American jazz saxophonist (1908?1941)
Chu Berry
|
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Birth name
| Leon Brown Berry
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Born
| (
1908-09-13
)
September 13, 1908
Wheeling, West Virginia
, U.S.
|
---|
Died
| October 30, 1941
(1941-10-30)
(aged 33)
Conneaut, Ohio
, U.S.
|
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Genres
| Jazz
,
swing
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Occupation(s)
| Musician
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Instrument(s)
| Tenor saxophone
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Years active
| 1930s
|
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Musical artist
Leon Brown
"
Chu
"
Berry
(September 13, 1908 ? October 30, 1941) was an American
jazz
tenor saxophonist
during the 1930s. He is perhaps best known for his time as a member of singer
Cab Calloway
's
big band
.
According to music critic
Gary Giddins
, musicians called him "Chu" either because he chewed on the mouthpiece of his saxophone or because he had a
Fu Manchu mustache
.
[1]
Early life
[
edit
]
Berry was born in
Wheeling, West Virginia
, to father Brown Berry and mother Maggie Glasgow Berry.
[2]
He graduated from Lincoln High School, in Wheeling, then attended
West Virginia State College
for three years.
[3]
His sister Ann played piano. Berry became interested in music at an early age, playing alto saxophone, at first with local bands. He was inspired to take up the tenor saxophone after hearing
Coleman Hawkins
on tour.
Career
[
edit
]
Most of Berry's career was spent with
swing
bands: Sammy Stewart, 1929?1930, with whom he switched to tenor sax;
Benny Carter
, 1932?1933;
Teddy Hill
, 1933?1935;
Fletcher Henderson
, 1935?1937; and
Cab Calloway
, his best-known affiliation, from 1937 to 1941.
[4]
He is credited with turning Calloway's band into a legitimate jazz orchestra over the four years of his membership.
[5]
Throughout his brief career, Berry was in demand as a
sideman
for recording sessions under the names of various other jazz artists, including
Spike Hughes
(1933),
Bessie Smith
(1933),
the Chocolate Dandies
(1933),
Mildred Bailey
(1935?1938),
Teddy Wilson
(1935?1938),
Billie Holiday
(1938?1939),
Wingy Manone
(1938?1939), and
Lionel Hampton
(1939).
During the period 1934?1939, while saxophone pioneer Hawkins was playing in Europe, Berry was one of several younger tenor saxophonists, such as
Budd Johnson
,
Ben Webster
, and
Lester Young
, who vied for supremacy on their instrument. Berry's mastery of advanced harmony was an influence on
Dizzy Gillespie
and
Charlie Parker
.
[
citation needed
]
Parker named his first son Leon in Chu's honor.
[6]
Berry was among the musicians who took part in the
jam sessions
at
Minton's Playhouse
in New York City, which helped lead to the development of
bebop
.
The song "
Christopher Columbus
", which Berry composed with lyrics by
Andy Razaf
, was the last important hit recording of the Fletcher Henderson orchestra and was recorded in 1936. It is one of the most popular
riff
tunes from the swing era and was later incorporated into
Jimmy Mundy
's arrangement of "
Sing, Sing, Sing
" for
Benny Goodman
's band.
Four sessions were organized with Berry as leader, in 1937, 1938, and 1941.
Berry died on October 30, 1941, in
Conneaut, Ohio
, after being in a car accident.
[7]
The Chu Berry saxophone
[
edit
]
Chu Berry is the unofficial name of a series of saxophones produced by the
C.G. Conn
company during the 1920s, though it is more accurate to refer to them as the Conn New Wonder Series II.
The company never officially used the term "Chu Berry" to refer to any of their saxophones. In fact, Berry played a model of tenor sax generally known as the Conn Transitional
[9]
and is not known to have ever played a New Wonder Series II.
[10]
[11]
Some saxophone owners use the term "Chu Berry" to refer to any Conn saxophone made between 1910 and the mid-1930s, including soprano, alto, baritone, and
C melody saxophones
, none of which Berry played.
Discography
[
edit
]
As leader
[
edit
]
- "Now You're Talking My Language"/"Too Marvelous for Words" (Variety, 1937)
- "Indiana"/"Limehouse Blues" (Variety, 1937)
- "Sittin' in"/"Forty-six West Fifty-two" (Commodore, 1938)
- "Stardust"/"Body and Soul" (Commodore, 1938)
- "Blowing Up a Breeze"/ "Monday at Minton's" (Commodore, 1941)
- "On the Sunny Sides of the Street" / "Gee, Ain't I Good To You" (Commodore, 1941)
[12]
- Chu Berry
(Commodore, 1959)
- Sittin' In
(Mainstream, 1965)
[13]
As sideman on compilations
[
edit
]
- 1992
The Original American Decca Recordings
, Count Basie
- 1995
The Complete RCA Victor Recordings
, Dizzy Gillespie
- 2002
Quintessence : New York-Chicago 1924?1936
, Fletcher Henderson
- 2003
Quintessence New York-Chicago: 1933?50
, Teddy Wilson
- 2007
The Complete Lionel Hampton Victor Sessions 1937?1941
, Lionel Hampton
- 2012
The Billie Holiday Collection: 1935?42
, Billie Holiday
[14]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Giddins, Gary (1 July 2007).
"Pilgrim's Progress"
.
JazzTimes
. Retrieved
13 September
2010
.
- ^
"Biographies: Leon "Chu" Berry > Research | Ohio County Public Library | Ohio County Public Library | Wheeling West Virginia | Ohio County WV | Wheeling WV History |"
.
www.ohiocountylibrary.org
. Retrieved
2023-03-30
.
- ^
"Wheeling Hall of Fame: Leon "Chu" Berry"
.
Internet Archive Wayback Machine
. Archived from
the original
on 24 May 2009
. Retrieved
7 September
2017
.
- ^
Chilton, John (1978).
Who's Who of Jazz: Storyville to Swing Street
. Time-Life Records Special Edition. p.
32
.
ISBN
9780801957055
.
- ^
"Hi-De-Ho" Alyn Shipton OUP New York 2010
- ^
"cabcalloway.cc"
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-07-22
. Retrieved
2009-06-18
.
- ^
"Chu Berry Obituary." The Afro-American (Baltimore) - November 8, 1941, p. 14
Archived
July 18, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
From Ohio County Public Library. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
- ^
"Image of Berry (r) playing tenor saxophone"
.
Jazzlives.files.wordpress.com
. Retrieved
4 February
2019
.
- ^
"Transitional Models"
.
www.saxpics.com
. Retrieved
25 June
2009
.
- ^
"New Wonder (Series II)"
.
www.saxpics.com
. Retrieved
18 June
2009
.
- ^
"Repairman's Overview: Vintage Conn New Wonder Series II Soprano Saxophone ≪ Articles & Blog ≪ Stohrer Music"
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-07-16
. Retrieved
2012-01-10
.
- ^
Morgenstern, Dan; Kernfeld, Barry (2002). Kernfeld, Barry (ed.).
The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz
. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries. p. 172.
ISBN
1-56159-284-6
.
- ^
"Chu Berry | Album Discography | AllMusic"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
7 September
2017
.
- ^
"Chu Berry | Credits | AllMusic"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
7 September
2017
.
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