Willie Gant

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Willie "The Tiger" Gant (b. 1900, New York City) was an American jazz bandleader and pianist.

Gant began on piano at age 12, and played in local New York clubs and cafes from age 17. He played with Lillyn Brown & Her Jazzbo Syncopators in 1921, and formed his own band, the Ramblers, that same year. Over the course of the next six years, Gant's band rivaled Fats Waller in popularity; it also served as early experience for many noted sideman, including Freddie Green, Ward Pinkett, Billy Taylor, Happy Caldwell, and Manzie Johnson. Gant recorded some sides in the 1920s, and after the dissolution of his Ramblers devoted himself almost exclusively to solo piano work. He played in New York at places like the Hotel Fairfax and Carutti's from the 1930s into the 1950s.

[edit] References

• Eugene Chadbourne, Willie Gant at All Music Guide