Butch Ballard

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Butch Ballard


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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = George Edward Ballard
Alias =
Born = December 26 1918 Camden, New Jersey, United States
Died =
Origin = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Instrument = drums
Voice_type =
Genre = Jazz
Occupation =
Years_active = 1938–present
Label =
Associated_acts = Count Basie Orchestra Duke Ellington
URL =
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Past_members =
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George Edward "Butch" Ballard (b. December 26 1918)Citation
last = Villano-Prokop
first = Diane
title = You can call Butch Ballard a drum major
newspaper = Northeast Times
year = 2007
url = http://www.northeasttimes.com/2007/0517/butch.html
accessdate=2008-03-25] is an American jazz drummer who during his long career has played with musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

Biography

Ballard was born in Camden, New Jersey and grew up in Frankford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.cite web
title = George 'Butch' Ballard to Receive 2006 Mellon Jazz Community Award
publisher = PR Newswire
date = 2006-12-01
url = http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-01-2006/0004483524&EDATE=
accessdate =2008-03-17 ] cite web
last = Schermer
first = Victor L.
title = Butch Ballard: Legendary Philadelphia Drummer
publisher = AllAboutJazz.com
date = 2007-01-09
url = http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=24210
accessdate =2008-03-17 ] As a child he followed American Legion parades near his home, focusing particularly on the drummer. When he was about 10 years old, Ballard's father bought him a set of drums from a pawnbroker and he began to take lessons for 75 cents each. He got the nickname "Butch" after Machine Gun Butch, a character in the 1930 film "The Big House". He attended Northeast High School in Philadelphia. When he was 21, he married Jessie, for whom he bought a house in Philadelphia in 1950.

Career

At around 16 years old, Ballard listened to Herb Thornton's band at the Boys Club in Philadelphia. They let him play with them, and he was invited to join a band by a man who heard him. For the following few months, he carried his drums across Philadelphia to rehearse. In 1938, Ballard started playing with Louis Armstrong's band The Dukes. He performed with them for a few years. In 1941 he began playing with the Cootie Williams Orchestra, performing with Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and Pearl Bailey.

During the Second World War, Ballard joined the United States Navy and served in the 29th Special Construction Battalion in Guam and the South Pacific. While serving, he played in the military band. After the war, he returned to Philadelphia and then went to New York, working with musicians including Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Eddie Vinson, Arnett Cobb and Clark Terry.

He met and became friends with drummer Shadow Wilson who played with the Count Basie Orchestra. In the late 1940s, Wilson left Basie's orchestra to join Woody Herman's band and Basie invited Ballard to California replace him.

In 1950, Ballard received a telephone call from Duke Ellington who had heard of Ballard from his son Mercer. Ellington invited him to join his band on a European tour and Ballard sailed to France. Regular Ellington drummer Sonny Greer was proving to be increasingly unreliable due to his drinking, and Ellington hired Ballard as a backup.cite book
last = Bradbury
first = David
title = Duke Ellington
publisher = Haus Publishing
date = 2005
pages = 76
url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YIwz2nivT0sC
isbn =1904341667 ] He played with musicians including Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton, Billy Strayhorn, Kay Davis and Chubby Kemp and Wendell Marshall. After the tour, Ellington asked him to permanently replace Greer, but Ballard declined, not wanting to change his drumming method to suit Ellington. Ellington, wanting a drummer who used double bass drums, hired Louis Bellson instead. Ballard continued to play with Ellington in 1952–1953 and made recordings with him, such as "Satin Doll". [cite book
last = Peter
first = Lavezzoli
title = The King of All, Sir Duke: Ellington and the Artistic Revolution
publisher = Continuum International Publishing Group
date = 2002
pages = 48
url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=F_bJ37J_wxQC
isbn =0826414044 ]

In the 1960s, Ballard began leading his own band in Philadelphia.cite web
last = Chadbourne
first = Eugene
authorlink = Eugene Chadbourne
title = Butch Ballard > Biography
publisher = Allmusic
url = http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=BUTCH|BALLARD&sql=11:wcfrxqw5ldfe~T1
accessdate =2008-03-17 ] He has played with many musicians during his career including John Coltrane, Fats Waller, Freddie Green, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Clark Terry, Emmett "Rev" Berry, Willie Cook, Cat Anderson, Arnett Cobb, Lucky Millinder, Bootsie Barnes, Bob Dorsey, Eddy Vincent and Mercer Ellington. [cite book
last = Porter
first = Lewis
authorlink = Lewis Porter
title = John Coltrane: His Life and Music
publisher = University of Michigan Press
date = 1998
pages = 52
url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OsiDu2wDVXgC
isbn =047208643X ]

Ballard became a music teacher in the mid-1980s and sees about 12 students a week. He plays with the Philadelphia Legends of Jazz Orchestra.

Recognition

On December 1 2006, Ballard received the Mellon Jazz Community Award for his musical career and his continued education of young jazz musicians.

ee also

References