Bill Douglass

Bill Douglass

Infobox musical artist
Name = Bill Douglass


Img_capt =
Img_size = 250
Landscape =
Background =
Birth_name = William Douglass
Alias =
Born = 1923
Died = death date|1994|12|19
Origin = Sherman, Texas, USA
Instrument = Drum kit
Voice_type =
Genre = Jazz
Occupation = Drummer
Years_active =
Label =
Associated_acts = June Christy
Benny Goodman
Lena Horne
Ben Webster
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =

William "Bill" Douglass (1923-December 19, 1994) was an American jazz drummer born in Sherman, Texas. Douglass relocated to Los Angeles when he was six months old,Bryant, 233.] becoming in his adulthood a popular LA musician who worked shows and sessions with some of swing's top performers.allmusic | id = 11:kxfixqrgldhe~T1] Douglass provided drums for notable instrumentalists like Benny Goodman and Ben Webster, as well as providing backing for vocalists such as Lena Horne and June Christy. Douglass was also known for his work in the American Federation of Musicians, where he was an active proponent of desegregation. He held offices in local unions both before and after their racial integration.

Youth

Six months after Douglass was born in Sherman, Texas, his extended family relocated to Los Angeles in an effort to escape Jim Crow laws. A member of a musical family, Douglass took an early interest in music. He cited as a pivotal moment in his life when he first heard Benny Goodman's drummer Gene Krupa performing "Sing, Sing, Sing" on the radio, when he realized, "That's what I had to do. That's all there was to it."Bryant, 234.] Douglass met and befriended Dexter Gordon while attending McKinley Junior High School in Los Angeles, at which point he first began playing drums. [Bryant, 234-235.] At Jefferson High School, both Douglass and Gordon began taking band under teacher Lloyd Reese, who encouraged the rudiments and private instruction.Bryant, 235.] Though a drummer, Douglass took private keyboard instructions, which he credited with helping him to understand how the various instruments in an ensemble relate.Bryant, 236.] Douglass never took private drum lessons, but eventually made the acquaintance of Cab Calloway drummer Cozy Cole, who used to allow Douglass to watch him practice.Bryant, 237.] Douglass learned a lot watching Cole and other drummers, who gradually helped him evolve a style of his own.

Along with Gordon and Lammar Wright, Jr., Douglass began playing night clubs while still in school and frequently haunted Central Avenue, an important nexus of African American jazz music at the time.Bryant, 239.] Douglass eventually began playing drums for pianist Gerald Wiggins, along with double bass and tuba player Red Callender, until he and Callender left to form a trio with blind pianist Art Tatum.Bryant, 243.]

Military service

In 1941, Douglass graduated high school.Bryant, 245.] He enlisted in the United States Army and was assigned to the African-American 10th Cavalry Regiment at Camp Lockett in Campo, California, where he served along with his high school band teacher as a member of the band. Fifteen months after enlisting, he was shipped overseas, serving in such diverse locations as Casablanca, Oran, Algiers, Naples and Rome. [Bryant, 245-246.] During these travels, Douglass became drum major of his 28-piece ensemble, a position he attributed to his "great height". [Bryant, 246.]

Music and political career

After leaving the service, in about 1949, Douglass began a three year stint with Benny Goodman, where he was at the time the only black member of the band.Bryant, 248.] During that period, Goodman often complained of the need to deal with a separate local chapter of the American Federation of Musicians for Douglass, as the chapters of the union were segregated. Lloyd Reese encouraged Douglass, along with fellow musicians Buddy Collette, Charlie Mingus and Chico Hamilton, to work against the discrimination in the unions, which they did along with Marl Young and Benny Carter. [Bryant, 248-249.] Not allowed to voice opinions at their local union from the floor, the group ran for office, succeeding well enough to take the majority position on the board of directors, though only Douglass took a high position, the vice presidency. [Bryant, 249-250.] At the same time, white members of the American Federation of Musicians were applying pressure within their local. [Bryant, 250.] In spite of significant opposition, a majority vote of both of the unions eventually led to their joining into one in 1953. [Bryant, 233, 250.]

The amalgamation of the unions was not without some difficulty. Horace Tapscott, who was a 15-year-old member of the union at the time and remembered Douglass as among the "vanguard of the movement," indicated in his 2001 autobiography that after the amalgamation, the union was separated by cliques, where a "particular, small, black group of guys would work all the time, because they were in that particular clique with these particular guys who ran the studios."cite book | first = Horace | last = Tapscott | coauthors = Steven Louis Isoardi | title = Songs of the Unsung: The Musical and Social Journey of Horace Taspcott | publisher = Duke University Press | date = 2001 | isbn = 0822325314 | [age = 46-47 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=ZzQtl7iBGDAC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=%22Bill+Douglass%22+%22American+Federation+of+Musicians%22&source=web&ots=xVH7SOjoO0&sig=ONnCvU_I7b0lJSmndap9QRI1iMY&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA47,M1] Though he said that the work seemed to get better "for certain people", he also said that many of the older musicians "didn't have anyplace to go" after the closing of the black union.

Music education

Even as a working musician, Douglass expanded into teaching drums at Drum City. Among his students, Douglass taught Ray Brown, Jr., the adopted son of Ray Brown (musician) and Ella Fitzgerald. [cite book|first = Stuart | last = Nicholson | title = Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography of the First Lady of Jazz | publisher = Da Capo Press | date = 1993 | isbn = 0306806428 | page = 136 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=oBXd2_-6_GoC&pg=PA136&dq=%22Bill+Douglass%22+drums&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U3Iz4geofoz6hGJi3P_yNZs6v347A#PPA136,M1]

elect discography

*"Gerald Wiggins Trio", Gerald Wiggins, 1953.
*"The Lowest", Red Callender, 1958.
*"The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume Seven", Art Tatum with Buddy DeFranco, 1975.
*"The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume Eight", Art Tatum with Ben Webster, 1975.
*"Honor Thy Fatha", Earl Hines, 1978.
*"The Complete Aladdin Recordings of Amos Milburn", Amos Milburn, 1994.
*"Naturally", The Red Norvo Quintet, 2005.

Notes

References

*cite book|first = Clora | last = Bryant | coauthors = Jack Kelson, Horace Tapscott, Gerald Wilson | title = Central Avenue Sounds: Jazz in Los Angeles | publisher = University of California Press | date = 1999 | isbn = 0520220986 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=A3GuMFeWBygC&pg=PA233&dq=%22Bill+Douglass%22+drums&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U2LLOob4beXlPd60x0hWkzKOCOUuA#PPA233,M1

Persondata
NAME=Douglass, William "Bill"
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=African American jazz drummer, desegregationist
DATE OF BIRTH=1923
PLACE OF BIRTH=Sherman, Texas, United States
DATE OF DEATH=December 19, 1994
PLACE OF DEATH=


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Douglass (surname) — Abel Douglass (before 1849 – c. 1907), American whaler A. E. Douglass (1867–1962), American astronomer Astyanax Douglass (1897–1975), Major League Baseball catcher for the Cincinnati Reds Bill Douglass (1923–1994), American jazz drummer Bobby… …   Wikipedia

  • Douglass Dumbrille — as J.D. Morgan in the Marx Brothers film A Day at the Races (1937) Born October 13, 1889(1889 10 13) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada …   Wikipedia

  • Douglass Dumbrille — Dans Blonde Savage (1947) Données clés Naissance …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bill Cosby — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Bill Cosby Bill Cosby habla en la secundaria Frederick Douglass Nombre real William Henry Cosby Jr. Nacimiento …   Wikipedia Español

  • Bill Bright — (eigentlich: Dr. William Rohl Bright; * 19. Oktober 1921 in Coweta, Oklahoma; † 19. Juli 2003 in Orlando, Florida) war ein US amerikanischer Evangelist und Gründer des weltweit größten Missionswerks Campus Crusade for Christ International, das… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Bill Ayers presidential election controversy — Bill Ayers speaks to audience members following a forum on education reform at Florida State University (January 12, 2009). During the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, a controversy arose regarding Barack Obama s contact with Bill Ayers, a… …   Wikipedia

  • Bill Cosby — Cosby speaking at Riverside Church, New York City, in 2010 …   Wikipedia

  • Maurice Douglass — Date of birth: February 12, 1964 (1964 02 12) (age 47) Place of birth …   Wikipedia

  • Abel Douglass — (also Douglas, Duglas) was born on Isle au Haut, Maine, and traveled to San Francisco California on the California Packet with his father and siblings in 1849. The Douglass family first settled in Antioch, then moved to Petaluma CA. They built… …   Wikipedia

  • Mike Douglass (American football) — Mike Douglass Date of birth: March 15, 1955 (1955 03 15) (age 56) Place of birth: St. Louis, Missouri Career information Position(s) …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”