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Jack Teagarden

Jack Teagarden was a trombone player, singer, and band leader whose career spanned from the 1920’s territory and New York jazz scenes to shortly before his death in 1964. Teagarden was not a successful band leader, which may explain why he is not as widely known as some other jazz trombonists, but his unusual singing style influenced several other important jazz singers, and he is widely regarded as the one of the greatest, and possibly the greatest, trombonist in the history of jazz.

Teagarden was born in 1905 in Vernon, Texas. Born Weldon Lee Teagarden or Weldon John Teagarden (more sources say Weldon Lee, but John makes more sense considering his nickname), Jack’s earliest performances were working with his mother Helen, who played ragtime piano, in theaters. His siblings also became professional musicians: his younger sister Norma played piano, his younger brother Charlie, trumpet, and his brother Clois (“Cub”), drums.

Jack Teagarden began playing piano at age five, took up baritone at age seven or eight, and had settled on trombone by age ten. Some sources claim his unusual style of trombone playing stemmed from the fact that he began playing before he was big enough to play in the farther positions. He moved to Chappell, Nebraska, with his family in 1918, but by 1921 was back in Texas playing with Peck Kelley’s Bad Boys. Through the early and mid 1920’s, he played with several other territory bands, including Doc Ross’s Jazz Bandits, and the Orginal Southern Trumpeters. My sources disagree concerning which band brought Teagarden to New York, and with whom he made his earliest recording, but there is agreement that he arrived in New York in 1927 and was playing with Ben Pollack’s orchestra by 1928.

Although Teagarden enjoyed a long career, it was at this point that he had the greatest effect on the history of jazz. The reaction to his unique style of trombone- playing appears to have been both immediate and widespread. Historians and critics widely agree: “No one disputes Jack Teagarden’s place in the trombone pantheon”(Morgenstern, 2004, p.292). Teagarden “is considered by many critics to be the finest of all jazz trombonists....”(Kernfeld, 1988) Teagarden “single-handedly created a whole new way of playing the trombone " a parallel to Earl Hines and the piano comes to mind " and did so as early as the mid-twenties and evidently largely out of his own youthful creative resources."

His unusual approach to trombone playing had both a technical and a stylistic component. His technical approach in particular was quite unorthodox. A short digression into the mechanics of trombone playing will explain why. The trombone slide has seven positions where traditionally notated (chromatic scale) pitches can be played. Each position causes the instrument to be a slightly different length, and the instrument can play a (different) harmonic series at each length.

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Trombone

Read "Trombone" reviewed by Bob Bernotas


The trombone was an essential component of the brass parade bands that were a staple of black social and cultural life in many southern cities around the turn of the twentieth century. As these bands evolved into collectively improvising jazz ensembles, the trombone became an equal partner of the clarinet and cornet, filling in the root notes of the harmony and providing a low-register counterpoint to the melody line. The first black jazz band from New Orleans to record was ...

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Jack Teagarden: Trombone King

Jack Teagarden: Trombone King

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

The soulful jazz trombone starts with Jack Teagarden. He began recording in 1927 and over the decades developed a rich, expressive playing style that touched listeners of all ages and backgrounds. Though he was predated by plenty of trombonists, such as Miff Mole and Tommy Dorsey, Teagarden was the most innovative of the pre-war era, largely by embracing the blues. Like his friend and stage-mate Louis Armstrong, Teagarden also sang, but with a laid-back, whiskey-soaked voice that remains timeless and ...

Video / DVD

Jack Teagarden: Stars of Jazz

Jack Teagarden: Stars of Jazz

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

In 1956, pianist and singer-songwriter Bobby Troup began hosting a Los Angeles TV show for ABC called Stars of Jazz.  On one of the shows (sponsored by Budweiser), Troup featured trombonist Jack Teagarden and other legends of Chicago jazz, including Matty Matlock's Rampart Street Paraders: Matty Matlock (cl), Eddie Miller (ts), Abe Lincoln (tb), Clyde Hurley (tp), Stanley Wrightsman (p), George Van Eps (g), Phil Stevens (b), Nick Fatool (d). Since it's bitter cold in New York, what better way ...

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Event

One Night Only! My Jack Teagarden Research at the IJS

One Night Only! My Jack Teagarden Research at the IJS

Source: Lubricity

This announcement is very last-minute, but if youre in the NYC area and dont have any plans tonight, come hear me give a talk at Rutgers-Newarks Institute of Jazz Studies on my Masters thesis research. The title of the talk is White and Blue: Alternate Takes on Jack Teagarden and will give a broad overview of my attempt to understand Teagardens music and its place in American (and global) society.

The details: tonight, April 21, at 7:00 PM, at the ...

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Interview

The Mysteries of Jack Teagarden

The Mysteries of Jack Teagarden

Source: Jazz Lives by Michael Steinman

Although he would have been astonished if you had told him he was in any way mysterious, Jack Teagarden is difficult to unravel. For one thing, Jack (or Big Tea or Mr. T.) was regarded as perhaps the finest trombonist of his time by musicians in and out of jazz: how about counting as your fans and colleagues Coleman Hawkins, Bing Crosby, Johnny Mercer, and Louis Armstrong?

If you go by the rules or the expectations that lead people to ...

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Video / DVD

Jack Teagarden Documentary on Youtube

Jack Teagarden Documentary on Youtube

Source: Lubricity


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