Friday, December 11, 2009

RAY NANCE, TROMPETISTA,VIOLIONISTA E CANTOR DE JAZZ



O trompetista Ray Nance nasceu no 10 de dezembro de 1913 e foi um músico multitalentoso. Exímio trompetista que substituiu Cootie Williams na Orquestra de Duke Ellington e que deu ao "abafador" um lugar de grande destaque na famosa formação. Além disso, brilhou como violinista, cantor de jazz e bailarino na década de 40.



Como um dos vocalista da Orquetra de Ellington foi dele a primeira e definitiva leitura de "It Don't Mean a Thing" ( If It Ain't Got That Swing), embora o credito por alguns é dado a Ivie Anderson.



Nance foi um acompanhante valioso e marcou com os solos inesquecíveis de "Take the "A" Train, " Black, Brown and Beige ( ao violino) e leu maravilhosamente canções como "A Slip of a Lip Will Sink a Ship" e "Tullip or Turnip".


Depois que deixou a Orquestra de Ellington tocou com Earl Hines, Rosemary Clooney e vários outros de renome.


Ray faleceu no anonimato em Janeiro de 1976.

Ray canta e dança " It Don't Mean a Thing"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYic1lyBLVw

Ray Nance was born on December 10, 1913, was a multi-talented individual. He was a fine trumpeter who not only replaced Cootie Williams with Duke Ellington's Orchestra, but gave the “plunger” position in Duke's band his own personality. In addition, Nance was one of the finest jazz violinists of the 1940s, an excellent jazz singer, and even a dancer.


He studied piano, took lessons on violin, and was self-taught on trumpet. After leading a small group in Chicago (1932-1937), spending periods with the orchestras of Earl Hines (1937-1938) and Horace Henderson (1939-1940), and a few months as a solo act, Nance joined Duke Ellington's orchestra. His very first night on the job was fully documented as the band's legendary Fargo concert. A very valuable sideman, Nance played a famous trumpet solo on the original version of “Take the 'A' Train” and proved to be a fine wa-wa player; his violin added color to the suite “Black, Brown and Beige” (in addition to being showcased on numerous songs), and his singing on numbers such as “A Slip of a Lip Will Sink a Ship” and “Tulip or Turnip” was an added feature.


Nance is also one of the well-known vocalists from the Ellington orchestra, having sung not the first version (that credit goes to Ivie Anderson), but arguably the definitive version of “It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing).” It was his contribution to take the previously instrumental horn riff into the lead vocal, which constitute the now infamous, “Doo wha, doo wha, doo wha, doo wha, yeah!” He was often featured as vocalist on “Jump for Joy,” “Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'” and “Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don't Tease Me)”.



Nance was with Ellington with few interruptions until 1963; by then the returning Cootie Williams had taken some of his glory. Nance made a few recordings as a bandleader, and also recorded or performed with Earl Hines, Rosemary Clooney and others. The remainder of Nance's career was relatively insignificant, with occasional small-group dates, gigs with Brooks Kerr and Chris Barber (touring England in 1974), and a few surprisingly advanced sideman recordings with Jaki Byard and Chico Hamilton.



Ray passed away on January 1976.



Reference - AAJ
Tradução de Humberto Amorim

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