Harry James

Henry "Harry" James ( Albany , March 15, 1916 - Las Vegas , July 5, 1983 ) was an American trumpeter , big band leader and film actor, who was especially successful in the thirties and forties. He is considered the discoverer of singer Frank Sinatra .



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 ==The early years [  edit ] == James was the son of a trumpeter and bandleader, and an acrobat and horsewoman who worked in a traveling circus. Trou he himself here when he was four and a contortionist. His father gave him since he was ten trumpet. He went to school in Beaumont, won a contest and was then trumpet playing in local dance groups. He regularly played in the orchestra of Herman Waldman, where he was noticed by the nationally known band leaderBen Pollack . James became in 1935 a member of his orchestra and thereby made ​​his first recordings, in September 1936. Shortly afterwards, he joined the band of Benny Goodman . He was here one of the star soloists alongside Ziggy Elman and worked there until 1938. During his time at Goodman took already under their own name ( Brunswick ), he also played on recordings by Teddy Wilson (1937) and Lionel Hampton ( 1938). ==Big band [  edit ] == In February 1939 he came with its own big band which debuted in Benjamin Franklin Hotel in Philadelphia . The group became known as Harry James and His Music Makers. With this orchestra he played and toured until the eighties. He also took this plates and until 1953 the band leader in America scored more than seventy hits, the first in 1939 (" All or Nothing at All . "The orchestra played music in the border area between jazz and dance music, as in the swing era often occurred. The orchestra was often supplemented by strings. The group played several musicians (later) fame, including Ray Conniff , Willie Smith , Buddy Rich , Nick Fatool and Juan Tizol . Several singers were known, like Dick Haymes , Helen Forrest , Kitty Kallen and Louise Tobin, with whom he was married for eight years (1935-1943) and had two children. The most famous singer who sang with James was undoubtedly Frank Sinatra, who began his career in 1939 with the band leader. James wanted which changed its name to Frank Sinatra Satin, but the singer refused. At the end of that year, Sinatra walked all over the band of Tommy Dorsey . Harry James with Lucille Ball(middle) and his then wife Betty Grable, a publicity photo for a TV show of Ball 1958==Hits and movies [  edit ] == The success came after a difficult time in the years 1939 and 1940, when James was even dumped by his record company Columbia. James threw the musical helm and came with a sweeter sound. He returned to Columbia and soon came the hits, like "Music Makers", "Lament to Love" and the very sweet "You Made Me Love You (I Did not Want to Do It)". In 1942 he scored seven top ten hits, including three with vocals by Helen Forrest. In the following years he had hits, including several with material he had recorded before recordingban as a reissue of "All or Nothing at All" sung by Sinatra. He has appeared on radio (including in the program that he bandleader Glenn Miller had "taken over"), playing in hotels and theaters in New York. He also starred in films, the first was "Syncopation" in 1942. In his second film, "" Springtime in the Rockies ", also played Betty Grable, with whom he had married in July 1943 and two children. After the end of the recordingban James could again record new material and in 1945 he had seven top ten hits. ==After the war <span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[  edit <span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">After the war, the hits dried up and in a period of decline of the big bands also defunct James' orchestra. In 1947 he was back with a slimmed-band, with which he started playing more jazz. In the following years he acted in several films, including "The Benny Goodman Story" in which he played himself. He played the soundtrackof the film " Young Man with a Horn "in which Kirk Douglas James' trumpet playing playbackte. He scored hits with Doris Day and Frank Sinatra had his own television show in 1951.
 * 1 The early years
 * 2 Bigband
 * 3 Hits and movies
 * 4 After the war
 * 5 Trivia
 * <span class="tocnumber" style="color:rgb(11,0,128);background:none;">6 <span style="background-image:none;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;">  <span class="toctext" style="color:rgb(11,0,128);background:none;">Discography (selection)

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">Mid fifties, he switched to a different record label, Capitol Records, where he recorded many albums. His band sounded at the time like that of Count Basie, bandleader than had former Basie arrangers as Neal Hefti employed. With his band he toured at home and abroad (including in Europe ) and he performed in Las Vegas hotels. In that city, he met his third wife, the showgirl Joan Boyd, with whom he had been married only a short time (1968-1970). Then at James in 1983 cancer was diagnosed ( lymphoma ), he continued to play his last concert he gave on June 26, 1983, shortly before his death. In the same year he was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame .

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">The orchestra by the name of Harry James is still active, it is led by the trumpeter Fred Radke . ==<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[Trivia  edit <span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;"> ==Discography (selection) <span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[  edit <span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==
 * Harry James was the owner of several race horses which have won major competitions. He invested in the Atlantic City Race Course .
 * Dance Parade, Columbia, 1950
 * Young Man with a Horn, Columbia, 1950
 * Hollywood's Best (with Rosemary Clooney ), Columbia, 1952
 * Radio Discs or Harry James Joyce Records 1953
 * 1954 Broadcasts, Sunbeam Records 1954
 * Harry James at the Hollywood Palladium, Columbia, 1954
 * Saturday Night Swing, Giants of Jazz, 1954
 * swingin 'N' Sweet, Giants of Jazz, 1954
 * Harry James in Hi-Fi, Capitol, 1955
 * Jazz Session, Columbia, 1955
 * Harry's Choice, Capitol, 1958
 * Harry, Not Jesse, Metro 1961
 * Double Dixie, MGM, 1962
 * Harry James and His Western Friends, DOT Records, 1968
 * Mr. Trumpet, Hindsight Records 1972
 * Eight Bar Riff: 1943-1950, Hep Records, 2007
 * Ultimate Big Band Collection: Harry James, Masterworks Jazz, 2011