John Kirby (musician)
| John Kirby | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Kirk |
| Born |
December 31, 1908 Winchester, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | June 14, 1952 (aged 43) Hollywood, California |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Double bass |
| Associated acts | Fletcher Henderson |
John Kirby (December 31, 1908 – June 14, 1952), was a jazz double-bassist who also played trombone and tuba. In addition to sideman work (prominently with Benny Goodman), Kirby is remembered for leading a successful chamber jazz sextet in the late 1930s and early 1940s, which scored several hit songs including "Loch Lomond" and the debut recording of "Undecided", a jazz standard.
John Kirby was born John Kirk in Winchester, Virginia on 31 December 1908. His mother, Dolly Kirk (died October 1925) gave him up for adoption and he was raised at 442 North Kent Street by Reverend Washington Johnson and his wife, Nancy. Kirby was a student at the Winchester Colored School (renamed Douglass School in 1916) and started trombone lessons around 1917 under the guidance of Professor Powell Gibson (principal, math, drama and music teacher). Kirby (after success in New York), stated that Bach's work fascinated him as a kid and that he learned to play music just as it was written.
Kirby's formal education ended around 1923. That same year, he met Mary Moten of Airmont, Virginia, and they married on 25 August 1925. On 14 December 1925, Mary gave birth to Yvonne Constance Kirk. Based on known affiliations (Yvonne, Powell Gibson, Mary Moten and former schoolmate, Anna Bertha), Kirby's father lived in Baltimore and was a frequent visitor to the Winchester area. By 1936, Kirby was a successful sideman on the New York City jazz scene, and his eleven-year-old daughter, Yvonne (a student at Douglass) heard stories about her successful father from Powell Gibson.
In 1927, Kirby arrived in Baltimore, where he met trombonist Jimmy Harrison, saxophonist Coleman Hawkins and composer Duke Ellington. Harrison persuaded Kirby to switch from trombone to tuba. Shortly after his arrival in New York, Kirby played tuba with Bill Brown and His Brownies at the Star Ballroom on Forty-Second Street. Later, he performed with pianist Charlie Sheets at the Bedford Ballroom in Brooklyn and then with John C. Smith's Society Band at Harlem's Alhambra Ballroom.
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