Happy Caldwell
Happy Caldwell ( born July 25, 1903 in Chicago, Illinois as Albert W. Caldwell, † December 29, 1978 in New York), also Happy Cauldwell, was an American jazz musician (clarinet, tenor saxophone).
Life and work
( Occasionally wrongly Cauldwell is written ) began with 16 years in the clarinet to play "Happy" Caldwell; he was a member of the Eighth Illinois Regimental band and also played in a Army band. After his discharge from the army he studied pharmacy, but soon gave up the study in order to become a professional musician.
In the early 1920s he worked with Bernie Young in Chicago, where in 1923 the first recordings were with him. During this time he also began on the tenor saxophone. Middle of the decade he was a member of Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds, Bobby Brown Syncopaters, as well as the bands of Elmer Snowden, Billy Fowler, Thomas Morris, Willie Gant and Cliff Jackson. 1926 made recordings with Morris, 1929 with Louis Armstrong and Eddie Condon's Hot Shots with Jack Teagarden.
In the 1930s, Caldwell played at Vernon Andrade, Billy Banks, Tiny Bradshaw and Louis Metcalf; next he headed in 1935 its own formation, The Happy Pals. A short time he appeared in New York City in Minton 's Playhouse; then he moved to Philadelphia, where he worked with Eugene Slappy and Charlie Gaines. He eventually returned to New York back in 1939 on Jelly Roll Morton / Sidney Bechet and introduced in 1940 a new ensemble together. In the next few decades he worked mainly in smaller formations; in the 1970s he played with Jimmy Rushing, with whom he went on international tours.
Caldwell is a model of early Coleman Hawkins '.
Swell
- Richard Cook & Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings, 8th Edition, London, Penguin, 2006 ISBN 0-14-102327-9
- Nat Hentoff, Nat Shapiro Jazz told. Hear me talkin 'to ya. JAS, Frankfurt / M. 1984, ISBN 3-923396-05-8. (English Edition Penguin 1955)