Eddie Lang

Eddie Lang
Background information
Birth name Salvatore Massaro
Also known as Blind Willie Dunn
Born October 25, 1902
Philadelphia, United States
Died March 26, 1933 (aged 30)
New York, United States
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Guitar, violin, banjo
Associated acts Joe Venuti, Paul Whiteman, Bing Crosby, Annette Hanshaw, Lonnie Johnson
Notable instruments
Gibson L-4, Gibson L-5
For the blues singer Eddie Lang (singer)

Eddie Lang (October 25, 1902 – March 26, 1933) was an American jazz guitarist, regarded by some as the Father of Jazz Guitar.[1] He played a Gibson L-4 and L-5 guitar, providing great influence for many guitarists, including Django Reinhardt.[2]

The Gibson L5 owned by Eddie Lang

Biography

Lang was born Salvatore Massaro, the son of an Italian-American[3] instrument maker in Philadelphia. He first took violin lessons for 11 years. In school he became friends with Joe Venuti, with whom he would work for much of his career.[4] He was playing professionally by about 1918, playing violin, banjo and guitar. He worked with various bands in the USA's Northeast, worked in London (late 1924 to early 1925), then settled in New York City.

Lang was the first important jazz guitarist. He was effectively able to integrate the guitar into 1920s jazz recordings. He played with the bands of Joe Venuti, Adrian Rollini, Roger Wolfe Kahn and Jean Goldkette, in addition to doing a large amount of freelance radio and recording work.

On February 4, 1927, Lang featured in the recording of "Singin' the Blues" by Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke on cornet. Lang traded guitar licks while Beiderbecke soloed on cornet, in a landmark jazz recording of the 1920s.[4]

In 1929, he joined Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, and can be seen and heard in the movie King of Jazz. In 1930, Lang played guitar on the original recording of the jazz and pop standard "Georgia On My Mind", recorded with Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra. Joe Venuti and Bix Beiderbecke also played on this recording.

When Bing Crosby left Whiteman, Lang went with Crosby as his accompanist, and can be seen with him in the 1932 movie Big Broadcast. Lang also played under the pseudonym Blind Willie Dunn on a number of blues records with Lonnie Johnson.[4]

Lang died following a tonsillectomy[5] in New York City in 1933 at the age of thirty. He had been urged by Crosby to have the tonsillectomy so that he might have speaking parts in Crosby's films. Lang's voice was chronically hoarse, and it was hoped that the operation would remedy this. It is unclear exactly what the cause of death was, but it is thought that uncontrolled bleeding played a role. Author James Sallis claims that he died when he developed an embolism while still under anesthetic and never regained consciousness.[6]

Influence and legacy

Lang's compositions, based on the Red Hot Jazz database, included "Wild Cat" with Joe Venuti, "Perfect" with Frank Signorelli, "April Kisses" (1927), "Sunshine", "Melody Man's Dream", "Goin' Places", "Black and Blue Bottom", "Bull Frog Moan", "Rainbow Dreams", "Feelin' My Way", "Eddie's Twister", "Really Blue", "Penn Beach Blues", "Wild Dog", "Pretty Trix", "A Mug of Ale", "Apple Blossoms", "Beating the Dog", "To To Blues", "Running Ragged", "Kicking the Cat", "Cheese and Crackers", "Doin' Things", "Blue Guitars", "Guitar Blues" with Lonnie Johnson, "Hot Fingers", "Have to Change Keys to Play These Blues", "A Handful of Riffs", "Blue Room", "Deep Minor Rhythm Stomp", "Two-Tone Stomp". "Midnight Call Blues", "Four String Joe", "Goin' Home", and "Pickin' My Way" (1932) with Carl Kress.[7]

Jazz guitarist George Van Eps assessed the legacy of Eddie Lang: "It's very fair to call Eddie Lang the father of jazz guitar". Barney Kessel noted that "Eddie Lang first elevated the guitar and made it artistic in jazz." Les Paul acknowledged that "Eddie Lang was the first and had a very modern technique." Joe Pass, in a 1976 interview, stated that Lang was one of the three main guitar innovators, along with Wes Montgomery and Django Reinhardt.

In 1977, Lang's recording of "Singin' the Blues" with Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke on cornet was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

In 1986, Lang was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.

In 2006, his 1927 recording of "Singin' the Blues" with Bix Beiderbecke and Frankie Trumbauer was placed on the U.S. Library of Congress National Recording Registry.

In 2010, he was one of the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame inductees.[8]

Major recordings

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Ferguson, Jim (1983). Father Of Jazz Guitar. GPI Publications. pp. 78–86.
  2. ↑ Berendt, Joachim E (1976). The Jazz Book. Paladin. p. 268.
  3. ↑ Lang's father was born in Monteroduni, an Italian village in Molise. The township of Monteroduni hosts every year a commemorative "Eddie Lang Jazz Festival". See
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lyttelton, Humphrey (1998). The Best of Jazz. Robson Books. pp. 139–140. ISBN 1-86105-187-5.
  5. ↑ Jazz and Otolaryngology: The Death of Guitarist Eddie Lang
  6. ↑ The Guitar Players - One Instrument and Its Masters in American Music by James Sallis 1982
  7. ↑ Eddie Lang at RedHot Jazz
  8. ↑ 2010 ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame Inductees.

External links