Eddie Sauter

Ernest Edward " Eddie" Sauter ( born December 2, 1914 in Brooklyn, New York, † April 21, 1981 in Nyack, New York) was an American arranger, band leader and trumpeter of the swing era and modern jazz. He led with Bill Finegan, the Sauter - Finegan Orchestra.

Life and work

Eddie Sauter played drums eleven years old, joined the trumpet and became a professional musician at age 17. He studied at Columbia University and music theory at the Juilliard School of Music and played with Archie Bleyer (1932) and Charlie Barnet. As a trumpeter, arranger (for both Norvo and Mildred Bailey for the singer ) and with his play on the Mellophon excited in the band of Red Norvo ( 1935-39 ) attention. He then worked as an arranger for Benny Goodman ( 1939-42 ) (eg, " Benny Rides Again", "Clarinet a la King" ), with Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman and 1946 with Ray McKinley ( "Civilisation " and " Arizay, " 1947).

In 1952 founded Eddie Sauter and Bill Finegan, the Sauter - Finegan Orchestra, which was initially planned as a studio band, but until 1958 played in various formations together. You searched in their orchestral big band music for new forms of musical expression; this time they used specialized instruments such as gamelan, kazoo or bells. With " Doodletown Fivers " they landed the first of her four hits; their composition rose to 12th place and stayed ten weeks in the national charts. The title " Doodletown " they borrowed to a village outside of New York, lived in the vicinity Sauter. The melody they took over from the well-known song "Kingdom Coming" from the American Civil War.

The Sauter - Finegan Orchestra, in which jazz musicians such as Trigger Alpert, Buster Bailey, Danny Bank, Al Klink, Ralph Burns, George Duvivier, Barry Galbraith, Bill Harris, Milt Hinton, Al Klink, Don Lamond, Mundell Lowe, Doc Severinsen Nick Travis, Kai Winding and Phil Woods played, started its activities calculated in the time of the decline of the big swing bands; for big band work, this was a difficult time economically. Therefore, the music of the orchestra made ​​some concessions to the then prevailing taste and exhibited only modest jazz elements, as her second hit " Midnight Sleighride " (# 29) of May 1952 Sauter said this. :

Was your last chart success of the orchestra in August 1953 " The Moon Is Blue " theme song from the film by Otto Preminger, who was nominated for an Oscar. In 1954/55 the musicians of the ensemble met only occasionally to record sessions where versions of the standards " A Foggy Day ", "Autumn Leaves" and " Old Folks " were recorded; at a recent recording session the play " Clarinet a la King " was born. Later, the orchestra performed - as in 1986 - with some reunion concerts.

The extraordinary arrangements Sauter should but in his other projects, such as with Stan Getz ( he wrote and arranged the string arrangements on Focus in 1961 and was at the Film Music Mickey One, 1965, involved ) find. 1957 to 1959 he took over from Kurt Edelhagen the SWF Dance Orchestra in Baden -Baden. After returning to the United States in 1959, he worked mainly as a studio musician, again worked with Bill Finegan and founded a record company.

In 2003, he was inducted into the Big Band Hall of Fame.

Vote

" There was Eddie Sauter's music an immense serenity. The pieces seemed to always be a little taken too slow, and only later became apparent that the pace - of course - was just right. There were those casual ' tempos, as we know something of Jimmie Lunceford and Count Basie. Almost never used Eddie the whole force of all the brass and saxophone, as on the German big band scene was customary at the time, and if he did, then he steered his highlights slowly and organically. He had a whole, percussion section ' in the orchestra and used it like no one else in jazz. His percussion ideas came from Edgar Varese ( ... ). And above all: Eddie Sauter had humor. (...) The Americans laughed when they heard Eddie Sauter, but the Germans remained serious. You just can not seem to, soundboard ' to have that großorchestraler Jazz could be funny. Aloud, he had to be ... but humorous? "

Disco printing specifications

Projects as a leader

• Eddie Sauter: The Sauter Finegan Orchestra - Directions In Music ( RCA, 1952-58 )
• Stan Getz: Focus ( Verve, 1961)
• Stan Getz: Mickey One ( film music, Verve, 1965)
• John Carisi, Eddie Sauter, Christian Wolff, Stefan Wolpe: Counterpoise ( has ( now) ART; 2000)

As a sideman

• Mildred Bailey: That Rockin 'Chair Lady ( 1931-39 )
• Charlie Barnet: 1933-1936 ( Classics )
• Red Norvo: Dance of the Octopus ( Hep, 1933-36 )
• Red Norvo: Jivin 'The Jeep (Hep, 1936-37 )