Miff Mole
Encyclopedia
Irving Milfred Mole, better known as Miff Mole (11 March 1898 – 29 April 1961) was a jazz
trombonist and band leader. He is generally considered as one of the greatest jazz trombonists and credited with creating "the first distinctive and influential solo jazz trombone style." His major recordings included "Slippin' Around", "Red Hot Mama" in 1924 with Sophie Tucker
on vocals, "Miff's Blues", "There'll Come a Time (Wait and See)", on the film soundtrack to the 2008 movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
, and "Toddlin' Blues" and "Davenport Blues", recorded in 1925 with Bix Beiderbecke and Tommy Dorsey as Bix Beiderbecke and His Rhythm Jugglers.
. As a child, he studied violin
and piano
and switched to trombone when he was 15. He played in Gus Sharp's orchestra for two years and in the 1920s went on to become a significant figure of the New York scene: he was a member of the Original Memphis Five (1922), played with Russ Gorman, Roger Wolfe Kahn
, Sam Lanin
, Ray Miller and many others. His other activities, like those of many jazz musicians at the time, included working for silent film
and radio orchestras. In 1926–9 Mole and trumpeter Red Nichols
led a band called "Miff Mole and his Little Molers". They recorded frequently until 1930.
Miff Mole and his band the Molers backed Sophie Tucker who was known as "The Last Of The Red Hot Mammas" and who was one of the most popular singers of the Teens and 1920s. Mole and his band supported her on her 1927 Okeh recordings of "After You've Gone", "Fifty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong", "I Ain't Got Nobody", and "One Sweet Letter From You". Miff Mole and his band, which included Eddie Lang, Jimmy Dorsey, Red Nichols, and Vic Berton, also backed her during her live performances.
In addition to the groups under his own name, Mole was prominently identified from 1925 to 1929 with various recording bands led by cornetist Red Nichols
: The Red Heads, The Hottentots, The Charleston Chasers
, The Six Hottentots, The Cotton Pickers, Red and Miff’s Stompers, and especially Red Nichols and his Five Pennies. These bands recorded for a variety of different labels such as Perfect, Domino, Pathé, Edison, OKeh and Victor, though the Five Pennies name was only used for their recordings on Brunswick. The original Five Pennies band consisted of Nichols on cornet, Mole on trombone, Jimmy Dorsey on clarinet and alto sax, Eddie Lang on guitar, Arthur Schutt on piano and Vic Berton (who came up with the name for the group) on drums, but over time the personnel changed and expanded dramatically. Among the musicians who passed through the Five Pennies were clarinetist Pee Wee Russell, violinist Joe Venuti, bass sax player Adrian Rollini, tuba and bass player Joe Tarto, trombonist-arranger Glenn Miller, and extra trumpet players such as Leo McConville and Charlie Teagarden.
When Jack Teagarden
arrived in New York in 1928, he quickly replaced Mole as the new role model for trombonists, with a more legato
, blues
-oriented approach. Mole, having started working for radio in 1927 (at WOR
), changed his focus to working with NBC
(1929–38). In 1938–40 he was a member of Paul Whiteman
's orchestra, but his style by then had changed under the influence of Teagarden. In 1942–3 Mole played in Benny Goodman
's orchestra, and between 1942–7 he led various dixieland
bands. He worked in Chicago
in 1947–54.
Due to bad health, Mole played very sporadically during his last years. He became a regular at Nick's in Manhattan
, where he played with Pee Wee Russell
, Baby Dodds
, and others. Miff Mole died—broke—in New York City in 1961. A benefit gig to raise money for him took place just too late. He was buried in a pauper's grave.
Mole’s solo style with its impeccable technique, including octave-leaps, shakes, and rapid fire cadenzas, had a profound effect on jazz trombone playing in his time. Among those who emulated Mole’s playing were white trombonists Bill Rank, Glenn Miller, and Tommy Dorsey, and black trombonist Jimmy Harrison. It may even be said that bop trombonist J.J. Johnson was, consciously or unconsciously, playing to some extent in Mole’s footsteps even though he exhibited an even more dazzling slide and lip technique.
In 2005, Miff Mole's 1928 recording of "Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble" with the Little Molers, originally as Okeh 41445, was used in the soundtrack to the Russell Crowe movie Cinderella Man.
In 2008, his composition "There'll Come a Time (Wait and See)", written with Wingy Manone, was on the soundtrack to the Academy Award-nominated movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
.
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...
trombonist and band leader. He is generally considered as one of the greatest jazz trombonists and credited with creating "the first distinctive and influential solo jazz trombone style." His major recordings included "Slippin' Around", "Red Hot Mama" in 1924 with Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker was a Russian/Ukrainian-born American singer and actress. Known for her stentorian delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertainers in America during the first half of the 20th century...
on vocals, "Miff's Blues", "There'll Come a Time (Wait and See)", on the film soundtrack to the 2008 movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy-drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald...
, and "Toddlin' Blues" and "Davenport Blues", recorded in 1925 with Bix Beiderbecke and Tommy Dorsey as Bix Beiderbecke and His Rhythm Jugglers.
Career
Miff Mole was born in Roosevelt, New YorkRoosevelt, New York
Roosevelt is a hamlet in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 16,258 at the 2010 census.Roosevelt is in the town of Hempstead.-Geography:Roosevelt is located at ....
. As a child, he studied violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and switched to trombone when he was 15. He played in Gus Sharp's orchestra for two years and in the 1920s went on to become a significant figure of the New York scene: he was a member of the Original Memphis Five (1922), played with Russ Gorman, Roger Wolfe Kahn
Roger Wolfe Kahn
Roger Wolfe Kahn was an American jazz and popular musician, composer, and bandleader ....
, Sam Lanin
Sam Lanin
Sam Lanin was an American jazz bandleader.Lanin's brothers, Howard and Lester, were also bandleaders, and all of them had sustained, successful careers in music. Lanin was one of ten children born to Russian-Jewish immigrants who emigrated to Philadelphia in the decade of the 1900s...
, Ray Miller and many others. His other activities, like those of many jazz musicians at the time, included working for silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
and radio orchestras. In 1926–9 Mole and trumpeter Red Nichols
Red Nichols
Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader.Over his long career, Nichols recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and critic Steve Leggett describes him as "an expert cornet player, a solid improviser, and apparently a workaholic, since he is...
led a band called "Miff Mole and his Little Molers". They recorded frequently until 1930.
Miff Mole and his band the Molers backed Sophie Tucker who was known as "The Last Of The Red Hot Mammas" and who was one of the most popular singers of the Teens and 1920s. Mole and his band supported her on her 1927 Okeh recordings of "After You've Gone", "Fifty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong", "I Ain't Got Nobody", and "One Sweet Letter From You". Miff Mole and his band, which included Eddie Lang, Jimmy Dorsey, Red Nichols, and Vic Berton, also backed her during her live performances.
In addition to the groups under his own name, Mole was prominently identified from 1925 to 1929 with various recording bands led by cornetist Red Nichols
Red Nichols
Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader.Over his long career, Nichols recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and critic Steve Leggett describes him as "an expert cornet player, a solid improviser, and apparently a workaholic, since he is...
: The Red Heads, The Hottentots, The Charleston Chasers
The Charleston Chasers
The Charleston Chasers was a name used between 1925 and 1930 for a series of recording groups that did not exist outside of the studios. Nobody ever heard this group perform in front of the public, although each of the players had plenty of bandstand experience. The Charleston Chasers existed only...
, The Six Hottentots, The Cotton Pickers, Red and Miff’s Stompers, and especially Red Nichols and his Five Pennies. These bands recorded for a variety of different labels such as Perfect, Domino, Pathé, Edison, OKeh and Victor, though the Five Pennies name was only used for their recordings on Brunswick. The original Five Pennies band consisted of Nichols on cornet, Mole on trombone, Jimmy Dorsey on clarinet and alto sax, Eddie Lang on guitar, Arthur Schutt on piano and Vic Berton (who came up with the name for the group) on drums, but over time the personnel changed and expanded dramatically. Among the musicians who passed through the Five Pennies were clarinetist Pee Wee Russell, violinist Joe Venuti, bass sax player Adrian Rollini, tuba and bass player Joe Tarto, trombonist-arranger Glenn Miller, and extra trumpet players such as Leo McConville and Charlie Teagarden.
When Jack Teagarden
Jack Teagarden
Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden , known as "Big T" and "The Swingin' Gate", was an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, regarded as the "Father of Jazz Trombone".-Early life:...
arrived in New York in 1928, he quickly replaced Mole as the new role model for trombonists, with a more legato
Legato
In musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence...
, 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...
-oriented approach. Mole, having started working for radio in 1927 (at WOR
WOR (AM)
WOR is a class A , AM radio station located in New York, New York, U.S., operating on 710 kHz. The station has a talk format and has been owned by Buckley Broadcasting since 1987, after the station was sold by RKO. The station has conservative, or right-of-center hosts.Its call letters have no...
), changed his focus to working with NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
(1929–38). In 1938–40 he was a member of Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman
Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...
's orchestra, but his style by then had changed under the influence of Teagarden. In 1942–3 Mole played in 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...
's orchestra, and between 1942–7 he led various dixieland
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
bands. He worked in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1947–54.
Due to bad health, Mole played very sporadically during his last years. He became a regular at Nick's in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, where he played with Pee Wee Russell
Pee Wee Russell
Charles Ellsworth Russell, much better known by his nickname Pee Wee Russell, was a jazz musician. Early in his career he played clarinet and saxophones, but eventually focused solely on clarinet....
, Baby Dodds
Baby Dodds
Warren "Baby" Dodds was a jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana."Baby" Dodds was the younger brother of clarinetist Johnny Dodds. He is regarded as one of the very best jazz drummers of the pre-big band era, and one of the most important early jazz drummers...
, and others. Miff Mole died—broke—in New York City in 1961. A benefit gig to raise money for him took place just too late. He was buried in a pauper's grave.
Mole’s solo style with its impeccable technique, including octave-leaps, shakes, and rapid fire cadenzas, had a profound effect on jazz trombone playing in his time. Among those who emulated Mole’s playing were white trombonists Bill Rank, Glenn Miller, and Tommy Dorsey, and black trombonist Jimmy Harrison. It may even be said that bop trombonist J.J. Johnson was, consciously or unconsciously, playing to some extent in Mole’s footsteps even though he exhibited an even more dazzling slide and lip technique.
In 2005, Miff Mole's 1928 recording of "Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble" with the Little Molers, originally as Okeh 41445, was used in the soundtrack to the Russell Crowe movie Cinderella Man.
In 2008, his composition "There'll Come a Time (Wait and See)", written with Wingy Manone, was on the soundtrack to the Academy Award-nominated movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy-drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald...
.
Compositions
Miff Mole's compositions included "Slippin' Around", "There'll Come a Time (Wait and See)" with Wingy Manone, "Hangover" with Red Nichols, "Worryin' The Life Out Of Me" with Frank Signorelli and Sidney Keith 'Bob' Russell, and "Miff's Blues".External links
- Miff Mole and Miff Mole and his (Little) Molers at The Red Hot Jazz Archive
- 1929 Recordings of two songs by Miff Mole & His Little Molers at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...