- Ernie Fields
Ernie Fields (
28 August 1904 , Nacogdoches,Texas –11 May 1997 ) was anAfrican-American trombonist ,pianist , arranger andbandleader .From the late 1920s, he led a band in the Tulsa,
Oklahoma area called the Royal Entertainers, and eventually began touring more widely, and recording. In 1939, he was invited to New York by John Hammond to record for the Vocalion label. He did not become a star, but continued to work steadily, recording for smaller labels, and gradually transforming his sound through a smaller band and a repertoire shift frombig band ,swing to R&B. He continued to straddle these styles into the 1950s, playing swing standards such as "Tuxedo Junction " and "Begin the Beguine " in a rocking R&B style.In the late 1950s he moved to Los Angeles,
California , joining Rendezvous Records, for whom he ran the house band. This included pianistErnie Freeman ,guitarist Rene Hall (who had previously worked with Fields in the 1930s), saxophonistPlas Johnson , and drummerEarl Palmer . In 1959 this band was responsible for an international hit with an R&B version ofGlenn Miller ’s "In The Mood ", credited to the Ernie Fields Orchestra. The band, with minor changes of personnel, went on to recordinstrumental s under many different names, includingB. Bumble and the Stingers , The Marketts andThe Routers .Rendezvous Records folded in 1963, and Fields retired soon after.
His son, saxophonist and bandleader Ernie Fields Jr., has worked with soul and
funk artists includingBobby Bland ,Rick James , andMarvin Gaye . He also made his own records in the 1970s, of which "Avenging Disco Godfather" is one of the more memorable titles. In the 1990s he began touring with trombonistFred Wesley , playingbagpipes as well assaxophone .
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