SAVOY All Stars Band
Roy "Little Jazz" Eldridge |
Trumpet
January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989 |
Roy Eldridge grew up in North Pittsburgh. His mom was a gifted pianist known for playing music by ear, a trait he passed to Roy. Roy was playing blues on piano at age 5 with his older brother Joe playing violin, sax and clarinet. Roy started drumming at age 6, but his brother convinced him to play valved trumpet in a local church band. Roy lacked sight-reading skills but could play anything by ear.
Expelled in the ninth grade, Roy left home and got work where he could. Count Basie heard him play and called him "the greatest trumpet I've heard." At age 20 he was playing with the Fletcher Henderson Stompers and also led bands on his own. In 1930 he moved to NYC, playing and recording with various bands. He became the featured soloist with Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra in 1935 and was said to have superseded Louis Armstrong as the hot trumpeter of the time.
A 1936 stint in Chicago with his brother included nightly radio broadcasts and recordings of extended solo work. He became fed up with racism and quit playing briefly. Back in 1939, he formed a ten piece band at NY's Arcadia Ballroom.
Expelled in the ninth grade, Roy left home and got work where he could. Count Basie heard him play and called him "the greatest trumpet I've heard." At age 20 he was playing with the Fletcher Henderson Stompers and also led bands on his own. In 1930 he moved to NYC, playing and recording with various bands. He became the featured soloist with Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra in 1935 and was said to have superseded Louis Armstrong as the hot trumpeter of the time.
A 1936 stint in Chicago with his brother included nightly radio broadcasts and recordings of extended solo work. He became fed up with racism and quit playing briefly. Back in 1939, he formed a ten piece band at NY's Arcadia Ballroom.
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Roy received many offers to play in white bands, and in 1941 joined Gene Krupa's Orchestra as a featured soloist - the first black musician to become a permanent member of a white band. On tours there was always racism to contend with. Krupa was briefly jailed for a fight with a restaurant manager who would not let Roy eat with the rest of the band.
Roy and Anita O'Day made several successful recordings with the band. Roy's extensive solo on Hoagy Carmichael's "Rockin' Chair" was highly rated by critics. The band broke up in 1943 when Gene was jailed for marijuana. Roy had felt upstaged by O'Day and freelanced before joining Artie Shaw's band in 1944. After the war he toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic, moving to Paris in 1950. Back in NY in 1951 he played with many small groups with Coleman Hawkins, Ella Fitzgerald, and Earl Hines, touring with Ella in 1965 and with Count Basic in 1966.
Roy and Anita O'Day made several successful recordings with the band. Roy's extensive solo on Hoagy Carmichael's "Rockin' Chair" was highly rated by critics. The band broke up in 1943 when Gene was jailed for marijuana. Roy had felt upstaged by O'Day and freelanced before joining Artie Shaw's band in 1944. After the war he toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic, moving to Paris in 1950. Back in NY in 1951 he played with many small groups with Coleman Hawkins, Ella Fitzgerald, and Earl Hines, touring with Ella in 1965 and with Count Basic in 1966.
Roy and band at the Three Deuces, Chicago
circa 1937 |
Thelonious Monk, Howard McGhee, Roy Eldridge, Teddy Hill
Outside Minton's Playhouse - September 1947 |
Roy was known as fiercely competitive, and earned the moniker "Little Prez" for his raucous playing and small size. Ella Fitzgerald once said "he's got more soul in one note than a lot of people could get into the whole song." His intensity and rapid-fire style he attributed to practicing nine hours a day, every day, in his teens.
Roy continued playing jazz even after a stroke in 1970. , on trumpet and as a singer, drummer and pianist. After a heart attack in 1980, he gave up playing. He died in 1989, three weeks after the death of his wife.
Roy continued playing jazz even after a stroke in 1970. , on trumpet and as a singer, drummer and pianist. After a heart attack in 1980, he gave up playing. He died in 1989, three weeks after the death of his wife.