 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(July 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
James "Bubber" Miley | |
|---|---|
 Miley c. late 1920s | |
| Background information | |
| Born | James Wesley Miley (1903-04-03)April 3, 1903 Aiken, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | May 20, 1932(1932-05-20) (aged 29) Welfare Island,New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz,Dixieland |
| Instrument(s) | Trumpet,cornet |
James Wesley "Bubber" Miley (April 3, 1903 – May 20, 1932)[1] was an American earlyjazztrumpet andcornet player, specializing in the use of theplunger mute.[2]
Miley was born inAiken, South Carolina, United States,[1] into a musical family. At the age of six, he and his family moved toNew York City where, as a child, he occasionally sang for money on the streets, and later, at the age of 14, studied to play the trombone and cornet.
In 1920, after having served in theNavy for 18 months, he joined a jazz formation named the Carolina Five, and remained a member for the next three years, playing small clubs and boat rides all around New York City. After leaving the band at the age of 19, Miley briefly toured the Southern States with a show titledThe Sunny South, and then joinedMamie Smith's Jazz Hounds, replacing trumpeterJohnny Dunn.[3] They regularly performed in clubs around New York City andChicago.[1] While touring in Chicago, he heardKing Oliver's Creole Jazz Band playing and was captivated by Oliver's use ofmutes. Soon Miley found his own voice by combining thestraight andplunger mute with agrowling sound.
Miley's talent and unique style were soon noticed in New York's jazz scene byDuke Ellington who wanted him to jump in for trumpeterArthur Whetsel. According to saxophonistOtto Hardwicke, Ellington's band members had toshanghai Miley into joining them for his first performance, at theHollywood on Broadway in 1923. At the time, Ellington's Washingtonians were formally led byElmer Snowden, but Ellington, who factually had already been running the formation, also took over its official leadership a few months later.[1]
Miley's collaboration with Ellington has secured his place in jazz history. Early Ellington hits, such as "Black and Tan Fantasy", "Doin' the Voom Voom", "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo", "The Mooche", and "Creole Love Call", prominently featured Miley's solo work and were thematically inspired by his melodic ideas, which he, in turn, often borrowed fromBaptist hymns sung in his church, such as Stephen Adams' "Holy City". With fellow band member, trombonistJoe "Tricky Sam" Nanton, Miley developed the "wah-wah" sound that characterized Ellington's early "jungle music" style. Many jazz critics consider Miley's musical contributions to be integral to Ellington's early success during the time they performed in the Kentucky Club andCotton Club.
In 1924, while working with Ellington, Miley also recorded "Down In The Mouth Blues" and "Lenox Avenue Shuffle", as a duo named The Texas Blues Destroyers, with Alvin Ray on reed organ. They managed to trick three different record companies into recording the same two songs, both composed by Ray.
In interviews, former co-musicians such as Ellington, Nanton, Hardwick, andHarry Carney spoke fondly of Bubber Miley's carefree character andjoie de vivre, exemplified in numerous anecdotes. On the other hand, they also mention his unreliability, and problems withalcohol abuse.[1] Miley's lifestyle eventually led to his breaking up with Ellington's band in 1929,[1] but his influence on the Duke Ellington Orchestra lasted far longer. His legacy lived on in trumpeters such asCootie Williams and laterRay Nance, who both were able to adopt Miley's style when required.
After leaving Ellington's orchestra in 1929, Miley joinedNoble Sissle's Orchestra for a one-month tour to Paris, France.[1] After returning to New York, he recorded with groups led by King Oliver,Jelly Roll Morton,Hoagy Carmichael,Zutty Singleton and withLeo Reisman's society dance band. Miley also performed live with Reisman, albeit being the only African American in Reisman's all-white formation, either dressed in an usher's uniform and off the bandstand, or hidden from view by a screen. In 1930, he recorded six songs forVictor Records under the name Bubber Miley and his Mileage Makers, a formation of thirteen musicians including clarinetistBuster Bailey.
Miley's alcoholism terminally affected his life. On May 20, 1932, at the age of 29, he died oftuberculosis,[1] onWelfare Island, now Roosevelt Island, in New York City. Miley lived just a little longer than his contemporary, jazz cornetistBix Beiderbecke, whose life was also cut short due to alcohol abuse.
