- Happy Caldwell
Albert W. "Happy" Caldwell (sometimes incorrectly spelled Cauldwell) (July 25, 1903,
Chicago - December 29, 1978,New York ) was an Americanjazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist.Caldwell began on clarinet at age 16, playing in the Eighth Illinois Regimental Band and soon after in an Army band. He studied to be a
pharmacist but eventually gave up his medicinal studies for jazz.He worked with
Bernie Young early in the 1920s inChicago , where he recorded for the first time in 1923. Around this time he also began doubling on tenor saxophone. In the middle of the 1920s he played withMamie Smith 's Jazz Hounds, Bobby Brown's Syncopaters,Elmer Snowden ,Billy Fowler ,Thomas Morris ,Willie Gant , andCliff Jackson . In 1929 he recorded withLouis Armstrong .In the 1930s Caldwell played with
Vernon Andrade ,Tiny Bradshaw , andLouis Metcalfe , and led his own band, the Happy Pals, in the middle of the decade. He played atMinton's inNew York City for a short time, then moved toPhiladelphia , where he played withEugene Slappy andCharlie Gaines . He returned to New York and put together a new ensemble in the 1940s, continuing to work in small settings for several decades. In the 1970s he played withJimmy Rushing , including on international tours.References
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Eugene Chadbourne , [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3vfyxql5ldde~T1 Happy Caldwell] atAllmusic
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