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ROY
ELDRIDGE
trumpet
LIFELINE
1911-1989
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1911
Roy Eldridge is born in Pittsburg. His early years are spent playing
in circus entertainment bands and Midwestern territory bands.
1941-45
Now an established star, Gene Krupa recruits Eldridge as his band's
featured soloist alongside singer Anita O'Day. After leaving Krupa
in 1943, he joins Artie Shaw's band for a brief period. Eldridge
experiences a breakdown, brought about largely by the racial prejudice
he experiences whilst touring with a white band. He forms his
own big band in 1945, but economics are not on his side and the
band dissolves.
1951-80
Eldridge plays with various small groups which often feature like-minded
stars such as Coleman Hawkins, Benny
Carter or Johnny Hodges. A stroke
in 1980 halts his career, although he performs occasionally with
trumpet and as singer and pianist until his death in 1989.
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1931
Eldridge moves to New York and plays in a number of bands, including
Teddy Hill's, with whom he first records in 1935 and where he teams
up with saxophonist Chu Berry; together they join Fletcher
Henderson in 1935. Having established a reputation for brilliant
solo playing, Eldridge forms his own 8-piece group in 1936 in Chicago.
1946-1951
Although Eldridge dallied with bebop at
Minton's Playhouse in the early 1940s, he
is unwilling and perhaps unable to adapt his playing to the new bop
stye, and in 1950 he takes time out in Paris, where he
is feted. He returns to America in 1951 and is a star of the roving
Jazz At The Philharmonic concerts. |
STYLE
Eldridge was known to be one of the most competitive stars of his
era and attempted to outdo all with his pace, attack and range. His
stamina and vigour certainly make him one of the most exciting soloists
who came to prominence in the 1930s, and his perception of the virtuoso
soloist greatly influenced the young Dizzy
Gillespie. Whilst his pyrotechnics were suited to the big band
set up, high note climaxes and other show stopping pratice did not
always translate well into a small group setting. He was, in his youthful
heyday of the late-1930s, seen by many contemporaries to be the leading
trumpeter of his day, especially as Armstrong
was seen to flirt with light entertainment. But his own schooling
in jazz came less from his trumpet forbears and more from other instrumental
soloists, especially Coleman Hawkins,
whose harmonic subtlety greatly influenced Eldridge. |
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