Brad Gowans
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(September 2021) |
Brad Gowans | |
|---|---|
 Brad Gowans (at right), atEddie Condon's,New York, ca. 1946 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Arthur Bradford Gowans |
| Born | December 3, 1903 |
| Origin | Billerica, Massachusetts |
| Died | September 8, 1954(aged 50) Los Angeles,California,U.S. |
| Genres | Dixieland |
| Instrument(s) | Valve trombone,cornet,clarinet |
| Formerly of | Bud Freeman,Max Kaminsky |
Arthur Bradford"Brad"Gowans(December 3, 1903,Billerica, Massachusetts– September 8, 1954,Los Angeles)[1]was an Americanjazztrombonist and reedist.
Gowans' earliest work was on theDixielandjazz scene, playing with theRhapsody Makers Band,Tommy DeRosa's New Orleans Jazz Band, andPerley Breed.In 1926 he playedcornetwithJoe Venuti,and worked later in the 1920s withRed Nichols,Jimmy Durante,Mal Hallett(1927–29), andBert Lown.[1]He left music for several years during theGreat Depression,then returned to play withBobby Hackett(1936), Frank Ward,Wingy Manone(1938), Hackett again,Joe Marsala,andBud Freeman's Summa Cum Laude Band (1939–40).[1]
Early in the 1940s he played regularly atNick'sinGreenwich VillageinNew York City,and worked withRay McKinleyandArt Hodes.[1]As a clarinetist, he played in the reconstitutedOriginal Dixieland Jazz Band's 1940s recordings. He stopped playing again briefly in the mid-1940s, then returned to play withMax Kaminsky(1945–46),Jimmy Dorsey,andNappy Lamare(1949–50).[1]Following this he played freelance on the West Coast. He collapsed on stage in 1954 while playing withEddie Skrivanekand died eight months later.
Aside from his playing, he also arranged pieces for Bud Freeman andLee Wiley,[1]and invented thevalide trombone,a hybrid slide-valve trombone which never caught on. He recorded a few times as a leader in 1926, 1927, and 1934, and did a full LP forVictor Recordsin 1946. Gowans is credited inNat Hentoff's jazz history classicHear Me Talkin' To Yawith one of the great all-time one-liners. Asked by a prospective band leader whether he could read music, Gowans reportedly replied, "Not well enough to hurt my playing."
Discography
[edit]- Brad Gowans and his New York Nine(recorded 1946), RCA Victor 10 "LP LJM 3000
References
[edit]- Footnotes
- ^abcdefColin Larkin,ed. (1992).The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music(First ed.).Guinness Publishing.p. 1008.ISBN0-85112-939-0.
- General references
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