Albert Ammons
| Albert Ammons | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Albert Clifton Ammons |
| Born |
March 1, 1907 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Died | December 3, 1949 (aged 42) Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Genres | Jazz, blues, boogie-woogie |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1920s–1949 |
| Labels | Blue Note, Delmark, Mercury, Vocalion |
Albert Clifton Ammons (March 1, 1907 – December 3, 1949) was an American pianist and player of boogie-woogie, a bluesy jazz style popular from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s.
Ammons was born in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were pianists, and he had learned to play by the age of ten. His interest in boogie-woogie is attributed to his close friendship with Meade Lux Lewis and also his father's interest in the style. Both Albert and Meade would practice together on the piano in the Ammons household. From the age of ten, Ammons learned about chords by marking the depressed keys on the family pianola (player piano) with a pencil and repeated the process until he had mastered it. He also played percussion in a drum and bugle corps as a teenager and was soon performing with bands in clubs in Chicago. After World War I he became interested in the blues, learning by listening to the Chicago pianists Hersal Thomas and the brothers Alonzo and Jimmy Yancey.
In the early to mid-1920s Ammons worked as a cab driver for the Silver Taxicab Company. In 1924 he met up with his boyhood friend Meade Lux Lewis, who was also then a taxi driver. Soon the two players began working as a team, performing at club parties. Ammons started his own band at the Club DeLisa in 1934 and remained at the club for the next two years. During that time he played with a five-piece band that included Guy Kelly, Dalbert Bright, Jimmy Hoskins, and Israel Crosby. Ammons also recorded as Albert Ammons's Rhythm Kings for Decca Records in 1936. The Rhythm Kings' version of "Swanee River Boogie" sold a million copies, and their 1936 recording of "Boogie Woogie Stomp" has been described as "the first 12-bar piano based boogie-woogie, [which] was imitated by many jazz bands."
Ammons moved from Chicago to New York City, where he teamed up with another pianist, Pete Johnson. The two performed regularly at the Café Society, occasionally joined by Lewis, and performed with other jazz musicians, such as Benny Goodman and Harry James.
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