Lee Blair
Appearances
"Armstrong jovially balanced his calling as a musician with his job as an entertainer, applying his virtuosity while showing audiences a good time." —New York Times
In conjunction with the release of Ken Burns' ten-part, 19-hour epic PBS documentary {#Jazz}, Columbia issued 22 single-disc compilations devoted to jazz's most significant [more]
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Louis Armstrong recorded constantly throughout his storied career, from his sidemen dates with King Oliver's [more]
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Pete Fountain has spent a lifetime playing and promoting Dixieland jazz, making it possible for people who otherwise have little awareness of it to [more]
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This is the first domestic volume on CD of Armstrong's swing-era recordings for Decca in chronological order (1934-1936). Joined by the musical, but by then somewhat [more]
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![Swing That Music! [Jazz Archives]](/cache/JHS/c3/130x130_on-sale_c3534054bnc.png)
Two of the selections ("Jeepers Creepers" and "Tiger Rag") on this CD are taken from a radio broadcast that matched Louis Armstrong in 1938 with the great pianist [more]
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This is a clever collection of 25 tracks that either feature the word Harlem in the title (19 of them) or reference it in the lyrics. The CD includes five tracks by Duke Ellington, [more]
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This 23-track compilation contains alternate takes of many of Armstrong's signature songs from this period on one album. The songs include
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![Very Best of Louis Armstrong [Universal]](/cache/JHS/f1/130x130_on-sale_f169588sif2.png)
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Biography
- Born Oct 10th 1903
- Died Oct 15th 1966
- Styles
- Early Jazz
- Instrument(s)
A fine rhythmic player who was active in the 1920's and had an on-and-off career for 40 years, Lee Blair is a minor name in jazz history. He was selftaught on banjo except for a few lessons with Mike Pingitore from Paul Whiteman's band. Blair worked with Charlie Skeete (1926-28) and more importantly Jelly Roll Morton (1928-30) with whom he also recorded. After spending some time in Billy Kato's band (1930-31), Blair joined Luis Russell in 1934, staying with his orchestra after it was taken over by Louis Armstrong the following year. Departing in 1940, Blair primarily played part-time until he became a member of Wilbur DeParis' New New Orleans Jazz Band in the 1950's. The following decade Blair ran a chicken farm near New York but did play occasional gigs including at the World's Fair in 1964 with fellow banjoists Danny Barker and Eddie Gibbs. Lee Blair, who never led his own date as a leader, recorded with Morton, Russell, Armstrong, DeParis, Dick Cary, Pee Wee Erwin, Leonard Gaskin (1962) and others. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
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