Red Norvo

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Red Norvo (31 March 1908- 6 April 1999) was one of jazz's early vibraphonists. He helped establish the xylophone and later the vibraphone as viable jazz instruments.

Norvo in The Screaming Mimi (1958)

Norvo was born Kenneth Norville in Beardstown, Illinois. The story goes that he sold his pet pony to help pay for his first marimba. Norvo's career began in Chicago with a band called "The Collegians", in 1925. He played with many other bands, including an all-marimba band on the vaudeville circuit, and the bands of Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Charlie Barnet, and Woody Herman. Norvo recorded with Mildred Bailey (his wife), Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra, among others. Together, Red and Mildred were known as "Mr. and Mrs. Swing." He also appeared in the film Screaming Mimi (1958), playing himself.

In June 1945, while a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet, he recorded a session for Comet records using a Sextet which featured not just members of the Goodman group but also both Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He said "Bird and Diz were dirty words for musicians of my generation. But jazz had always gone through changes and in 1945 we were in the middle of another one. Bird and Diz were saying new things in an exciting way. I had a free hand so I gambled" ^[1].

In 1949, while trying to find work near home on the West Coast and running into difficulties with large groups, Norvo formed a trio with the novel combination of vibes, guitar, and bass. When the original guitarist and bassist quit (Mundell Lowe and Red Kelly), he brought in two previously little-known players. Tal Farlow became one of the most important of the post-War generation of guitarists, in part because the demands of the trio led him to explore new levels of both speed and harmonic richness on the instrument. Charles Mingus's prominence as a bass player increased through this group, though its reportoire did not reflect the major career he would develop as a composer. The trio lasted until 1951, and recorded two LPs for Savoy.

In 1959 Norvo's group played concerts in Australia with Frank Sinatra; Blue Note released these recordings in 1997.

Norvo recorded and toured throughout his career until a stroke in the mid-1980s forced him into retirement. He died at a convalescent home in Santa Monica, California at the age of 91.