Sammy Price
Sammy Price | |
---|---|
Wilbur De Paris (left), Sidney De Paris, Eddie Barefield and Charlie Traeger, Jimmy Ryan's (Club), New York, c. July 1947. Photograph by William P. Gottlieb. | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Samuel Blythe Price |
Born | Honey Grove, Texas, United States | October 6, 1908
Died | April 14, 1992 New York City, United States | (aged 83)
Genres | Jazz, jump blues |
Occupation(s) | Musician, dancer |
Instrument(s) | Piano, vocals |
Samuel Blythe Price (October 6, 1908 – April 14, 1992)[1] was an American jazz, boogie-woogie and jump blues pianist and bandleader.[2] Price's playing is dark, mellow, and relaxed rather than percussive, and he was a specialist at creating the appropriate mood and swing for blues and rhythm and blues recordings.[3]
Life and career
Price was born in Honey Grove, Texas, United States.[4] Price formally studied the piano with Booker T. Washington's daughter, Portia Marshall Washington (1883–1978). In the mid-1920s, when he was employed in a Dallas music store, Price wrote to Paramount Records recommending Blind Lemon Jefferson to the label.[5]
During his early career, he was a singer and dancer
Price was known for his work with his own band, known as the Texas Bluesicians (recorded by Decca), that included fellow musicians
Beginning in 1943, Price was a blues and boogie-woogie pianist at the Café Society Uptown nightclub owned by Barney Josephson. He often appeared on a program with Art Tatum. Later, in the 1970s, Price played at Barney Josephson's restaurant, the Cookery. Initially, he played Sunday nights while Mary Lou Williams played during the week.
In 1955–1956, Price led a band touring France, Spain, Portugal and Tunisia, playing more than 90 concerts, under the auspices of the French national program "Les Jeunesses musicales de France", the first jazz group to appear in the program to bring music to young people.
During the 1960s and 1970s, he was an activist in civil rights and on behalf of the homeless. In Harlem, he organized for the campaigns of Congressman
In the 1970s and 1980s, Price was a mainstay at the West End Bar on Broadway near Columbia University, working in a longstanding program of jazz produced by Phil Schaap.
Later in his life, Price partnered with the
He died of a heart attack in April 1992, at home in Harlem, in New York City, at the age of 83.
Songs
- "The Goon Drag"
References
- ^ Scott Yanow. "Sammy Price | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
- ISBN 1-904041-96-5.
- ^ OCLC 205031.
- ^ "The Dead Rock Stars Club 1992 - 1993". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-14-006223-6.
- ISBN 0-87930-308-5.
- ^ ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
- ^ "Sammy Price". Jazzhotbigstep.com. Retrieved 2018-03-05.