James Melvin Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.

Early life

Lunceford was born on a farm in the Evergreen community, west of the Tombigbee River, near Fulton, Mississippi, United States.

The family next moved to Denver where Lunceford attended high school and studied music under Wilberforce J. Whiteman, father of Paul Whiteman, In 1922, he played alto saxophone in a local band led by the violinist George Morrison which included Andy Kirk, another musician destined for fame as a bandleader.

Career

thumb|Lunceford (left) with trombonist [[Trummy Young]]

In 1927, while an athletic instructor at Manassas High School in Memphis, Tennessee, Lunceford organized a student band, the Chickasaw Syncopators, whose name was changed to the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra. Lunceford was the first public high school band director in Memphis.

After a period of touring, in 1934 the band accepted a booking at the Harlem nightclub The Cotton Club for their revue "Cotton Club Parade" starring Adelaide Hall. The Cotton Club had already featured Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, who won their first widespread fame from their inventive shows for the Cotton Club's all-white patrons. With their tight musicianship and the often outrageous humor in their music and lyrics, Lunceford's orchestra made an ideal band for the club, and Lunceford's reputation began to steadily grow.

Jimmie Lunceford's band differed from other great bands of the time because it was better known for its ensemble than for its solo work. Additionally, he was known for using a two-beat rhythm, called the Lunceford two-beat, as opposed to the standard four-beat rhythm. This distinctive "Lunceford style" was largely the result of the imaginative arrangements by trumpeter Sy Oliver, which set high standards for dance-band arrangers of the time.

Comedy and vaudeville played a distinct part in Lunceford's presentation. Songs such as "Rhythm Is Our Business" (featured in a 1937 musical short with Myra Johnson (Taylor) on vocals), "I'm Nuts about Screwy Music", "I Want the Waiter (With the Water)", and "Four or Five Times" displayed a playful sense of swing, often through clever arrangements by trumpeter Sy Oliver and bizarre lyrics. Lunceford's stage shows often included costumes, skits, and obvious jabs at mainstream white bands, such as Paul Whiteman's and Guy Lombardo's.

Despite the band's comic veneer, Lunceford always maintained professionalism in the music befitting a former teacher; this professionalism paid off and during the apex of swing in the 1930s, the Orchestra was considered the equal of Duke Ellington's, Earl Hines' or Count Basie's. and again on June 26, 1947, by Leon Hefflin Sr. Most of Lunceford's sidemen were underpaid and left for better paying bands, leading to the band's decline. Lunceford and his orchestra were in Seaside, Oregon, to play at The Bungalow dance hall on July 12, 1947. Before the performance Lunceford collapsed during an autograph session at a local record store. He died while being taken by ambulance to the Seaside hospital. Lunceford was 45. Dr. Alton Alderman performed an autopsy in nearby Astoria, Oregon, and concluded that Lunceford died of coronary occlusion.

Lunceford had complained about an aching leg as they arrived in Seaside, and had been suffering with high blood pressure for a while, and had recently complained about not feeling well. Allegations and rumors circulated that he had been poisoned by a white restaurant owner, who was unhappy at having to serve a "Negro" in his establishment. He was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis.

Legacy

thumb|Lunceford,

Band members, such as Eddie Wilcox and Joe Thomas, kept the band going for a time but finally had to break up the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra in 1949.

In 1999, band-leader Robert Veen and a team of musicians set out to acquire permission to use the original band charts and arrangements of the Jimmie Lunceford canon. "The Jimmie Lunceford Legacy Orchestra" officially debuted in July 2005 at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands.

The Jimmie Lunceford Jamboree Festival was founded by Bro. Ronald Cortez Herd II (aka 'R2C2H2 Tha Artivist') in 2007 with the aim of increasing recognition of Lunceford's contribution to jazz, particularly in Memphis, Tennessee. The Jimmie Lunceford Legacy Awards were created by the festival to honor exceptional musicians with Memphis ties as well as those who have dedicated their careers to excellence in music and music education.

Lunceford's music continues to have an impact. Most recently the tune "Rhythm Is Our Business" was included as a track on the compilation set Memphis Jazz Box in 2004 in honor of Lunceford's close ties to Memphis.

Discography

Decca recordings

  • For Dancers Only (A Collection of His Most Famous Records) (78 rpm 4-disc album set/8 songs/Decca #A-664: 1949; original 10-inch LP issue/8 songs/Decca #DL-5393: 1952)
  • Jazz Heritage Series #3- Jimmie Lunceford 1: Rhythm Is Our Business (1934-1935) (LP: Decca #79237, 1968; LP reissue: MCA #1302, 1980)
  • Jazz Heritage Series #6- Jimmie Lunceford 2: Harlem Shout (1935-1936) (LP: Decca #79238, 1968; LP reissue: MCA #1305, 1980)
  • Jazz Heritage Series #8- Jimmie Lunceford 3: For Dancers Only (1936-1937) (LP: Decca #79239, 1968; LP reissue: MCA #1307, 1980)
  • Jazz Heritage Series #15- Jimmie Lunceford 4: Blues In The Night (1938-1942) (LP: Decca #79240, 1968; LP reissue: MCA #1314, 1980)
  • Jazz Heritage Series #21- Jimmie Lunceford 5: Jimmie's Legacy (1934-1937) (LP: MCA #1320, 1980)
  • Jazz Heritage Series #22- Jimmie Lunceford 6: The Last Sparks (1941-1944) (LP: MCA #1321, 1980)
  • Stomp It Off (1934-1935) (CD: GRP #608, 1992)
  • For Dancers Only (1935-1937) (CD: GRP #645, 1994)
  • Swingsation: Jimmie Lunceford (1935-1938) (CD: GRP #9923, 1998)
  • The Complete Jimmie Lunceford Decca Sessions (1934-1938, 1941-1945) (Mosaic #MD7-250, 2014) 7-CD box set

Columbia recordings

  • Lunceford Special (1939-1940) (78 rpm 4-disc album set/8 songs/Columbia #C-175: 1948; original 10-inch LP issue/8 songs/Columbia #GL-104: 1952; first LP issue/12 songs/Columbia #CL-634: 1956; expanded LP reissue/16 songs/Columbia #CL-2715 and #CS-9515: 1967; CD release/22 songs/Sony Legacy #CK-65647: 2001)
  • "Chickasaw Stomp'"/"Memphis Rag" (Columbia W-145.373/4) - recorded Memphis, December 13, 1927
  • "Flaming Reeds and Screaming Brass"/"While Love Lasts" (test pressings for Columbia, not released until 1967 on LP) - recorded New York, May 15, 1933

Victor recordings

  • "In Dat Mornin'"/"Sweet Rhythm" (Victor V-38141) - recorded Memphis, June 6, 1930
  • "Jazznocracy"/"Chillun, Get Up" (Victor 24522) - recorded New York, January 26, 1934
  • "White Heat"/"Leaving Me" (Victor 24586) - recorded New York, January 26, 1934
  • "Breakfast Ball"/"Here Goes (A Fool)" (Victor 24601) - recorded New York, March 20, 1934
  • "Swingin' Uptown"/"Remember When" (Victor 24669) - recorded New York, March 20, 1934,

Majestic recordings

  • Margie (1946-1947) (LP and CD release/13 songs/Savoy Jazz #SJL-1209: 1989)

The Chronological Classics series

Apart from live recordings and alternate takes, every recording by Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra is included in this ten-volume series from the Classics reissue label:

  • The Chronological Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra 1930-1934 (#501, )
  • The Chronological Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra 1934-1935 (#505, )
  • The Chronological Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra 1935-1937 (#510, )
  • The Chronological Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra 1937-1939 (#520 )
  • The Chronological Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra 1939 (#532, )
  • The Chronological Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra 1939-1940 (#565, )
  • The Chronological Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra 1940-1941 (#622, )
  • The Chronological Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra 1941-1945 (#862, )
  • The Chronological Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra 1945-1947 (#1082, )
  • The Chronological Jimmie Lunceford's Orchestra 1948-1949 (#1151, )

The last album (1948-1949) was recorded after Lunceford's death by his long-time band under the joint-direction of Eddie Wilcox (his piano player) and Joe Thomas (his tenor sax player/vocalist).

The Masters of Jazz series

An eight-volume series from the Masters of Jazz imprint on French Média 7 and Musisoft attempted the same chronological traverse under the direction of Bruno Théol, Christian Bonnet, Jacques Lubin and Lionel Risler, released 1991 thru 2000:

  • Jimmie Lunceford vol. 1: 1927-1934 (#MJCD 12, 3356571001227)
  • Jimmie Lunceford vol. 2: 1934 (#MJCD 18, 3356571001821)
  • Jimmie Lunceford vol. 3: 1935-1936 (#MJCD 57, 3356571005720)
  • Jimmie Lunceford vol. 4: 1936-1937 (#MJCD 71, 3356571007120)
  • Jimmie Lunceford vol. 5: 1937-1939 (#MJCD 84, 3356571009424)
  • Jimmie Lunceford vol. 6: Jan. to Aug. 1939 (#MJCD 98, 33565710009827)
  • Jimmie Lunceford vol. 7: Sep. 1939 to Feb. 1940 (#MJCD 147, 3356571014722)
  • Jimmie Lunceford vol. 8: May 1940 to Apr. 1940 (#MJCD 160, 3356571016023)

CD reissue compilations

  • Rhythm Is Our Business: The Great Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra (rec. 1933-1940, ASV/Living Era, 1992) successively covering both the Decca and Columbia periods.
  • It's the Way That You Swing It: The Hits of Jimmie Lunceford (Jasmine, 2002) 2-CD set
  • Jukebox Hits 1935-1947 (Acrobat, 2005)
  • Quadromania: Jimmie Lunceford – Life Is Fine (rec. 1935-1945, Membran/Quadromania Jazz, 2006) 4-CD box set
  • Strictly Lunceford (Proper, 2007) 4-CD box set
  • The Jimmie Lunceford Collection 1930-47 (Fabulous/Acrobat, 2014) 2-CD set

References

  • Jimmie Lunceford recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.