Tricky Sam Nanton
| Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton | |
|---|---|
From the left: Tricky Sam Nanton, H. Carney, W. Jones. Hurricane Ballroom, April 1943.
(Nanton and Jones with a plunger mute). |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joseph Nanton |
| Born | February 1, 1904 |
| Origin |
 New York City
|
| Died | July 20, 1946 (aged 42) |
| Genres | Jazz, Swing |
| Instruments | trombone |
| Associated acts | Duke Ellington |
Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton (February 1, 1904 – July 20, 1946) was an American trombonist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
Nanton was born in New York City and began playing professionally in Washington, DC with bands led by Cliff Jackson and Elmer Snowden.
From 1923 to 1924, he worked with Frazier's Harmony Five. A year later, he performed with banjoist Elmer Snowden. At age 22, Joe Nanton found his niche in Duke Ellington's Orchestra when he reluctantly took the place of his friend Charlie Irvis in 1926, and remained with Ellington until his early death in 1946. Nanton, along with Lawrence Brown, anchored the trombone section.
Nanton was one of the great pioneers of the plunger mute. In 1921, Nanton heard Johnny Dunn playing the trumpet with a plunger, which Nanton realized could be used to similar effect on the trombone. Together with Ellington's trumpeter Bubber Miley, Nanton is largely responsible for creating the characteristic Wah-wah effect. Their highly expressive growl and plunger sounds were the main ingredient in the band's early “jungle” sound that evolved during the band's late 1920s engagement at Harlem's "Cotton Club". According to Barney Bigard, “...he [Joe Nanton] grabbed his plunger. He could use that thing, too. It talked to you. I was sitting there, looking up at him, and every time he'd say 'wa-wa,' I was saying 'wa-wa' with my mouth, following him all the way through.” Sensing Nanton's impressive manual dexterity the jovial alto saxophonist Otto "Toby" Hardwick, ever inclined to tag friends with fitting nicknames, dubbed Nanton "Tricky Sam": “anything to save himself trouble—he was tricky that way.”
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