Leonard Ware
Encyclopedia
Leonard Ware was an American jazz
guitar player and composer, who was one of the early electric guitar
ists in jazz.
Ware was born in Richmond, Virginia
and attended Tuskegee Institute
in his youth, where he learned to play oboe
. He switched to guitar and began leading his own trio, which performed in New York during the 1930s and 1940s. Ware played on clarinetist/saxophonist Sidney Bechet
's first recordings as leader in November 1938 for the Vocalion
label
("What a Dream", "Jungle Drums"). Soon after, Bechet teamed Ware with fellow guitarist Jimmy Shirley
, making the group perhaps the first to include two electric guitars. Besides his work with Bechet, Ware also recorded with Buddy Johnson
, Don Byas
, Big Joe Turner
, and Albinia Jones. He recorded as a leader in 1947; shortly thereafter, Ware stopped working as a full-time musician.
In December 1938, he played at Carnegie Hall
with the Kansas City Six (Lester Young
and Buck Clayton
); in 1939 he recorded with Benny Goodman
("Umbrella Man").
In the early 1940s, Ward had his own trio and played in New York's Greenwich Village
. At the end of the 1940s he quit the music industry and worked at the postal service.
Ware was the co-composer of "Hold Tight" (which he recorded with Bechet) and "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Harlem" (with Jerry Gray
and Buddy Feyne
), which was covered by Glenn Miller
and The Delta Rhythm Boys
in 1944.
The guitarist should not be confused with the blues
bassist of the same name, who played with Elmore James
and Sonny Boy Williamson II
.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
guitar player and composer, who was one of the early electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
ists in jazz.
Ware was born in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
and attended Tuskegee Institute
Tuskegee University
Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund...
in his youth, where he learned to play oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
. He switched to guitar and began leading his own trio, which performed in New York during the 1930s and 1940s. Ware played on clarinetist/saxophonist Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.He was one of the first important soloists in jazz , and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist...
's first recordings as leader in November 1938 for the Vocalion
Vocalion Records
Vocalion Records is a record label active for many years in the United States and in the United Kingdom.-History:Vocalion was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Piano Company of New York City, which introduced a retail line of phonographs at the same time. The name was derived from one of their...
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
("What a Dream", "Jungle Drums"). Soon after, Bechet teamed Ware with fellow guitarist Jimmy Shirley
Jimmy Shirley
Jimmy Shirley was an American Jazz Guitarist. He was born in 1913 and died in 1989. He played with many famed jazz musicians, including James P. Johnson and Coleman Hawkins.- Bibliography :* http://www.classicjazzguitar.com/artists/artists_page.jsp?artist=69...
, making the group perhaps the first to include two electric guitars. Besides his work with Bechet, Ware also recorded with Buddy Johnson
Buddy Johnson
Not to be confused with Budd Johnson.Buddy Johnson was an American jazz and New York blues pianist and bandleader, active from the 1930s through the 1960s...
, Don Byas
Don Byas
Carlos Wesley "Don" Byas was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, long-resident in Europe.- Oklahoma and Los Angeles :...
, Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...
, and Albinia Jones. He recorded as a leader in 1947; shortly thereafter, Ware stopped working as a full-time musician.
In December 1938, he played at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
with the Kansas City Six (Lester Young
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
and Buck Clayton
Buck Clayton
Buck Clayton was an American jazz trumpet player who was a leading member of Count Basie’s "Old Testament" orchestra and a leader of mainstream-oriented jam session recordings in the 1950s. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong...
); in 1939 he recorded with Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
("Umbrella Man").
In the early 1940s, Ward had his own trio and played in New York's Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
. At the end of the 1940s he quit the music industry and worked at the postal service.
Ware was the co-composer of "Hold Tight" (which he recorded with Bechet) and "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Harlem" (with Jerry Gray
Jerry Gray (Arranger)
Jerry Gray was an American violinist, arranger, composer, and leader of swing dance orchestras bearing his name. He is widely known for his work with popular music during the Swing era. His name is inextricably linked to two of the most famous bandleaders of the time, Artie Shaw and Glenn Miller...
and Buddy Feyne
Buddy Feyne
Buddy Feyne was an American composer and lyricist of the swing era.He penned the lyrics for the standards "Tuxedo Junction" and "Jersey Bounce"...
), which was covered by Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
and The Delta Rhythm Boys
The Delta Rhythm Boys
The Delta Rhythm Boys were an American vocal group active for over 50 years in the 20th century. The group was first formed at Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma in 1934 by Elmaurice Miller, Traverse Crawford, Essie Joseph Adkins and Otha Lee Gaines...
in 1944.
The guitarist should not be confused with the blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
bassist of the same name, who played with Elmore James
Elmore James
Elmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
and Sonny Boy Williamson II
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Willie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
.
Sources
- Bielefelder Katalog 1988
- Richard CookRichard CookRichard David Cook was a British jazz writer, magazine editor and former record company executive.Sometimes credited as R. D. Cook, Cook was born in Kew, Surrey and lived in west London as an adult. He was co-author, with Brian Morton, of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings , now in its ninth...
& Brian MortonBrian MortonBrian Morton may refer to:*Brian Morton , American academic and novelist*Brian Morton , Scottish broadcaster, journalist and writer, who is most widely known as a jazz critic*Brian Morton...
: The Penguin Guide to JazzThe Penguin Guide to JazzThe Penguin Guide to Jazz is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which are currently available in Europe or the United States...
on CD 6th edition. ISBN 0-14-051521-6 - Leonard FeatherLeonard FeatherLeonard Geoffrey Feather was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer who was best known for his music journalism and other writing.-Biography:...
, Ira GitlerIra GitlerIra Gitler is an American jazz historian and journalist. Perhaps best known for The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz written with Leonard Feather—the most recent edition appeared in 1999—he has written hundreds of liner notes for jazz recordings since the early 1950s and is the author of dozens...
: The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, Oxford usw. 1999; ISBN 978-0-19-532000-8 - John Jörgensen, Erik Wiedemann Jazzlexikon. Mosaik, München, 1967