John Purvis (December 11, 1906 – March 30, 1962) was an American jazz musician.

Purvis was best known as a trumpet player and the composer of Dismal Dan and Down Georgia Way. He was one of the earliest trumpeters to incorporate the innovations pioneered by Louis Armstrong in the late 1920s. He also played trombone and on occasion a number of other instruments professionally (including harp).

Early years

John "Jack" Purvis was born in Kokomo, Indiana on December 11, 1906, to Sanford B. Purvis, a real estate agent and his wife Nettie (Jackson) Purvis. Jack's behavior became uncontrollable after his mother's death in 1912, and, as a result of many acts of petty larceny, he was sent to a reform school. While there, he discovered that he had an uncanny musical ability, and soon became proficient enough to play both the trombone and trumpet professionally. This also enabled him to leave the reformatory and continue his high school education, while he was playing paying gigs on the side. One of the earliest jobs he had as a musician was with a band led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Not long afterward, he worked with the dance band of Hal Denman.

The 1930s

In 1930, Purvis led a couple of racially mixed recording sessions including the likes of J.C. Higginbotham, and Adrian Rollini. Yet Purvis' death certificate indicates the cause of death to be "fatty degeneration of the liver" rather than death by gas poisoning.

Cornetist Jim Goodwin claimed that a man who looked like (and introduced himself as) Jack Purvis showed up at a band date a couple of times in about 1968 and that they had a long talk about his life.

References

  • The Many Lives of Jack Purvis