaPlace, Louisiana and moved to New Orleans on his 21st birthday, to Los Angeles in 1910 and to Chicago in 1925. The Ory band later was an important force in reviving interest in New Orleans jazz, making radio broadcasts onThe Orson Welles Almanac program in 1944, among other shows. In 1944–45, the group made a series of recordings for theCrescent label, which was founded byNesuhi Ertegun for the express purpose of recording Ory's band.
Ory retired from music in 1966 and spent his last years inHawaii where he died from a heart attack.
Ory was born in 1886 to aLouisiana French-speaking family ofBlack Creole descent, onWoodland Plantation inLaplace, now the site of the1811 Kid Ory Historic House.[3][4] Ory started playing music with homemade instruments in his childhood, and by his teens was leading a well-regarded band in southeastLouisiana. He kept LaPlace as his base of operations because of family obligations until his twenty-first birthday, when he moved his band toNew Orleans.[2]
Ory was abanjo player during his youth, and it is said that his ability to play the banjo helped him develop "tailgate", a particular style of playing the trombone with a rhythmic line underneath the trumpets andcornets. His use of glissando helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans Jazz.[5]
When Ory was living on Jackson Avenue, he was discovered byBuddy Bolden, playing his first new trombone, instead of an old Civil War trombone. Ory's sister said he was too young to play with Bolden.
He moved his six-piece band to New Orleans in 1910. Ory had one of the best-known bands in New Orleans in the 1910s, hiring many of the great jazz musicians of the city, including the cornetistsJoe "King" Oliver,Mutt Carey, andLouis Armstrong, who joined the band in 1919;[6] and the clarinetistsJohnny Dodds andJimmie Noone.
In 1919, he moved toLos Angeles[7]—one of several New Orleans musicians to do so at the time—and he recorded there in 1922 with a band that included Mutt Carey, the clarinetist and pianistDink Johnson, and the string bassistEd Garland. Garland and Carey were long-time associates who would still be playing with Ory during his 1940s comeback. While in Los Angeles, Ory and his band recorded two instrumentals, "Ory's Creole Trombone" and "Society Blues", as well as a number of songs. They were the first jazz recordings made on the West Coast by an African American jazz band fromNew Orleans, Louisiana.[2] His band recorded withNordskog Records; Ory paid Nordskog for the pressings and then sold them with his own label, "Kid Ory's Sunshine Orchestra", at Spikes Brothers Music Store in Los Angeles.
In 1925, Ory moved toChicago, where he was very active, working and recording with Louis Armstrong,Jelly Roll Morton, Oliver, Johnny Dodds,Bessie Smith,Ma Rainey, and many others.[2] He mentoredBenny Goodman and, later,Charles Mingus. He was said to have attempted to take trombone lessons from a "German guy" who played in the Chicago symphony, but Ory was turned away after a few lessons.[8] Ory was a member of the original lineup of Louis Armstrong'sHot Five which first recorded on November 12, 1925.[9] His composition "Muskrat Ramble" was included in the Hot Five session in February 1926.[10]
During theGreat Depression Ory retired from music and did not play again until 1943.[5] In 1941, he was a pallbearer at the funeral ofJelly Roll Morton inLos Angeles, California.[11] He ran achicken farm in Los Angeles.[12] From 1944 to about 1961, he led one of the top New Orleans–style bands of the period. His sidemen during this period included, In addition to Carey and Garland, the trumpetersAlvin Alcorn andTeddy Buckner; the clarinetistsDarnell Howard,Jimmie Noone,Albert Nicholas,Barney Bigard, andGeorge Probert; the pianistsBuster Wilson,Cedric Haywood, andDon Ewell; and the drummerMinor Hall. All but Buckner, Probert, and Ewell were originally from New Orleans.
The Ory band was an important force in reviving interest in New Orleans jazz, making popular 1940s radio broadcasts—among them spots onThe Orson Welles Almanac program (beginning March 15, 1944).[13][14][15] In 1944–1945, the group made a series of recordings for theCrescent label, which was founded by Nesuhi Ertegun for the express purpose of recording Ory's band.[16]
During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Ory and his group appeared at the Beverly Cavern in Los Angeles. In 1958, he purchased theTin Angel nightclub in San Francisco from Peggy Tolk–Watkins, and he renamed itOn-The-Levee.[17] The nightclub closed in July 1961, and in 1962 the building was demolished due to the creation of theEmbarcadero Freeway.[17]
Ory retired from music in 1966,[2] and spent his last years inHawaii, with the assistance ofTrummy Young. Ory died of pneumonia and a heart attack in Honolulu.[7] He was buried atHoly Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.[18]
He had a wife named Elizabeth and one daughter.[1] Ory was Catholic, baptized at St Peter Church inReserve, Louisiana.[19]
In 2021, the1811 Kid Ory Historic House opened on the site ofWoodland Plantation inLaPlace, Louisiana, which is in theNational Register of Historic Places of the United States. The museum is dedicated both to the1811 German Coast uprising of enslaved people and to Ory.[4][20]
WithRed Allen
