Juan Tizol
Juan Tizol | |
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![]() Tizol in Duke Ellington's orchestra, 1943 | |
Background information | |
Born | (1900-01-22)January 22, 1900 Vega Baja, Puerto Rico |
Died | April 23, 1984(1984-04-23) (aged 84) Inglewood, California, U.S. |
Genres | Jazz, big band |
Instrument | Valve trombone |
Juan Tizol Martínez (22 January 1900 – 23 April 1984)[1] was a Puerto Rican jazz trombonist and composer. He is best known as a member of Duke Ellington's big band, and for writing the jazz standards "Caravan", "Pyramid", and "Perdido".
Biography
Tizol was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Music was a large part of his life from an early age. His first instrument was the violin, but he soon switched to valve trombone, the instrument he played throughout his career. His musical training came mostly from his uncle Manuel Tizol, the director of the municipal band and the symphony in San Juan. Throughout his youth, Tizol played in his uncle's band and also gained experience by playing in local operas, ballets, and dance bands. In 1920, Tizol joined a band that was traveling to the United States to work in Washington, D.C. The group eventually made it to Washington traveling as stowaways and established residence at the Howard Theater, where they played for touring shows and silent films. At Howard, they also were hired to play in small jazz or dance groups. This is where Tizol first came in contact with Duke Ellington.[1]
Tizol joined Ellington's band in mid-1929.[1] Arthur Whetsel, a trumpeter with whom Tizol played in the White Brothers' Band, made the recommendation. Tizol sat beside Tricky Sam Nanton in the two-man trombone section and became the fifth voice in the brass section of Ellington's orchestra. This opened up new possibilities for Ellington's writing, as he now could write for trombones as a section instead of just having them play with the trumpets. Tizol's rich, warm tone also blended pleasingly with the saxophone section, so he was often scored carrying the lead melody with the saxes. Along with his distinctive sound, Tizol was also known for being one of the best sight-readers and overall musicians in the band. He played with great accuracy and was considered to be the solid rock of the trombone section. He was not a significant improviser in the band, but he was often featured playing written-out solos that displayed his masterful technique and agility on the horn.
Tizol made many contributions to the Ellington band throughout the 1930s and 1940s. One of his major roles in the band was copying parts from Ellington's scores. Tizol extracted parts that needed to be written out for upcoming shows. Besides copying, Tizol also composed for the band. His best-known compositions, "Caravan" (1936) and "Perdido" (1941), are jazz standards.[1] Mercer Ellington stated that Tizol had derived the melody to "Caravan" from his days studying music in Puerto Rico, where they could not afford much sheet music so the teacher turned the music upside down after they had learned to play it right-side up. This technique became known as 'inverting'. Tizol was responsible for bringing Latin influences into the Ellington band with other compositions such as "Moonlight Fiesta", "Jubilesta", and "Conga Brava".[1] He also played valide trombone.
Tizol left Ellington's band in 1944 to play in the Harry James Orchestra.[1] The main reason for this was to allow him to spend more time with his wife, who lived in Los Angeles. In 1951, he returned to Ellington, along with James's drummer and alto saxophonist, in what became known as 'the James raid'. However, he returned to James' band in 1953 and remained predominantly on the West Coast for the remainder of his career.[1] In Los Angeles, he played sporadically with Harry James, Nelson Riddle, Louis Bellson and on Nat King Cole's television show.[1] Tizol returned very briefly to Ellington's band in the early 1960s but eventually retired in Los Angeles.[1] He died of a heart attack at the age of 84 on April 23, 1984, in Inglewood, California, two years after the death of his wife, Rosebud.[2]
Discography
As sideman
With Louis Bellson
- Journey Into Love (Norgran, 1954)
- Drumorama! (Verve, 1957)
- Music, Romance and Especially Love (Verve, 1957)
- The Brilliant Bellson Sound (Verve, 1960)
- Louis Bellson Swings Jule Styne (Verve, 1960)
- Live in Stereo June 28, 1959, at the Flamingo Hotel Vol. 1 (Jazz Hour, 1992)
With Duke Ellington
- Ellington Uptown (Columbia, 1951)
- Ellington '55 (Capitol, 1954)
- Seattle Concert (RCA Victor, 1954)
- Ellington Showcase (Capitol, 1956)
- Liberian Suite and a Tone Parallel to Harlem (Columbia, 1956)
- Piano in the Background (Columbia, 1960)
- Selections from Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 & 2 and Suite Thursday (Columbia, 1960)
- The Nutcracker Suite (Columbia, 1960)
- Paris Blues (United Artists, 1961)
With Harry James
- Dancing in Person with Harry James at the Hollywood Palladium (Columbia, 1954)
- Soft Lights, Sweet Trumpet (Columbia, 1954)
- Harry James in Hi-fi (Capitol, 1955)
- Jazz Session (Columbia, 1955)
- Juke Box Jamboree (Columbia, 1955)
- More Harry James in Hi-fi (Capitol, 1956)
- Requests On-the-Road (MGM, 1962)
With others
- Count Basie, First Time! The Count Meets the Duke (Columbia, 1962)
- Benny Carter, Cosmopolite (Norgran, 1954)
- Nat King Cole, After Midnight (Capitol, 1956)
- Nat King Cole, The Piano Style of Nat King Cole (Capitol, 1956)
- Maxwell Davis, Compositions of Duke Ellington and Others (Crown, 1960)
- Ella Fitzgerald, Get Happy! (Verve, 1959)
- Ella Fitzgerald, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book Vol. 1 (Verve, 1960)
- Peggy Lee, The Man I Love (Capitol, 1957)
- Peggy Lee, Jump for Joy (Capitol, 1958)
- Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely (Capitol, 1958)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 397/8. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
- ^ Wilson, John S. (26 April 1984). "Juan Tizol Dead; Jazz Trombonist". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
Other sources
- Dietrich, Kurt. Duke's Bones. Germany: Advance Music, 1995. Print.
- Serrano, Basilio. "Juan Tizol: His talents, his collaborators, his legacy." Centro Journal Vol XVIII. Number 11 (2006). Print.
- Mercer Ellington On Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz Mercer Ellington On Piano Jazz
External links
- Juan Tizol at AllMusic
- Juan Tizol discography at Discogs
- Juan Tizol Archived 2021-02-10 at the Wayback Machine at Music of Puerto Rico
- Juan Tizol at Spaceagepop
- Juan Tizol recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings
- v
- t
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- Harlem Jazz, 1930
- Ellingtonia, Vol. One
- Ellingtonia, Vol. Two
- Braggin' in Brass: The Immortal 1938 Year
- The Blanton–Webster Band
- Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band
- Smoke Rings
- Liberian Suite
- Great Times!
- Masterpieces by Ellington
- Ellington Uptown
- The Duke Plays Ellington
- Ellington '55
- Dance to the Duke!
- Ellington Showcase
- Historically Speaking
- Duke Ellington Presents...
- The Complete Porgy and Bess
- A Drum Is a Woman
- Studio Sessions, Chicago 1956
- Such Sweet Thunder
- Studio Sessions 1957 & 1962
- Ellington Indigos
- Black, Brown and Beige
- Duke Ellington at the Bal Masque
- The Cosmic Scene
- Happy Reunion
- Jazz Party
- Anatomy of a Murder
- Festival Session
- Blues in Orbit
- The Nutcracker Suite
- Piano in the Background
- Swinging Suites by Edward E. and Edward G.
- Unknown Session
- Piano in the Foreground
- Paris Blues
- Featuring Paul Gonsalves
- Midnight in Paris
- Studio Sessions, New York 1962
- Afro-Bossa
- The Symphonic Ellington
- Duke Ellington's Jazz Violin Session
- Studio Sessions New York 1963
- My People
- Ellington '65
- Duke Ellington Plays Mary Poppins
- Ellington '66
- Concert in the Virgin Islands
- The Popular Duke Ellington
- Far East Suite
- The Jaywalker
- Studio Sessions, 1957, 1965, 1966, 1967, San Francisco, Chicago, New York
- ...And His Mother Called Him Bill
- Second Sacred Concert
- Studio Sessions New York, 1968
- Latin American Suite
- The Pianist
- New Orleans Suite
- Orchestral Works
- The Suites, New York 1968 & 1970
- The Intimacy of the Blues
- The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse
- Studio Sessions New York & Chicago, 1965, 1966 & 1971
- The Intimate Ellington
- The Ellington Suites
- This One's for Blanton!
- Up in Duke's Workshop
- Duke's Big 4
- Mood Ellington
- Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live
- Black, Brown, and Beige
- The Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1943
- The Carnegie Hall Concerts: December 1944
- The Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1946
- The Carnegie Hall Concerts: December 1947
- Ellington at Newport
- Dance Concerts, California 1958
- Dance Dates, California 1958
- Newport 1958
- Jazz at the Plaza Vol. II
- Duke Ellington at the Alhambra
- Live at the Blue Note
- Hot Summer Dance
- The Great Paris Concert
- A Concert of Sacred Music
- In the Uncommon Market
- Soul Call
- Yale Concert
- 70th Birthday Concert
- Togo Brava Suite
- Live at the Whitney
- Third Sacred Concert
- Eastbourne Performance
- Blue Rose
- Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book
- Side by Side
- Back to Back
- The Great Summit
- First Time! The Count Meets the Duke
- Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins
- Money Jungle
- Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
- Serenade to Sweden
- Ella at Duke's Place
- The Stockholm Concert, 1966
- Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur
- Francis A. & Edward K.
- It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing
- "African Flower"
- "All Too Soon"
- "Azure"
- "Black and Tan Fantasy"
- "Black, Brown and Beige"
- "C Jam Blues"
- "Come Sunday"
- "Cotton Tail"
- "Creole Love Call"
- "Day Dream"
- "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue"
- "Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me"
- "Don't Get Around Much Anymore"
- "Drop Me Off in Harlem"
- "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo"
- "Echoes of Harlem"
- "Everything but You"
- "I Ain't Got Nothin' but the Blues"
- "I Didn't Know About You"
- "I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)"
- "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart"
- "I'm Beginning to See the Light"
- "I'm Just a Lucky So-and-So"
- "In a Mellow Tone"
- "In a Sentimental Mood"
- "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"
- "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'"
- "Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don't Tease Me)"
- "The Mooche"
- "Mood Indigo"
- " Prelude to a Kiss"
- "Rocks in My Bed"
- "(In My) Solitude"
- "Sophisticated Lady"
- Queenie Pie (unfinished opera)
by Billy Strayhorn |
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by Juan Tizol |
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members
- Hayes Alvis
- Cat Anderson
- Ivie Anderson
- Harold Ashby
- Alice Babs
- Shorty Baker
- Butch Ballard
- Art Baron
- Aaron Bell
- Louie Bellson
- Joe Benjamin
- Barney Bigard
- Lou Blackburn
- Jimmy Blanton
- Wellman Braud
- Lawrence Brown
- Harry Carney
- Johnny Coles
- Willie Cook
- Buster Cooper
- Kay Davis
- Wild Bill Davis
- Wilbur de Paris
- Bobby Durham
- Mercer Ellington
- Rolf Ericson
- Jimmy Forrest
- Victor Gaskin
- Peter Giger
- Tyree Glenn
- Paul Gonsalves
- Sonny Greer
- Fred Guy
- Jimmy Hamilton
- Otto Hardwick
- Shelton Hemphill
- Rick Henderson
- Al Hibbler
- Johnny Hodges
- Major Holley
- Charlie Irvis
- Quentin Jackson
- Hilton Jefferson
- Herb Jeffries
- Freddie Jenkins
- Money Johnson
- Herbie Jones
- Wallace Jones
- Taft Jordan
- Al Killian
- Queen Esther Marrow
- Wendell Marshall
- Murray McEachern
- Louis Metcalf
- James "Bubber" Miley
- Harold "Geezil" Minerve
- Ray Nance
- Tricky Sam Nanton
- Oscar Pettiford
- Eddie Preston
- Russell Procope
- Junior Raglin
- Betty Roché
- Ernie Royal
- Al Sears
- Joya Sherrill
- Willie Smith
- Elmer Snowden
- Rex Stewart
- Billy Strayhorn
- Billy Taylor
- Clark Terry
- Juan Tizol
- Norris Turney
- Ben Webster
- Arthur Whetsel
- Cootie Williams
- Nelson Williams
- Skippy Williams
- Booty Wood
- Jimmy Woode
- Britt Woodman
- Sam Woodyard