Bunny Berigan
Wikimp3 information about the music of Bunny Berigan. On our website we have 70 albums and 70 collections of artist Bunny Berigan. You can find useful information and download songs of this artist. We also know that Bunny Berigan represents Jazz genres.
Biography
[Edit]Bunny Berigan enjoyed a relatively brief period of fame, lasting from 1931 through 1939 — for the first half of those eight years a rapidly rising name within the music business, and for the second as a star before the public, featured in the bands he played in and leading his own outfit. And from 1935 through 1939, he was regarded as the top trumpeter in jazz (with his main competition being Louis Armstrong and Roy Eldridge). Yet despite the brevity of his career and his all-too-short life, he remains one of the most compelling trumpet players in the history of the music, and in the 21st century, six decades after his death, his work was still being compiled in premium-priced box sets that had an audience. It's all in the sheer quality of his work — blessed with a beautiful tone and a wide range (Berigan's low notes could be as memorable as his upper-register shouts), Berigan brought excitement to every session he appeared on. He was not afraid to take chances during his solos and could be a bit reckless, but Berigan's successes and occasional failures were always colorful to hear, at least until he drank it all away.
He was born Roland Bernard Berigan in Hilbert, WI, in 1908, and he was a natural musician as a boy. He took to the trumpet early, and at age 12 he was playing in a youth band organized and led by his grandfather. In his teens he branched out, passing through various local bands and college orchestras, and in 1928, at 19, he auditioned for Hal Kemp and he was rejected at the time, amazingly enough because of his thin tone; but by 1930 he was part of Kemp's band for their European tour, and also got to lay down the first recorded solos of his career with Kemp. Following his return to the United States that fall, Berigan joined Fred Rich's CBS studio band, which was one of the busiest such "house bands" in the burgeoning field of radio, and included such players as Artie Shaw in its ranks. And when he wasn't playing under the auspices of CBS, he was working freelance sessions for a multitude of artists out of various studios in New York City, and also playing the pit orchestras on Broadway. One such engagement, cited by Richard M. Sudhalter, had Berigan working alongside the Dorsey brothers and Jack Teagarden for the musical Everybody's Welcome, a mere footnote in the history of the Great White Way (notable only as the stage piece that introduced the Herman Hupfeld song "As Time Goes By," which was subsequently rescued by Warner Bros. and revived in Casablanca). He played dozens upon dozens of sessions, growing as a musician and his reputation keeping pace — and found time to marry and have two daughters in the midst of it all — accompanying numerous pop performers and vocalists, distinguishing many of the resulting records with his solos. Fred Rich's orchestra was his primary home through 1935, apart from a hiatus in late 1932 and early 1933 in which he sat with Paul Whiteman's orchestra, and a short stint with Abe Lyman in 1934.
Berigan soon gained a strong reputation as a hot jazz soloist and he appeared on quite a few records with studio bands, the Boswell Sisters, and the Dorsey Brothers. It didn't matter who was fronting or what the songs covered at the session were; everything he touched musically turned to gold, at least where he touched it, and producers and bandleaders knew it, too, and booked him accordingly. The movie business also beckoned around this time, and he made his only film appearance in 1934, in association with Fred Rich in the musical short Mirrors. During 1935, he was still doing some session work, with contract frontmen such as Red McKenzie, the comb-player/vocalist (with whose band Berigan later played at the Famous Door, which resulted in more recording gigs) and contract singers like Chick Bullock, but his most visible role that year came during the few months he spent with Benny Goodman's orchestra. It was enough to launch the swing era — Berigan had classic solos on Goodman's first two hit records ("King Porter Stomp" and "Sometimes I'm Happy") and was with B.G. as the latter went on his historic 1935 tour out West, climaxing in the near riot at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles. He was also in Glenn Miller's band for Miller's first time out as leader that same year.
Berigan soon returned to the more lucrative studio scene, which included more work with McKenzie's band from the Famous Door as well as sessions with Billie Holiday under the auspices of John Hammond in 1936. The following year, he joined Tommy Dorsey's band and was once again largely responsible for two hits: "Marie" and "Song of India." Two of Dorsey's most beloved records, they featured astonishingly fine ensemble work, even for the thoroughly polished and virtuoso Dorsey band (vocally as well as instrumentally in the case of "Marie"), yet even in those surroundings, Berigan's solos on these tunes were what everyone remembered. They were so famous that in future years Dorsey had them written out and orchestrated for the full trumpet section. After leaving Dorsey, Bunny Berigan finally put together his own orchestra. He scored early on with his biggest hit, "I Can't Get Started," which remains a jazz standard to this day, and has been reissued too many times to count on record and CD, as well as reused with great effectiveness in several movies, starting with Martin Scorsese's 1967 Vietnam allegory The Big Shave, through John G. Avildsen's acclaimed Save the Tiger (1973), to the soundtrack of Roman Polanski's Chinatown (also notable for its Jerry Goldsmith score and the trumpet work of Uan Rasey). With Georgie Auld on tenor and Buddy Rich on drums, Berigan had a potentially strong band. Unfortunately, he was already an alcoholic and a reluctant businessman, and the headaches of running a band — even one that benefited from the presence of such names as Joe Bushkin, Ray Conniff, Hank Wayland, Bob Jenney, and George Wettling — only drove him deeper toward the refuge of the bottle; not even regular appearances on CBS' Saturday Night Swing Club could ensure the group's success. One can see the toll in the surviving photographs — in his late twenties at the end of the 1930s, he has the look of a man double that age. (One is almost grateful that the old Hollywood never made a biopic about him the way they did on Bix Beiderbecke, with all due respect to Kirk Douglas — though one could see Sean Penn perhaps trying the role on for size, if only they'd get the music right).
By 1939, there had been many lost opportunities and the following year Berigan (who was bankrupt) was forced to break up his band. He rejoined Tommy Dorsey for a few months but never stopped drinking and was not happy being a sideman again. All of these external events were signs of more dire conditions, psychic and physical, on the inside, and it didn't take too long for these to manifest themselves to all concerned. Berigan formed a new orchestra, but his health began declining, and despite the warnings of doctors, he neither slowed down in his work nor gave up drinking. He collapsed on May 30, 1942, and died on June 2, just 33 years old. His death at that moment, just as the swing era was starting its long draw to a close, inevitably raises the question, what would this brilliant swing trumpeter have done in the bop era? As it is, his work, mostly in context with various swing and dance orchestras, ranging from Fred Rich to Tommy Dorsey, and acts such as the Boswell Sisters, has continued to be reissued and is widely known among jazz and big-band aficionados as well as pop music enthusiasts focused on the era. And in 2004, Mosaic Records issued a magnificent seven-CD set, The Complete Brunswick, Parlophone and Vocalion Bunny Berigan Sessions, pulling together over 150 of Berigan's recordings made between 1931 and 1935. It's a sign of the quality of his work and the reputation Berigan enjoys even 60 years after his death that the latter set, which doesn't even cover the period usually considered Berigan's very prime, received rave reviews from jazz critics who normally display little patience for pop sides cut by their most beloved heroes. ~ Scott Yanow & Bruce Eder, Rovi
Title: I Can't Get Started: A Portrait of Bunnie Berigan & His Orchestra
Artist: Bunny Berigan
Genre: Jazz
Title: In a Little Second-Hand Store (Remastered) - Single
Artist: Bunny Berigan, Connee Boswell
Genre: Pop
Title: Sing Sing Sing (Remastered) - Single
Artist: Bunny Berigan, His Rhythm Makers, Peggy Lawson
Title: Deluxe Classics, Vol. 08 (Bunny Berigan and Red McKenzie Story)
Artist: Bunny Berigan, Red McKenzie
Genre: World Music
Title: The Ultimate Jazz Archive (Set 35: Big Band, Disc 4: Bunny Berigan)
Artist: Bunny Berigan
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Metronome Series: Swingin' & Jumpin' - Broadcasts 1937-39
Artist: Bunny Berigan
Genre: Jazz
Collections
Title: Top 100 Classics - The Very Best of the 1930's, Vol. 2
Genre: Jazz
Title: Hits Of The 30s & 40s Vol 2
Genre: Pop
Title: Hot Trumpets
Genre: Jazz
Title: Gimme That Old Fashion Jazz Ballad
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Ultimate Big Band Collection
Genre: Jazz
Title: Big Band Swing
Genre: Jazz
Title: 50 Big Bands and the Best Swing for Dancing
Genre: Jazz
Title: 100 Swing for Dance
Genre: Jazz
Title: Oldies Mega Hits of the Jazz Era
Genre: Jazz, Contemporary Jazz
Title: Banged Up - American Jailhouse Songs 1920s-1950s
Genre: Blues
Title: That Devilin' Tune: A Jazz History (1895-1950)
Genre: Jazz
Title: Legends of the Big Band Era
Genre: Alternative
Title: 101 Big Bands Swing
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Definitive Tribute to Cole Porter & Irving Berlin
Genre: Pop
Title: Irving Berlin Songbook
Genre: Pop
Title: Golden Hits of the 30s & 40s
Title: 1936 Hits (Remastered)
Genre: Pop
Title: Tracks from 360 Sound: The Columbia Records Story
Genre: Pop
Title: From the Sony Vault: Christmas With the Big Bands
Genre: Pop
Title: Vintage Jazz
Genre: Jazz
Title: 100 Vocal & Jazz Classics - Vol. 9 (1938-1939)
Genre: Jazz
Title: 100 Vocal & Jazz Classics - Vol. 7 (1937-1938)
Genre: Jazz
Title: 100 Vocal & Jazz Classics - Vol. 8 (1938)
Genre: Jazz
Title: 100 Vocal & Jazz Classics - Vol. 6 (1936-1937)
Genre: Jazz
Title: Joe Gould's Secret
Genre: Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: Big Men In Small Bands
Genre: Jazz
Title: Swing Flavour, Vol. 2
Genre: Jazz
Title: Jazz Legends
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Fabulous Swing Collection: More Fabulous Swing
Genre: Jazz
Title: Charleston
Genre: Jazz
Title: Sing for Your Supper
Title: Wicked Swing
Genre: Jazz
Title: Ultimate Big Band Collection: Great Theme Songs
Genre: Jazz
Title: Swing Essentials, Vol. 6: Don't Stop Swinging
Genre: Jazz
Title: Jazz Drumming (1937 - 1938)
Genre: Jazz
Title: Let It Swing Vol. 3 - House In Harlem for Sale
Genre: Jazz
Title: Timeless Swing Time, Vol. 3
Genre: Pop
Title: Kings of Swing
Genre: Jazz
Title: Swing Flavour, Vol. 1
Genre: Jazz
Title: World's Greatest Big Bands
Genre: Jazz
Title: Bunny Berigan a Journey in Jazz
Genre: Jazz
Title: Classic Bands
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Stars Salute
Genre: Jazz
Title: Cocktail Hour: Swing Time
Genre: Jazz
Title: Best of Jazz Foundations Vol. 4
Genre: Jazz
Title: Big Band Jazz
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Rum Diary
Genre: Rock
Title: Big Band Classics (Volume 5)
Genre: Jazz
Title: Big Band Classics (Volume 1)
Genre: Jazz
Title: 100 Jazz Grand Reserve
Genre: Jazz
Title: Big Band Swing 2
Genre: Jazz
Title: JukeBox Jives 1936-1946
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Best of Jazz Piano and Trumpet
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Best of 30's Victor (Doxy Collection)
Genre: Jazz
Title: The 50 Best Swing Songs Ever
Genre: Jazz
Title: Storyville Masters of Jazz - Big Band Vol. 1
Genre: Jazz
Title: 101 - The Best of Big Band
Genre: Electronica, Dancefloor, Dance Pop
Title: Hits Of '37
Genre:
Title: Swing Time! The Fabulous Big Band Era 1925-1955
Genre: Jazz
Title: I Love Big Bands, Vol. 1
Genre: Jazz
Title: Caravan - Juan Tizol - Stunning Historical Recordings
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Jazz Story - Memory Lane
Genre: Blues
Featuring albums
Title: Chinatown (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Artist: Jerry Goldsmith
Genre: Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: Smooth Jazz (New Stereo Recordings by the Original Artists)
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Jazz
Title: Woody Allen - Music From His Movies (Volume 4)
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: Big Band: Swingin' Through the Night (Bluebird's Best Series)
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Very Best Cool Cats Collection of Jazz Trumpet, Vol. 3
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Very Best Cool Cats Collection of Jazz Trumpet, Vol. 4
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Jazz