Johnny Dunn

Before Louis Armstrong found its way to NY in 1924, Johnny Dunn was considered the very best cornetist in the town. His staccato design, double-time results and usage of wah-wah mutes provided him notoriety for a while. Dunn acquired attended Fisk School in Nashville and acquired a solo action in Memphis before getting uncovered by W.C. Helpful. He became a member of Handy’s music group in 1917 and through the next 3 years became known for his feature on “Sergeant Dunn’s Bugle Contact Blues” (which afterwards became the foundation for “Bugle Contact Rag”). A pioneer with plunger mutes, Dunn’s double-time breaks, using their inflexible and jerky rhythms, acquired a direct connect to armed forces bands. He documented with Mamie Smith in 1920-1921, departing in the last mentioned year to business lead his very own Primary Jazz Hounds. From 1921-1923, the cornetist documented frequently, both along with his very own group and support vocalist Edith Wilson. He became a member of Will Vodery’s Plantation Orchestra in 1922, going to Europe using the revue Dover to Dixie the next year. Nevertheless, the Chicago music artists were much further advanced than Dunn as soon as Louis Armstrong started influencing brassmen along with his swinging, legato solos for Fletcher Henderson, Dunn was immediately outdated. After visiting European countries again (this time around using the Blackbirds of 1926 present), Dunn briefly led his personal big band and in 1928 produced his finest recordings, four figures with Jelly Move Morton and two with both Wayne P. Johnson and Body fat Waller on pianos. Strangely plenty of, he never documented again, moving completely to European countries, where he used Noble Sissle in Paris, caused his personal group (the brand new Yorkers) mainly in Holland, and was mainly overlooked before his early loss of life. Most of Johnny Dunn’s recordings, apart from his Mamie Smith edges, are on two RST CDs.