Tommy Ladnier
| Tommy Ladnier | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Thomas James Ladnier |
| Born |
May 28, 1900 Mandeville, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | June 4, 1939 (aged 39) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Classic jazz |
| Instruments | Trumpet |
| Years active | 1921–1939 |
| Associated acts | Mezz Mezzrow |
Thomas James "Tommy" Ladnier (May 28, 1900 – June 4, 1939) was an American jazz trumpeter. French jazz critic Hugues Panassié rated him second only to Louis Armstrong.
Ladnier was born in Mandeville, Louisiana across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans. He played in the local Independence Band led by clarinetist Isidore Fritz (a.k.a. Frick) from c. 1914. Trumpeter Bunk Johnson sometimes also played with this band and gave young Ladnier tuition. In 1917, he moved with his mother to Chicago. At first he, like many Southerners coming to Chicago, worked at the . He married Hazel B “Daisy” Mathews in 1920 and became a professional musician around 1921. He played for some time in St. Louis with Charlie Creath.
From 1923, he played in Chicago and made numerous recordings for Paramount Records with pianist Lovie Austin, accompanying blues singers like Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, and Alberta Hunter. In 1923, his beloved mother was accidentally shot in at a party quarrel. This took him deeply and the incident is generally considered as the cause of his alcoholic abuse. For some time Ladnier played with his great inspiration King Oliver.
In 1925, Ladnier joined pianist Sam Wooding for an extensive European tour (Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, and Russia). This orchestra recorded in Berlin. He then in 1926 returned to New York, for a while playing with dance band leader Billy Fowler, subsequently joining Fletcher Henderson from October 1926 to November 1927. During this year, the Henderson orchestra was at its prime and Ladnier was one of the main soloists along with trumpeter Joe Smith and saxophonist Coleman Hawkins. This orchestra made some of the most cherished Henderson recordings. Ladnier then rejoined the Sam Wooding Orchestra for another European tour (Germany, Austria, Turkey, Switzerland, Italy, and France) but left Wooding in January 1929 to work as a free-lancer in Paris. A short tour with dancer Harry Fleming brought him to Spain. In Spain, Ladnier also met dancer Louis Douglas and joined him shortly in November 1929 in Paris, acting as orchestra leader. He then again free-lanced in Paris until summer 1930, when he joined the Noble Sissle dance band, performing in Paris and London. He subsequently went back to the States at the end of 1930 and stayed with Sissle until January 1932, including a US tour and an ill-planned short visit to Paris. The Sissle orchestra made some recordings in London and New York.
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