- Albert Ammons
Infobox musical artist
Name = Albert Ammons
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Img_size = 150
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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
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Born = birth date|1907|9|23|mf=y
Died = death date and age|1949|12|2|1907|9|23
Origin =Chicago ,Illinois ,United States
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Genre =Jazz ,Blues ,Boogie-woogie
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Years_active = 1920s — 1949
Label = Vocalion, Blue Note, Demark, Mercury
Associated_acts =Pianist
URL =
Notable_instruments =Albert Ammons (
September 23 1907 —December 2 1949 [http://users.efortress.com/doc-rock/1950.html Dead Rock Stars website - accessed February 2008] ] ) was an Americanpianist . Ammons was the king ofboogie-woogie , ablues yjazz style that swept the United States from the late 1930s into the mid 1940s.Life and career
Born Albert C. Ammons in
Chicago ,Illinois , his parents were pianists, and he had learned to play by the age of ten. He also playedpercussion in thedrum and bugle corps as a teenager, and was soon performing with bands on the Chicago club scene.After
World War I , he became interested in the blues, and learned by listening to Chicago pianistsHersal Thomas and the brothersJimmy Yancey and Alonzo Yancey. [Santelli, Robert. "The Big Book of Blues", Penguin Books, page 13, (2001) - ISBN 0141001453] In the early to mid 1920s, Ammons worked as a cab driver for the Silver Taxicab Company and continued to reside in Chicago. In 1924 he met a fellow taxi driver who also played piano,Meade Lux Lewis . Soon the two players began working as a team, performing at club parties. Ammons started his own band at the Club De Lisa in 1934, and remained at the club for the next two years. During that time he played with a five piece unit that includedGuy Kelly , Dalbert Bright, Jimmy Hoskins, andIsrael Crosby . Ammons also recorded as Albert Ammons's Rhythm Kings forDecca Records in 1936.The Rhythm Kings' version of "Swanee River Boogie" would sell a million copies. Despite this success, he moved from Chicago to New York, where he teamed up with another pianist,
Pete Johnson . The two performed regularly at theCafé Society , and were occasionally joined by Meade Lux Lewis, and performed with other noted jazz artists such asBenny Goodman andHarry James .In 1938, Ammons appeared at
Carnegie Hall with Johnson and Lewis, an event that helped launch the boogie-woogie craze.Record producer Alfred Lion attendedJohn H. Hammond 'sFrom Spirituals to Swing concert ofDecember 23 1938 , which had introduced Ammons and Lewis. Two weeks later, he started theBlue Note Records by recording nine Ammons solos ("The Blues", "Boogie Woogie Stomp"), eight by Lewis, and a pair of duets, a one-day session in a rented studio. [Vladimir, Bogdanov. "All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues", By Bogdanov, Backbeat Books, page 14, (2003) - ISBN 0879307366] Recorded as asideman withSippie Wallace in the 1940s, Ammons even cut a session with his son, the tenor saxophonist,Gene Ammons .Ammons played himself in the movie, "
Boogie-Woogie Dream " (1944), withLena Horne , and Pete Johnson. [ [http://imdb.com/title/tt0036661/ Imdb: Boogie-Woogie Dream" (1944)] ] Although the boogie-woogie fad began to die down in 1945, followingWorld War II , Ammons had no difficulty securing work. He continued to tour as a solo artist during this time, and between 1946 and 1949 recorded forMercury Records , his last sides, with bassist Israel Crosby.Ammons's last triumph came when he played at President
Harry S. Truman 's inauguration in 1949, [Feather, Leonard G. "Encyclopedia of Jazz", Horizon Press, page 101, (1960) - ISBN 081801203X] the same year as his own death.Ammons died in February 1949 in Chicago. He was interred at the Lincoln Cemetery, at Kedzie Avenue in Blue Island, Worth Township, Cook County, Illinois.
Legacy
Ammons has had wide influence on countless pianists such as Dave Alexander,
Dr. John ,Hadda Brooks , Johnnie Johnson,Ray Bryant ,Erroll Garner , Frank Muschalle,Katie Webster ,Axel Zwingenberger , and the German pianistJoerg Hegemann , who honoured Ammons on the occasion of his 100th birthday in 2007 with his album "A Tribute To Albert Ammons".Album discography
ee also
*
List of blues musicians
*List of boogie woogie musicians
*List of Boogie-Woogie musicians
*List of jazz pianists
*List of Mercury Records artists References
External links
* [http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/ammons-albert-biography E-Notes: Albert Ammons]
* [http://www.geocities.com/shakin_stacks/albertammons.txt Albert Ammons]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazz/profiles/albert_ammons.shtml BBC: Albert Ammons]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6720705 Find a Grave]
* [http://www.jazzpolice.com/content/view/7273/116/ Jazz Police article on Albert Ammons Centennial Celebration]
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