Rudy Wiedoeft

Rudy Wiedoeft

Rudolph "Rudy" Cornelius Wiedoeft (January 3, 1893 - February 18, 1940) was a U.S. saxophonist.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of German immigrants, at a young age Wiedoeft started playing with his family orchestra, first on violin, then on clarinet. He moved to New York City and switched to saxophone, then still an unusual instrument. He became known as a virtuoso saxophonist in the 1910s, made more than 300 recordings for many different record labels, and did much to popularize the saxophone as an instrument in both the U.S. and overseas. His chief instrument was the C melody saxophone, a variety which was immensely popular from the 1910s until the U.S. stock market crash of October 1929. He also played and recorded a little on the E-flat alto and B-flat soprano as well.

His style was noted for very rapid runs of well articulated notes in between long lush legato phrases in a ragtime influenced style. He was also known for his style of vibrato, which was very wide in the later years of his playing. It is worth noting that in his earlier years, Wiedoeft's use of vibrato was quite spare and rather narrow. Wiedoeft employed several other 'sound effects,' such as slap tonguing and laughing through his horn, and alongside his very distinguishable vibrato, became a part of his musical arsenal to use at his disposal. While he incorporated some elements of early jazz into his playing, he remained stylistically a pre-jazz artist. Some of his original compositions were hits in their day, notably "Valse Erica", "Valse Llewellyn", "Saxema", "Saxophobia", and "Sax-o-Phun".

He remained a very popular entertainer into the 1920s and performed regularly on radio, but his style started to sound more and more dated to the public as his career continued into the 1930s. He worked for a while in Rudy Vallee's band, then for a while in France. From the mid-1930s on, he essentially stopped playing and was involved in several mining investments that, unfortunately, did not prove successful.

Rudy and his wife Mary Wiedoeft had a difficult relationship partially due to difficulties in maintaining their rather flamboyant lifestyle and alcohol abuse. In 1937, he was nearly killed when he was stabbed by his wife. The couple reconciled though, and in the same year Rudy made his last radio appearance. He died in Flushing, New York in 1940 from cirrhosis of the liver.

In the 1920s, the Holton Instrument Company took features from existing production model saxophones and marketed them as the "Rudy Wiedoeft Model". However, it is doubtful Wiedoeft actually performed on such instruments.

Several of Wiedoefts siblings also became professional musicians, the most famous being West coast bandleader Herb Wiedoeft (1886-1928).

External links

*


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Rudy Wiedoeft — Rudy Wiedoeft, 1919 Rudolph „Rudy“ Cornelius Wiedoeft (* 3. Januar 1893 in Detroit, Michigan; † 18. Februar 1940 in Flushing, New York City) war ein US amerikanischer Saxophonist. Wiedoeft, Sohn deutscher Einwanderer, lernte als …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wiedoeft — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Herb Wiedoeft († 1928), US amerikanischer Jazz Trompeter und Bandleader Rudy Wiedoeft (1893–1940), US amerikanischer Saxophonist Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterschei …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Rudy Vallee — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Rudy Vallee Rudy Vallee Nombre real Hubert Prior Vallée Nacimiento 28 de julio de 1901 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Rudy Vallée — Infobox performer bgcolour = name = Rudy Vallée imagesize = caption = birthname = Hubert Prior Vallée birthdate = birth date|1901|7|28|mf=y location = Island Pond, Vermont deathdate = death date|1986|7|3|mf=y (aged 84) deathplace = North… …   Wikipedia

  • Herb Wiedoeft — (* in Los Angeles; † Mai 1928 bei Klamath Falls, Oregon) war ein US amerikanischer Jazz Trompeter und Bandleader. Herb Wiedoeft war der Sohn deutscher Einwanderer und begann seine Musikerkarriere Anfang der 1920er Jahre in Los Angeles, wo er mit… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Liste von Jazzmusikern — Abk. Instrument acc Akkordeon acl Altklarinette afl Altflöte arr Arrangement as Altsaxophon b Bass bar …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Liste der Biografien/Wie — Biografien: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • 18. Feber — Der 18. Februar (österr. Feber) ist der 49. Tag des Gregorianischen Kalenders, somit bleiben 316 Tage (in Schaltjahren 317 Tage) bis zum Jahresende. Historische Jahrestage Januar · Februar · März 1 2 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • 3. Jänner — Der 3. Januar (in Österreich und Südtirol: 3. Jänner) ist der 3. Tag des Gregorianischen Kalenders, somit bleiben 362 (in Schaltjahren 363) Tage bis zum Jahresende. Historische Jahrestage Dezember · Januar · Februar 1 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Fiorito — Ted Fiorito (Ted Fio Rito, geboren als Teodorico Salvatore Fiorito am 20. Dezember 1900 in Newark/New Jersey; † 22. Juli 1971 in Scottsdale/Arizona) war ein US amerikanischer Jazzpianist und komponist. Fiorito begann seine Karriere 1919 als… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”