Vernon Story
Encyclopedia
Biography
Vernon Ford Story, Jazz tenor saxophonist, was born in New Iberia, Louisiana, USA on November 16, 1922. He was encouraged to take up the clarinet as a child by his uncle, Clarence Todd, a professional composer. Todd wrote music for and performed with many artists, including Louis Armstrong, clarinet player Sidney Bechet and pianist Fats Waller.Story’s family moved to New York in 1930 and by his early teens he was playing the tenor saxophone with his friends. They formed many small bands and played at local venues in and around Harlem.
In 1946 Rex Stewart, who had just left the Duke Ellington Band, put together a small orchestra to tour Europe as guests of the Hot Club de France. The members were:
- Ted Curry on drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Don Gais on pianoPianoThe 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...
- John Harris on alto sax and clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
- Bill Houston on bassBass (instrument)Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
- Rex StewartRex StewartRex Stewart was an American jazz cornetist best known for his work with the Duke Ellington orchestra....
on cornetCornetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was... - Vernon Story on tenor sax
- Sandy WilliamsSandy WilliamsSandy Williams was an American jazz trombonist born in Summerville, South Carolina, perhaps best-known for playing with the premier big bands of his day, especially the Chick Webb orchestra. Williams also recorded extensively with Ella Fitzgerald.- Early life :In his youth, Williams moved to...
on tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
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They visited Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland making many recordings between 1946 and 1949, including one of Story’s signature tune – “Vernon’s Story” and another of his compositions, "Storyville." Their first concert was at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. They toured major cities Marseilles, Bordeauz and Toulouse, Lyons and Lille. They also played in smaller towns such as Bézier, Carcassonne and Montauban - about 45 Hot Clubs in all.
Story and some of the other musicians stayed on in Paris while Rex Stewart went to Germany, though he joined him there for venues in Berlin. Story played with many of the Jazz greats in Paris, including one of his favorite musicians, guitarist Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
. Story arranged venues for subsets of the original band in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo and Zurich. He also made a cameo appearance as an American Jazz player in a Swedish thriller movie. The Swedish National Jazz Archivist, Jens Lindgren, tracked Story down in 2005 and recorded details of his career.
The Rex Stewart Band band, including Story, played at the first Nice Jazz Festival in Nice, France in 1948, probably the first formal International Jazz Festival. Headliners and fellow musicians that he reminisced of included family friend Louis Armstrong and English Jazz musician, broadcaster and musicologist Humphrey Lyttelton.
Story moved back to the booming tourist center of Atlantic City, NJ in late 1948, playing solo and also with his own band. When interest in the Bee Bop (or Bebop) genre declined he moved his family to Irvington, NY to focus on family life. He played occasional sessions there and in Pleasantville, NJ before leaving the professional music business and moving to Palo Alto, CA in 1992.
Vernon Ford Story died in his sleep early on the morning of Friday, April 20, 2007 in Rio Vista, California, USA. He was 84. Story had combated prostate cancer for many years but he remained strong and active until the final few months of his illness.
Selected discography
- "Buzz Bomb" - Vernon Story and His Tenor Sax accompanied by Rex Stewart Orchestra - Dial Records 755-B - 78 RPM. Probably recorded in 1946.
- "I Giganti Del Jazz #47" ("Giants of Jazz") - Vernon Story, Johnny Harris, Rex Stewart and Sandy Williams.
- "Jazz In Paris, Champs-Élysées, Vol. 1. 1917 to 1949"
- "Rex Stewart - 1946-1947" - Rex Stewart Orchestra
- "Ellingtonia" - Rex Stewart Orchestra - Dial 215 - Recorded December 9 and 10, 1947 - Includes Django ReinhardtDjango ReinhardtDjango Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
- "Rex Stewart - 1948-1949" - Rex Stewart Orchestra - The first track is "Vernon's Story".
- "Rex Stewart Memorial Album." - Black Panther B.LP. 001 [reissued as Prestige 728 and SV 2006]
- "Swing Classics" - ET 13 - Hot Lips Page 1951/Rex Stewart 1947.
Filmography
- Kvinnan Som Försvann (1949) - Genre: Crime. Vernon Story appears in one of the jam session scenes.
Jazz Musicians
- Louis ArmstrongLouis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
- Count BasieCount BasieWilliam "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
- Sidney BechetSidney BechetSidney 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...
- Duke EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
- Humphrey LytteltonHumphrey LytteltonHumphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton , also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster, and chairman of the BBC radio comedy programme I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue...
- Django ReinhardtDjango ReinhardtDjango Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
- Rex StewartRex StewartRex Stewart was an American jazz cornetist best known for his work with the Duke Ellington orchestra....
- Sandy WilliamsSandy WilliamsSandy Williams was an American jazz trombonist born in Summerville, South Carolina, perhaps best-known for playing with the premier big bands of his day, especially the Chick Webb orchestra. Williams also recorded extensively with Ella Fitzgerald.- Early life :In his youth, Williams moved to...
- Fats WallerFats WallerFats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
Jazz Societies and Communities
- HarlemHarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
- Hot Club de France -- Note, this documents a group of musicians, not the original society of Jazz enthusiasts.
- Hot Club de France Gallery - Includes a photo of Vernon Story.
External links
- Clarence Todd
- Jens "Jesse" Lindgren
- Organissimo Jazz Forum
- Premier Festival International de Jazz de Nice - 1st Nice (in France) Jazz Festival 1948