Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan (November 2, 1908 – June 2, 1942) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during the swing era. Although he composed some jazz instrumentals such as "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues", Berigan was best known for his virtuoso jazz trumpeting. His 1937 classic recording "I Can't Get Started" on RCA Victor was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975. His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism which ended with his early death at the age of 33 from cirrhosis. His recordings of "I Can't Get Started" on Vocalion and "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love" were re-released in 1976 as part of the Columbia Records Hall of Fame series.

Early life and career

Berigan was born in Hilbert, Wisconsin, the son of William Patrick Berigan and Mary Catherine (Mayme) Schlitzberg, and raised in Fox Lake. Having learned the violin and trumpet, Berigan started his career playing with local bands as a teenager, including the University of Wisconsin's jazz ensemble (although he never actually went to college). After first trying out for the Hal Kemp Orchestra and being rejected he joined the band in late 1929. His first recorded trumpet solos were with the orchestra, which toured England and a few other European countries in 1930. He also appeared as featured soloist with bands fronted by Rudy Vallée, Tommy Dorsey, Abe Lyman, Paul Whiteman and Benny Goodman. Berigan recorded a number of solos while with Goodman, including "King Porter Stomp", "Sometimes I'm Happy", and "Blue Skies".

Fame

Berigan left Goodman to return again to freelancing as a recording and radio musician in Manhattan. During this time (late 1935 and throughout 1936), he began to record regularly under his own name, and he continued to back singers such as Bing Crosby, Mildred Bailey, and Billie Holiday. He spent some time with Tommy Dorsey's orchestra in late 1936 and early 1937, working as a jazz soloist on Dorsey's radio program and on several records. His solo on the Dorsey hit recording "Marie" became one of his signature performances. In 1937, Berigan assembled a band to record and tour under his name, picking the then-little known Ira Gershwin–Vernon Duke composition "I Can't Get Started" as his theme song.

Final years and death

Berigan's business troubles drove him to declare bankruptcy in 1939, and shortly after to join Tommy Dorsey as a featured jazz soloist.

Funeral services were conducted June 3 at Saint Malachy's Roman Catholic Church in New York. He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery south of Fox Lake, Wisconsin.

Legacy

In compliance with Berigan's wish, the band was kept intact under his name. Donna Berigan, his widow, maintained his financial interest in it. Tenor sax player Vido Musso became the leader.

In 1944, Victor Records released a posthumous compilation of Berigan's recordings as bandleader.

His 1937 recording of "I Can't Get Started" on RCA Victor was used in the film Save the Tiger (1973), the Roman Polanski film Chinatown (1974), and a Martin Scorsese short film, The Big Shave (1967). Woody Allen has used Berigan's music occasionally in his films. In 2010, his Victor recording of "Heigh-Ho" was used on a Gap Inc. clothing TV commercial. Berigan's name has been used frequently in the comic strip Crankshaft.

Starting in 1974, Fox Lake, Wisconsin held an annual Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee originally organized by Berigan's daughter, Joyce Hansen, until she was incapacitated by Alzheimer's disease, and then by Julie Fleming. The final Jubilee was held in 2018. Most of Berigan's recordings are available, and two full-length biographies of him have been published.

In 1976, Columbia Records released his 1936 Vocalion Records recording of "I Can't Get Started" on its Columbia Hall of Fame 45 single series, backed with "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love".

Top compositions

Berigan's top compositions include "Chicken and Waffles", released as Decca 18117 in 1935 as by Bunny's Blue Boys, and "Blues", released in 1935 as Decca 18116, also with the Blue Boys. (This 1935 session was produced by John H. Hammond at Decca for issue in the UK on Parlophone. The Decca releases were part of a four-pocket album set issued in the 1940s during the 1942–44 musicians' strike.)

Honors

In 1975, Berigan's 1937 recording "I Can't Get Started" on Victor (25728-A) was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Berigan was inducted in the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame in 2008. His original 1936 Vocalion recording of the same song was part of the Columbia Hall of Fame series in 1976.

Personal life

Bunny's youngest daughter, Joyce "Jo," was born on April 22, 1936, and died on July 4, 2011. Her older sister, Patricia, was born in New York City on July 23, 1932, and died on December 8, 1998.

See also

  • A Jam Session at Victor (1937 jam session in which Berigan participated)

References

Further reading

  • Mr. Trumpet...the Trials, Tribulations and Triumph of Bunny Berigan, by Michael P. Zirpolo, Scarecrow Press (2011).
  • Bunny Berigan...Elusive Legend of Jazz, by Robert Dupuis, Louisiana State University Press, (1993).
  • Bunny Berigan, Fox Lake's Own, historical materials from the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections
  • Bunny Berigan Orchestra recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
  • Richard M. Sudhalter- The Complete Brunswick, Parlophone and Vocalion Bunny Berigan Sessions (Mosaic Records)