Sy Oliver

Sy Oliver
Sy Oliver from September 1946
Background information
Birth name	Melvin James Oliver
Born	(1910-12-17)December 17, 1910 Battle Creek, Michigan, United States
Died	May 28, 1988(1988-05-28) (aged 77) New York City
Genres	Bandleader, conductor, arranger
Years active	1930s–1980s
Labels	Decca, Columbia, Capitol
Associated acts	Bill Kenny, Frank Sinatra, Jimmie Lunceford

Melvin James "Sy" Oliver (December 17, 1910 – May 28, 1988) was an African-American jazz arranger, trumpeter, composer, singer and bandleader.

Sy Oliver was born in Battle Creek, Michigan. His mother was a piano teacher and his father was a multi-instrumentalist who made a name for himself demonstrating saxophones at a time that instrument was little used outside of marching bands.

Oliver left home at 17 to play with Zack Whyte and his Chocolate Beau Brummels and later with Alphonse Trent. He sang and played trumpet with these bands, becoming known for his "growling" horn playing.

Oliver arranged and conducted many songs for Ella Fitzgerald from her Decca years. As a composer, one of his most famous songs was "T'ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)", which he co-wrote with Trummy Young.

In 1933, Oliver joined Jimmie Lunceford's band, contributing many hit arrangements for the band, including "My Blue Heaven" and "Ain't She Sweet" as well as his original composition "For Dancers Only" which in time became the band's theme song. In 1939, he became one of the first African Americans with a prominent role in a white band when he joined Tommy Dorsey as an arranger, though he ceased playing trumpet at that time. (Fletcher Henderson, another African American composer/arranger, had joined the Benny Goodman orchestra as the arranger some years earlier.) He led the transition of the Dorsey band from Dixieland to modern big band. His joining was instrumental in Buddy Rich's decision to join Dorsey. His arrangement of "On the Sunny Side of the Street" was a big hit for Dorsey, as were his own compositions "Yes, Indeed!" (a gospel-jazz tune that was later recorded by Ray Charles), "Opus One" (originally titled as "Opus No. 1", but changed to suit the lyric that was added later), "The Minor Is Muggin'", and "Well, Git It".