Eddie Lang
| Eddie Lang | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Salvatore Massaro |
| Also known as | Blind Willie Dunn |
| Born |
October 25, 1902 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | March 26, 1933 (aged 30) New York City |
| Genres | Jazz, chamber jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1918–1933 |
| Labels | Okeh |
| Associated acts | Joe Venuti, Lonnie Johnson, Carl Kress, Paul Whiteman, Bing Crosby |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson L-4, Gibson L-5 | |
Eddie Lang (October 25, 1902 – March 26, 1933) was an American musician regarded as the father of jazz guitar. He displaced the banjo with the guitar and made it a worthy solo and band instrument.
Lang was born Salvatore Massaro in Philadelphia, the son of an Italian-American instrument maker. He learned violin at the age of seven, soon adding guitar and banjo. Within a year he was playing all three professionally and in public. In the early 1920s he played with Vic D'Ipplito, Bert Estlow, Charlie Kerr, Bill Lustin's Scranton Sirens, and Red McKenzie's Mound City Blue Blowers. During the 1920s he recorded and performed on radio, often with violinist Joe Venuti, a friend since both were children; with Jean Goldkette, Roger Wolfe Kahn , Adrian Rollini, Frankie Trumbauer, Paul Whiteman; and with guitarists Lonnie Johnson, Carl Kress, and Dick McDonough. Lang used the pseudonym Blind Willie Dunn to hide his race when he played at venues with Johnson, a black blues musician.
In 1929, Lang joined Paul Whiteman's Orchestra. The following year he recorded the song "Georgia on My Mind" with Hoagy Carmichael, Joe Venuti, and Bix Beiderbecke. He became a regular in Bing Crosby's orchestra in 1932. He also appeared briefly in two movies: King of Jazz (1930) and The Big Broadcast (1932).
In 1933, at the age of thirty, Lang died following a tonsillectomy. Bing Crosby had urged Lang to have the operation so he could have speaking parts in Crosby's movies. Lang's voice was chronically hoarse. The cause of his death is uncertain. Author James Sallis claims that Lang developed an embolism while under anesthetic and never regained consciousness.
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