Leon Abbey

This Midwestern violinist and bandleader took his group on several groundbreaking tours to SOUTH USA and India in the ’20s and ’30s, producing him among the great international ambassadors of jazz. Although he’s a generally forgotten body in the music, Leon Abbey’s huge jazz music group was at least briefly considered one of the better in the country. He started leading combos in his indigenous Minneapolis in his past due teenagers, overcoming an obstacle which has halted many a fiddler out of this area of the globe: iced rosin. In the first ’20s he started touring with J. Rosamund Johnson, producing a relocation to NEW YORK where in fact the violinist once again began focusing on his very own ensemble aswell as dealing with the Savoy Bearcats. The Savoy Ballroom’s grand opening-night display in 1926 evidently highlighted a lineup of the latest bands of your day, like the Charleston Bearcats led by Abbey aswell as Fess Williams & His Royal Flush Orchestra. Abbey’s documenting are a freelancer during this time period included periods with traditional blues vocalist Clara Smith. Being a head Abbey appeared to have a means with travel possibilities, starting a South American tour in 1927 that resulted not merely in the indoctrination of several fresh Spanish and Portuguese speaking jazz followers, however in Abbey’s music artists getting sick from eating way too many bananas. “La Conga de Jaruco” is among the Latin American flavored jazz songs that this bandleader produced from the inspirations of the tour. Abbey required the group to European countries the following 12 months, leading to the leisurely reverse of the “That is Wednesday; this should be Belgium” tour. He required on residencies and loved extended remains in Holland, Switzerland, Britain, France and throughout Scandinavia. In the middle-’30s, Abbey required his group to India for just two successive trips and a residency that lasted until 1939. The swank Taj Mahal Resort was an average venue because of this group within the property of curry. Possibly the innovator was more involved with arranging travel than music, since several music artists which were on these travels have commented in the groupings’ democratic buildings. Anarchy may be a better explanation, since a few of these groupings were thought to have no created agreements, with each section merely working out its harmonies and rhythms. This is still traditional jazz, nevertheless, with a good golf swing to it — the usage of the term “anarchy” shouldn’t lead listeners to summarize this was some type of early free of charge jazz band. On the close from the 10 years the violinist returned to NY,. Abbey was following trail of several of his sidemen who acquired fled home because of rumors of battle, leaving behind sets of mainly Indian music artists attempting to find out the American music. By 1941, Abbey experienced started a fresh trio in NY. Through the ’40s and ’50s he was touring frequently, switching places to Chicago from 1947 and 1949. His group presented pianist Barrington Perry and bassist Rail Wilson, and worked well frequently in Windy Town jazz spots.