Charlie Christian

Charlie Christian Charles Henry “Charlie” Christian (July 29, 1916 – In a 1978 interview with Charlie Christian biographer March 2, 1942) was an American swing and jazz guitarist. Craig McKinney, Clarence Christian said that in the 1920s and '30s Edward Christian led a band in Oklahoma Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and a key figure in the development of bebop and City as a pianist and had a shaky relationship with trumpeter James Simpson. Around 1931, he took guitarist cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra from August “Bigfoot” Ralph Hamilton and began secretly schooling the younger Charles on jazz. They taught him to solo on 1939 to June 1941. His single-string technique, com- bined with amplification, helped bring the guitar out of three songs, "Rose Room", "Tea for Two", and "Sweet the rhythm section and into the forefront as a solo instru- Georgia Brown". When the time was right they took him ment. John Hammond[1] and George T. Simon[2] called out to one of the many after-hours jam sessions along Christian the best improvisational talent of the swing era. "Deep Deuce", Northeast Second Street in Oklahoma In the liner notes to the 1972 Columbia album Solo Flight: City. The Genius of Charlie Christian, Gene Lees writes that, “Let Charles play one,” they told Edward. “Ah, nobody “Many critics and musicians consider that Christian was wants to hear them old blues,” Edward replied. After one of the founding fathers of bebop, or if not that, at some encouragement, he allowed Charles to play. “What least a precursor to it.”[3] do you want to play?" he asked. All three songs were big Christian’s influence reached beyond jazz and swing. In in the early 1930s and Edward was surprised that Charles 1990, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of knew them. After two encores, Charles had played all Fame. Christian was raised in Oklahoma City and was three and “Deep Deuce” was in an uproar. He coolly dis- missed himself from the jam session, and his mother had one of many musicians who jammed along the city’s [7] "Deep Deuce" section on N.E. Second Street. In 2006 heard about it before he got home. Oklahoma City renamed a street in its Bricktown enter- Charles fathered a daughter, Billie Jean Christian, born tainment district Charlie Christian Avenue. December 23, 1932, by Margretta Lorraine Downey of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They never married. Billie Jean (Christian) Johnson died 19 July 2004.[8] 1 Early Life Charles soon was performing locally and on the road throughout the Midwest, as far away as North Dakota and Minnesota. By 1936 he was playing electric guitar Christian was born in Bonham, Texas, but his family and had become a regional attraction. He jammed with moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma when he was a many of the big name performers traveling through Ok- small child. His parents were musicians and he had two lahoma City including Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum. It brothers, Edward, born in 1906, and Clarence, born in was Mary Lou Williams, pianist for "Andy Kirk and His 1911. All three sons were taught music by their father, Clouds of Joy", who told record producer John Hammond Clarence Henry Christian. Clarence Henry was struck about Charlie Christian.[9] blind by fever, and in order to support the family he and the boys would work as buskers, on what the Christians called “busts.” He would have them lead him into the bet- ter neighborhoods where they would perform for cash or 2 National Fame goods. When Charles was old enough to go along, he first [4] entertained by dancing. Later he learned guitar, inher- In 1939, Christian auditioned for John Hammond, iting his father’s instruments upon his death when Charles [5] who recommended him to bandleader Benny Goodman. was 12. Goodman was the fourth white bandleader to feature He attended Douglass School in Oklahoma City, and black musicians in his live band: the first was Jimmy was further encouraged in music by instructor Zelia N. Durante, for whom Achille Baquet, a light-skinned black Breaux. Charles wanted to play tenor saxophone in the clarinetist who could pass as white, played and recorded school band, but she insisted he try trumpet instead.[5] in Durante’s Original New Orleans Jazz Band (1918– Because he believed playing the trumpet would disfigure 1920); the second was violinist Arthur Hand, who led his lip, he quit to pursue his interest in baseball, at which the California Ramblers, which from 1922-1925 included he excelled.[6] light-skinned black trumpeter Bill Moore, who was billed 1 2 3 STYLE AND INFLUENCES that year Goodman led a sextet with Charlie Christian, Count Basie, longtime Duke Ellington trumpeter Cootie Williams, former Artie Shaw tenor saxophonist Georgie Auld and later drummer Dave Tough. This all-star band dominated the jazz polls in 1941, including another elec- tion to the Metronome All Stars for Christian. Johnny Guarnieri, who replaced Fletcher Henderson in the first sextet, filled the piano chair in Basie’s absence. In 1966, 24 years after his death, Christian was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. In 1989, Christian became one of the first inductees into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame. Benny Goodman on clarinet 3 Style and Influences as The Hot Hawaiian. The third was Ben Bernie, whose band from 1925-1928 also featured Bill Moore. Good- man became the fourth by bringing Teddy Wilson in on piano in 1935, and Lionel Hampton on vibraphone in 1936. Goodman hired Christian to play with the newly formed Goodman Sextet in 1939. It has been often stated that Goodman was initially uninterested in hiring Chris- tian because the electric guitar was a relatively new instrument. Goodman had been exposed to the instrument with Floyd Smith and Leonard Ware among others, none of whom had the ability of Christian. There is a re- port of Goodman unsuccessfully trying to buy out Floyd Smith's contract from Andy Kirk. However, Goodman was so impressed by Christian’s playing that he hired him instead.[10] There are several versions of the first meeting of Chris- tian and Goodman on August 16, 1939. The encounter that afternoon at the recording studio had not gone well. Christian recalled in a 1940 Metronome magazine article, “I guess neither one of us liked what I played,” but Ham- mond decided to try again—without consulting Good- man. (Christian says Goodman invited him to the show that evening.)[11] He installed Christian on the bandstand for that night’s set at the Victor Hugo restaurant in Los Angeles. Displeased at the surprise, Goodman called Rose Room, a tune he assumed Christian would be un- familiar with. Unknown to Goodman, Charles had been reared on the tune, and he came in with his first chorus of about twenty, all of them different, all unlike anything Goodman had heard before. That version of Rose Room lasted forty minutes. By its end, Christian was in the band. In the course of a few days, Christian went from making $2.50 a night to $150 a week.[12] Christian was placed in Goodman’s new sextet, which included Lionel Hampton, Fletcher Henderson, Artie Bern- stein and Nick Fatool. By February 1940 Christian dom- The Gibson ES-150 was the first electric guitar played by Charlie inated the jazz and swing guitar polls and was elected to Christian. the Metronome All Stars. In the spring of 1940 Good- man let most of his entourage go in a reorganization Christian’s solos are frequently referred to as horn-like, move. He retained Charlie Christian, and in the fall of and in that sense he was more influenced by horn players 3 such as Lester Young and Herschel Evans[13] than by early ing multiple solos, Christian shows much the same im- acoustic guitarists like Eddie Lang and jazz/bluesman provisational skills later captured on the Minton’s and Lonnie Johnson, although they both had contributed to Monroe’s recordings in 1941, suggesting that he had al- the expansion of the guitar’s role from “rhythm section” ready matured as a musician.[19] The Minneapolis record- instrument to a solo instrument. Christian admitted he ings include "Stardust", "Tea for Two", and "I've Got wanted his guitar to sound like a tenor saxophone.[14] Rhythm", the latter a favorite piece of bop composers and French gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt had lit- jammers. tle influence on Christian, but he was obviously familiar More of the unrestrained Christian is apparent in record- with some of his recordings.[15] Guitarist Mary Osborne ings of the partial Goodman Sextet made in March 1941. recalled hearing him play Django’s solo on "St. Louis With Goodman and bassist Artie Bernstein absent, Chris- Blues" note for note, but then following it with his own [15] tian and the rest of the Sextet recorded for nearly 20 min- ideas. By 1939 there had already been electric gui- utes as the engineers tested equipment. Two recordings tar soloists—Leonard Ware, George Barnes, trombon- were released from that session years later: Blues in B and ist/composer (“Topsy”) Eddie Durham had recorded with Waiting for Benny, which showed hints of bop jam ses- Count Basie's Kansas City Six, Floyd Smith recorded sions. The free flow of these sessions contrasts with the “Floyd’s Guitar Blues” with Andy Kirk in March 1939, more formal swing music recorded after Goodman had using an amplified lap steel guitar, and Texas Swing pio- arrived at the studio.

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