Create account Log in

Chick Webb

[Edit]

Wikimp3 information about the music of Chick Webb. On our website we have 63 albums and 70 collections of artist Chick Webb. You can find useful information and download songs of this artist. We also know that Chick Webb represents Jazz genres.

Biography

[Edit]

Chick Webb represented the triumph of the human spirit in jazz and life. Hunchbacked, small in stature, almost a dwarf with a large face and broad shoulders, Webb fought off congenital tuberculosis of the spine in order to become one of the most competitive drummers and bandleaders of the big band era. Perched high upon a platform, he used custom-made pedals, goose-neck cymbal holders, a 28-inch bass drum and a wide variety of other percussion instruments to create thundering solos of a complexity and energy that paved the way for Buddy Rich (who studied Webb intensely) and Louie Bellson. Alas, Webb did not get a fair shake on records; Decca's primitive recording techniques could not adequately capture his spectacular technique and wide dynamic range. He could not read music, but that didn't stop him either, for he memorized each arrangement flawlessly. Although his band did not become as influential and revered in the long run as some of its contemporaries, it nevertheless was feared in its time for its battles of the bands in Harlem's Savoy Ballroom; a famous encounter with the high-flying Benny Goodman outfit at its peak (with Gene Krupa in the drummer's chair) left the latter band drained and defeated.

William Henry Webb bought his first set of drums with his earnings as a newsboy, and he began playing in bands on pleasure boats. After moving to New York in 1925, he led bands in various clubs before settling in for long regular runs at the Savoy beginning in 1931. Although Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges played with the band early on, the Webb band was oddly short on major soloists during its heyday from the mid-'30s onward; the young alto sax player Louis Jordan made the biggest impression after leaving the band. But the band made up for it with a crisp ensemble sound, Webb's disciplined, ferociously driving drum pyrotechnics, trumpeter Taft Jordan's impressions of Louis Armstrong, and most of all, a series of strong compositions and charts by Edgar Sampson ("Blue Lou" and "Stomping at the Savoy" among them). In 1935, Webb hired the teenaged Ella Fitzgerald after she won a talent contest at the Apollo Theater, became her legal guardian, and rebuilt his show around the singer, who provided him with his biggest hit record, "A Tisket-A-Tasket," in 1938. The band's fame continued to grow, fueled by its reputation as a giant-killer in the Savoy battles and a continuous string of Decca 78s that featured such irresistible numbers as "T'aint What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" and the B-side of "Tasket," "Liza." But Webb's precarious health began to give way, and after a major operation in Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, he died (his last words reportedly were, "I'm sorry, I've got to go."). After Webb's death, Fitzgerald fronted the band until it finally broke up in 1942. ~ Richard S. Ginell, Rovi

Title: A Legend

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: Ain't Got Nobody

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: Blue Skies

Artist: Chick Webb, Big Band

Genre: Jazz

Title: Dog Bottom

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: Go Harlem

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: Go Harlem - Single

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: I Got a Guy

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: Midnite in Harlem

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: Numero Uno Jazz

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: Rhythm Man

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: Strictly Jive

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz, Rock

Title: The Best Of Chick Webb

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: The Golden Swing Years

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: The King of the Drums

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: The Legend

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: Wake Up and Live

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: Dreams Come True

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Title: Chick Webb Orchestra

Artist: Chick Webb

Genre: Jazz

Collections

Title: Great Gatsby Party

Genre: Kids

Title: Magic Swing

Genre: Jazz

Title: Perfect Big Bands

Genre: Jazz

Title: Vintage Jazz

Genre: Jazz

Title: Hits Of '38

Genre: Jazz

Title: The Apollo Theatre

Genre: Jazz

Title: The Roots of Jazz

Genre: Jazz

Title: Coffeehouse Jazz

Genre: Jazz

Title: The Jazz Bar Vol. 5

Genre: Jazz, Pop

Title: Reefer Madness

Genre:

Title: Rakehell's Revels

Genre: Jazz

Title: Song Mix (10)

Genre: Pop

Title: Swingsation Sampler

Genre: Jazz

Title: Rakehell's Revels

Genre: Jazz

Featuring albums

Title: Big Bands, Vol. 1

Artist: Charlie Barnet

Genre: Jazz

Title: Swing Swing Swing

Artist: Various Artists

Genre: Jazz

Title: Gershwin in Jazz

Artist: Various Artists

Genre: Jazz

Title: Cotton Tail

Artist: Irving Berlin

Genre: Jazz

Genres