egroj world: Al Hirt • At The Jazz Band Ball

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Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Al Hirt • At The Jazz Band Ball



Al Hirt (7 de noviembre de 1922 – 27 de abril de 1999) fue un trompetista y líder de banda de nacionalidad estadounidense. Es recordado por sus millonarias ventas del tema "Java" y de su álbum acompañante, Honey in the Horn (1963). Algunos de los apodos que recibió fueron 'Jumbo' y 'The Round Mound of Sound'. Hirt fue miembro del Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

Su nombre verdadero era Alois Maxwell Hirt, y nació en Nueva Orleans, Luisiana. Era hijo de un oficial de policía, y a los seis años de edad le dieron su primera trompeta. Tocó en la Banda Juvenil de la Policía con los hijos de Alcide Núñez, y a los 16 años Hirt ya tocaba de modo profesional, a menudo con su amigo Pete Fountain. En esa época fue contratado para tocar en las carreras de caballos locales, empezando con ello una relación con el deporte que se extendió a lo largo de seis décadas.

En 1940 Hirt fue a Cincinnati, Ohio, para estudiar en el Conservatorio de Música de Cincinnati con Frank Simon (antiguo solista de la Orquesta de John Philip Sousa). Tras tocar el clarín durante su servicio en el Ejército de los Estados Unidos durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Hirt actuó con varias big bands de estilo swing, entre ellas las de Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, y Ina Ray Hutton, siendo en 1950 el primer trompeta y solista de la Orquesta de Horace Heidt.

En Nueva Orleans Hirt trabajó con varios grupos Dixieland y dirigió grupos propios. A pesar de afirmar que no era un trompetista de jazz, Hirt hizo algunas grabaciones tocando en ese estilo en la década de 1950, tocando entre otros con Monk Hazel para el sello local Southland Records.

La virtuosidad y el fino tono de su instrumento atrajeron pronto la atención de compañías nacionales como RCA Records. En las décadas de 1950 y 1960 Hirt tuvo 22 álbumes en las listas de éxitos de Billboard. Los discos Honey In The Horn y Cotton Candy entre los diez más vendidos en 1964, el mismo año en que su versión del tema de Allen Toussaint "Java" fue nº 4 de Billboard, ganando posteriormente un Premio Grammy. Tanto Honey in the Horn como "Java" vendieron más de un millón de copias, llegando los dos a ser Disco de Oro.

Otro éxito de Hirt, "Sugar Lips" (1964), posteriormente sería el tema musical del concurso de la NBC Eye Guess, presentado por Bill Cullen y emitido a fínales de los años sesenta. Hirt también fue escogido para grabar el frenético tema del show televisivo "The Green Hornet", del famoso arreglista y compositor Billy May. Temáticamente reminiscente de la obra de Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov El vuelo del moscardón, demostraba la destreza técnica de Hirt. La grabación volvió a utilizarse en el film de 2003 Kill Bill.

Desde mediada la década de 1950 a los inicios de la de 1960, Hirt y su grupo tocaron por las noches en Dan's Pier 600, en Nueva Orleans, nightclub propiedad de Dan Levy, Sr. En 1962 Hirt abrió su propio club en Bourbon Street, en el Barrio Francés, el cual dirigió hasta 1983. En 1967 también fue propietario parcial del club de la National Football League New Orleans Saints.

En 1962, en un esfuerzo por presentarse con un diferente marco musical, Hirt colaboró con el arreglista y compositor Billy May y con el productor Steve Sholes para grabar un disco titulado Horn A Plenty. Con una ecléctica variedad de estándares populares y melodías de espectáculos, que incluyó una gran banda completada por timbales, trompas y arpa.

El 8 de febrero de 1970, mientras tocaba en una carroza de un desfile de Martes de Carnaval en Nueva Orleans, Hirt resultó herido. Aunque no se conocieron con detalle sus heridas, Hirt hubo de someterse a cirugía y tardó un tiempo en poder volver a tocar con normalidad.

En 1987 Hirt hizo una interpretación del "Ave María" durante la visita a Nueva Orleans llevada a cabo por el Papa Juan Pablo II.

Al Hirt falleció en 1999 en Nueva Orleans, Luisiana, a causa de un fallo hepático tras haber pasado un año en una silla de ruedas como consecuencia de un edema en una pierna. Tenía 76 años de edad. A pesar del edema, Hirt había seguido tocando en clubs locales, entre ellos el Chris Owens Club. Sus restos fueron enterrados en el Cementerio Metairie de Nueva Orleans.
Alois Maxwell "Al" Hirt (November 7, 1922 – April 27, 1999) was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million-selling recordings of "Java" and the accompanying album Honey in the Horn (1963), and for the theme song to The Green Hornet. His nicknames included "Jumbo" and "The Round Mound of Sound". Colin Escott, an author of musician biographies, wrote that RCA Victor Records, for which Hirt had recorded most of his best-selling recordings and for which he had spent much of his professional recording career, had dubbed him with another moniker: "The King." Hirt was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in November 2009.

Hirt was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of a police officer. At the age of six, he was given his first trumpet, which had been purchased at a local pawnshop. He would play in the Junior Police Band with the children of Alcide Nunez, and by the age of 16, Hirt was playing professionally, often with his friend Pete Fountain. During this time, he was hired to play at the local horse racing track, beginning a six-decade connection to the sport.

In 1940, Hirt went to Cincinnati, Ohio, to study at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music with Dr. Frank Simon (a former soloist with the John Philip Sousa Orchestra). After a stint as a bugler in the United States Army during World War II, Hirt performed with various swing big bands, including those of Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Ina Ray Hutton.

In 1950, Hirt became first trumpet and featured soloist with Horace Heidt's Orchestra. After spending several years on the road with Heidt, Hirt returned to New Orleans working with various Dixieland groups and leading his own bands. Despite Hirt's statement years later "I'm not a jazz trumpeter and never was a jazz trumpeter", he made a few recordings where he demonstrated his ability to play in that style, during the 1950s with bandleader Monk Hazel, and a few other recordings on the local Southland Records label.

Hirt's virtuoso dexterity and fine tone on his instrument soon attracted the attention of major record labels and he signed with RCA Victor. Hirt posted twenty-two albums on the Billboard charts in the 1950s and 1960s. The albums Honey in the Horn and Cotton Candy were both in the Top 10 best sellers for 1964, the same year Hirt scored a hit single with his cover of Allen Toussaint's tune "Java" (Billboard No. 4), and later won a Grammy Award for the same recording. Both Honey in the Horn and "Java" sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs.

Hirt's Top 40 charted hit "Sugar Lips" in 1964 would be later used as the theme song for the NBC daytime game show Eye Guess, hosted by Bill Cullen and originally airing during the mid-to-late 1960s. "Green Hornet Theme"

Hirt was chosen to record the frenetic theme for the 1960s TV show "The Green Hornet", by famed arranger and composer Billy May. Thematically reminiscent of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, it showcased Hirt's technical prowess. The recording again gained public attention in 2003 when it was used in the film Kill Bill.

From the mid-1950s to early 1960s, Hirt and his band played nightly at Dan's Pier 600 at the corner of St. Louis and Bourbon Street. The club was owned by his business manager, Dan Levy, Sr.

Al Hirt - Bourbon Street at St Louis in the French Quarter, 1977

In 1962 Hirt opened his own club on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, which he ran until 1983. He also became a minority owner in the NFL expansion New Orleans Saints in 1967.

In 1962, in an effort to showcase him in a different musical setting, Hirt was teamed with arranger and composer Billy May and producer Steve Sholes to record an album titled Horn A Plenty that was a departure from the Dixieland material that he was generally associated with. Covering an eclectic variety of popular, standard and show tunes, it featured a big-band supplemented by timpani, French horns and harp. "Memories of You"

On February 8, 1970, while performing in a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, Hirt was injured while riding on a float. It is popularly believed that he was struck in the mouth by a thrown piece of concrete or brick. Factual documentation of the details of the incident is sparse, consisting primarily of claims made by Hirt after the incident. Whatever the actual cause of his injuries, Hirt underwent surgery and had to wait a while and then practice slowly to make a return to the club scene. This incident was parodied in a Saturday Night Live skit from their second season Mardi Gras special, the "Let's Hit Al Hirt in the Mouth with a Brick Contest".

In 1987, Hirt played a solo rendition of "Ave Maria" for Pope John Paul II's visit to New Orleans.

In 1999, Hirt died, aged 76, in New Orleans of liver failure, after spending the previous year in a wheelchair due to edema in his leg. Despite the bout with edema, Hirt continued to play in local clubs including Chris Owens Club. Hirt was buried in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.

Hirt had eight children. In 1990 he married Beverly Estabrook Essel, a friend of 40 years.

He is referred to in the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam, in a broadcast made by Lieutenant Hauk (Bruno Kirby).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Hirt


A1 The Original Dixieland One-Step
A2 Jazz Me Blues
A3 Royal Garden Blues
A4 Panama
A5 Blue And Broken-Hearted
A6 Wolverine Blues
B1 Washington And Lee Swing
B2 I'm Going Home
B3 Jazz Me Blues
B4 Night And Day
B5 South Rampart Street Parade
B6 Sugar

Bass – Bob Coquille
Drums – Paul Edwards
Piano – Roy Zimmerman
Trombone – Bob Havens
Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Pete Fountain
Trumpet, Leader – Al Hirt

Sello: Verve Records ‎– MGV-1012
Serie: Down Home Series –
Fecha: 1958
Género: Jazz
Estilo: Dixieland










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