Casper Reardon

Infobox Person
name = Casper Reardon


caption =
birth_date = birth date|1907|4|15
birth_place =
dead=alive
death_date = death date and age|1941|3|9|1907|4|15
death_place = New York City, USA

Casper Reardon (April 15, 1907 – March 9, 1941) was a classical and later jazz harpist. He studied classical harp at the Curtis Institute of Music going on to play for the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Later he played jazz as well.

Th harp had been used in dance music for occasional flourishes before Reardon, but he is considered a first for using harp as a jazz instrument for solos and performances. By 1936 he was described as the "World's Hottest Harpist." [cite news
author=
title=Jazz on the Verge
date=1936-12-07
work=Time Magazine
url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,757103,00.html?promoid=googlep
accessdate=2008-08-10] and in the following year he played "Cousin Caspar" in the film "You're a Sweetheart." [imdb name|0714094|Casper Reardon] The year after that, 1938, he played harp for the Broadway musical I Married an Angel. [ [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=12349 IBDB] ] As a jazz musician he can be heard on albums by Jack Teagarden and Paul Whiteman.

Web sources

External links

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dnfixqehldte~T1 All Music bio]