Ernie Freeman
| Ernie Freeman | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Ernest Aaron Freeman Jr. |
| Born |
August 16, 1922 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | May 16, 1981 (aged 58) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Pop, rhythm and blues, jazz, orchestral |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist, arranger, bandleader |
| Instruments | Piano, organ |
| Years active | 1935-1970s |
Ernest Aaron "Ernie" Freeman (August 16, 1922 – May 16, 1981) was an American pianist, organist, bandleader and arranger. He was responsible for arranging many successful rhythm and blues and pop records from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Freeman was born in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1935 he began playing in local Cleveland area nightclubs, and also formed a classical music trio for local social functions with his father and his sister Evelyn. Around 1939, he and Evelyn formed a new band, The Evelyn Freeman Swing Band, with fellow teenagers from Cleveland Central High School. Evelyn played piano, while Ernie played saxophone and also began writing arrangements for the band. The band began a regular engagement at the Circle Ballroom in Cleveland, and broadcast shows for WHK radio station. In 1942, most of the band, apart from Evelyn, joined the US Navy together, and became the first all-black Navy Band, called "The Gobs Of Swing", with Ernie as its leader.
After leaving the Navy in 1945 Ernie entered the Cleveland Institute of Music, from which he graduated with a BA degree. In 1946 he moved with his family to Los Angeles, to attend the University of Southern California where he received his master's degree in music composition. In Los Angeles, he played in clubs, accompanying Dinah Washington and Dorothy Dandridge among others, as well as recording under his own name for the Mambo label. After a spell as arranger for Woody Herman he joined the Ernie Fields Orchestra, playing the piano. Other members of the band included saxophonists Earl Bostic and Plas Johnson, guitarist René Hall, and drummer Earl Palmer. In 1951 Freeman also began playing with the Billy Hadnott Sextet, but left in 1954 to form his own combo with Johnson, Palmer and guitarist Irving Ashby. In 1955 they released their first record, "No No Baby" on the Middle-Tone label. They also recorded with a vocal group, the Voices, who included Bobby Byrd and Earl Nelson of the Hollywood Flames (later Bob & Earl).
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