Liza - Music

William Henry Webb Usually Known As Chick Webb February 10 1905 –June 16 1939 Was A Jazz And Swing Music Drummer As Well As A Band Leader. 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 Band Leaders 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. 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. In The 1930s Chick Webb And His Band Were The Mainstay At The Savoy A Popular And Prominent Harlem Night Club At The Time. He Was Involved In Numerous "Battle Of The Bands" Contests Which He Won Handily By Means Of The Dancers' Votes. As A Result He Came To Be Known As The "King Of Swing." 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 Theatre 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 New York Times Later Wrote “reluctant To Sign Her…because She Was Gawky And Unkempt A Diamond In The Rough.” Webb Offered Her The Opportunity To Test With His Band When They Played A Dance At Yale University. She Began Singing Regularly With Webb’s Orchestra Through 1935 At Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom. 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 On June 16 1939 His Band Was Renamed Ella And Her Famous Orchestra With Ella Taking On The Role Of Nominal Band Leader. Fitzgerald Recorded Nearly 150 Songs With The Orchestra Before It Broke Up In 1942 “the Majority Of Them Novelties And Disposable Pop Fluff”. In 1942 Fitzgerald Left The Band To Begin A Solo Career. read less