- Fred Guy
Fred Guy (b. May 23, 1897,
Burkesville, Georgia - d. Dec. 22, 1971) was an Americanjazz banjo player and guitarist.Guy was raised in
New York City . He played guitar and banjo withJoseph C. Smith 's Orchestra, and in 1925 he joinedDuke Ellington 's Washingtonians, replacingElmer Snowden . Guy played with Ellington for 24 years, including his years at theCotton Club .Early on he played only banjo but in the 1930s started playing more and more guitar with the band as the rhythm section in jazz changed rapidly. He played a Gibson banjo and an L5 or L7 Gibson guitar.
On Ellington's "East St. Louis Toodle-oo" he plays a moving line with chords using inversions and on "Black and Tan Fantasy" he plays backwards fan strokes which are difficult to hear on the recording. He did not solo, and his guitar work is often difficult to hear on record. After he left Ellington's band in 1949, he was not replaced.
He went on to manage a ballroom in
Chicago ; he appeared in "Black Beauty", a film with the Duke Ellington Orchestra about a dancer who dies.References
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Scott Yanow , [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dnftxqw5ld6e~T1 Fred Guy] atAllmusic
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