Bunny Berigan

Bunny Berigan
Background information
Birth name	Roland Bernard Berigan
Born	(1908-11-02)November 2, 1908 Hilbert, Wisconsin,U.S.
Died	June 2, 1942(1942-06-02)(aged 33) New York City, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, bandleader
Instrument(s)	Trumpet, vocals
Years active	1930–1942

Roland Bernard"Bunny"Berigan(November 2, 1908 – June 2, 1942) was an Americanjazztrumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during theswing era.His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism, and ended with his early demise at the age of 33 fromcirrhosis.Although he composed some jazz instrumentals such as "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues", Berigan was best known for his virtuoso jazz trumpeting. His 1937 classic recording "I Can't Get Started"was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Famein 1975.

Early life and career

Berigan was born inHilbert, Wisconsin,the son of William Patrick Berigan and Mary Catherine (Mayme) Schlitzberg, and raised inFox Lake.Having learned the violin and trumpet, Berigan started his career playing with local bands as a teenager, including the University of Wisconsin's jazz ensemble (although he never actually went to college). After first trying out for the Hal Kemp Orchestra and being rejected he joined the band in late 1929.His first recorded trumpet solos were with the orchestra, which toured England and a few other European countries in 1930. He also appeared as featured soloist with bands fronted byRudy Vallee,Tommy Dorsey,Abe Lyman,Paul WhitemanandBenny Goodman.

Shortly after the Kemp orchestra returned to the U.S. in late 1930, Berigan, like fellow trumpeterMannie Klein,theDorsey BrothersandArtie Shaw,became a sought-afterstudio musicianin New York.Fred Rich,Freddy MartinandBen Selvinsought his services for record dates. He joined the staff of CBS radio network musicians in early 1931. Berigan recorded his first vocal, "At Your Command",with Rich that year. From late 1932 through early 1934, Berigan was a member of Paul Whiteman's orchestra,before playing with Abe Lyman's band briefly in 1934.

He returned to freelancing in the New York recording studios and working on staff at CBS radio in 1934. He recorded as a sideman on hundreds of commercial records, most notably with the Dorsey Brothers and onGlenn Miller's earliest recording as a leader in 1935, playing on "Solo Hop".At the same time, Berigan joined Benny Goodman's Swing Band.Jazz talent scout and producerJohn H. Hammond,who also became Goodman's brother-in-law, later wrote that he helped persuadeGene Krupato re-join Goodman, with whom he had had an earlier falling-out, by mentioning that Berigan, whom Krupa admired, was already committed to the new ensemble. With Berigan and Krupa both on board, the Goodman band made the tour that ended at thePalomar BallroominLos Angeles,the performance often credited with the launch of theswing era.Berigan recorded a number of solos while with Goodman, including "King Porter Stomp", "Sometimes I'm Happy", and "Blue Skies".

Fame

Berigan left Goodman to return again to freelancing as a recording and radio musician in Manhattan. During this time (late 1935 and throughout 1936), he began to record regularly under his own name, and he continued to back singers such asBing Crosby,Mildred Bailey,andBillie Holiday.He spent some time withTommy Dorsey's orchestra in late 1936 and early 1937, working as a jazz soloist on Dorsey's radio program and on several records. His solo on the Dorsey hit recording "Marie" became one of his signature performances. In 1937, Berigan assembled a band to record and tour under his name, picking the then-little knownIra Gershwin–Vernon Dukecomposition "I Can't Get Started"as his theme song.He made three attempts to organize a band of his own, his last try meeting success, playing trumpet in nearly every number while directing the band. Berigan's trumpet work and vocal made his recorded performance of it for Victor the biggest hit of his career.Berigan modeled his trumpet style in part onLouis Armstrong's, and he often acknowledged Armstrong as his idol.Still, his trumpet sound and jazz ideas were unique, earning Armstrong's praise both before and after Berigan's death.

Bandleader

Berigan led his own band full-time from early 1937 until June 1942, with a six-month hiatus in 1940 as a sideman in Tommy Dorsey's band.A series of misfortunes and Berigan's alcoholism worked against his financial success as a bandleader. Berigan also began an affair with singerLee Wileyin 1936, which lasted into 1940. The stresses of bandleading drove Berigan to drink even more heavily. Among the players who worked in the Berigan band were: drummersBuddy Rich,Dave Tough,George Wettling,Johnny BlowersandJack Sperling;alto saxophonists and clarinetistsGus Bivona,Joe Dixon and Andy Fitzgerald; vocalistsDanny Richards,Ruth BradleyandKathleen Lane;pianistJoe Bushkin;trombonist and arrangerRay Conniff;trombonist Sonny Lee; bassistsHank Waylandand Morty Stulmaker; trumpetersCarl Warwick,Steve Lipkins andLes Elgart;tenor saxophonistsGeorgie Auldand Don Lodice; and pianist and arrangerJoe Lipman.

Berigan was regularly featured onCBS Radio'sSaturday Night Swing Clubbroadcasts from 1936 into 1937. This network radio show helped further popularize jazz as the swing era reached its peak. For the balance of the 1930s, he sometimes appeared on this program as a guest.

In the late 1930s, Berigan's drinking and consequent health problems may have contributed to his band's chronic financial and booking difficulties.

Final years and death

Berigan's business troubles drove him to declarebankruptcyin 1939, and shortly after to joinTommy Dorseyas a featured jazz soloist.By September 1940, Berigan briefly led a new small group, but soon reorganized a touring big band. Berigan led moderately successful big bands from the fall of 1940 into early 1942, and was on the comeback trail when his health declined alarmingly. On April 20, 1942, while on tour, Berigan was hospitalized with pneumoniain Allegheny General HospitalPittsburgh, Pennsylvania,until May 8. His doctors discovered that cirrhosis had severely damaged his liver. He was advised to stop drinking and stop playing the trumpet for an undetermined length of time. Berigan did not do either. He returned to his band on tour and played for a few weeks before he returned to his home at the Van Cortlandt Hotel on 49th Street, in New York City, where he suffered a massivehemorrhageon May 31, 1942.He died two days later inStuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital,New York, at age 33.

Funeral services were conducted June 3 atSaint Malachy's Roman Catholic Churchin New York.He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery south ofFox Lake, Wisconsin.

Legacy

In compliance with Berigan's wish, the band was kept intact under his name. Donna Berigan, his widow, maintained his financial interest in it. Tenor sax playerVido Mussobecame the leader.

In 1944, Victor Records released acompilation of Berigan's recordingsas bandleader.

His 1937 recording of "I Can't Get Started" was used in the filmSave the Tiger(1973), theRoman PolanskifilmChinatown(1974), and aMartin Scorseseshort film,The Big Shave(1967).Woody Allenhas used Berigan's music occasionally in his films. In 2010, his Victor recording of "Heigh-Ho" was used on aGap Inc.clothing TV commercial. Berigan's name has been used frequently in the comic stripCrankshaft.

Starting in 1974,Fox Lake, Wisconsinheld an annual Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee originally organized by Berigan's daughter, Joyce Hansen, until she was incapacitated by Alzheimer's disease, and then by Julie Fleming. The final Jubilee was held in 2018.Most of Berigan's recordings are available, and two full-length biographies of him have been published.

Top compositions

Berigan's top compositions include "Chicken and waffles",released as Decca 18117 in 1935 as by Bunny's Blue Boys, and" Blues ", released in 1935 as Decca 18116, also with the Blue Boys. (This 1935 session was produced byJohn H. Hammondat Decca for issue in the UK on Parlophone. The Decca releases were part of a four-pocket album set issued in the 1940s during the1942–44 musicians' strike.)

Honors

In 1975, Berigan's 1937 recording "I Can't Get Started" on Victor (25728-A) was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame.Berigan was inducted in the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame in 2008.

Personal life

Bunny's youngest daughter, Joyce "Jo," was born on April 22, 1936, and died on July 4, 2011.Her older sister, Patricia, was born in New York City on July 23, 1932, and died on December 8, 1998.

Further reading

• Mr. Trumpet...the Trials, Tribulations and Triumph of Bunny Berigan,by Michael P. Zirpolo, Scarecrow Press (2011).
• Bunny Berigan...Elusive Legend of Jazz,by Robert Dupuis, Louisiana State University Press, (1993).

External links

• Bunny Berigan, Fox Lake's Own,historical materials from the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections
• Bernard "Bunny" BeriganatFind a Grave
• Bunny Berigan Orchestra recordingsat theDiscography of American Historical Recordings.
• Richard M. Sudhalter- The Complete Brunswick, Parlophone and Vocalion Bunny Berigan Sessions (Mosaic Records)