Kid Ory facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kid Ory
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Ory in 1944 with the All Star Jazz Group assembled for the CBS show The Orson Welles Almanac
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edouard Ory |
| Born | December 25, 1886 LaPlace, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | January 23, 1973 (aged 86) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, traditional Creole |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, promoter |
| Instruments | Trombone |
| Years active | 1910–1966 |
| Labels | Columbia, Okeh Records, Exner, Crescent, Good Time Jazz, Verve |
| Associated acts | Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Ma Rainey, Benny Goodman, Charles Mingus |
Edward "Kid" Ory (born December 25, 1886 – died January 23, 1973) was an American jazz musician. He was a talented trombonist, a composer, and a bandleader. Kid Ory was one of the first musicians to use the glissando technique. This is when you slide from one musical note to another. He helped make it a key part of New Orleans jazz.
Ory was born near LaPlace, Louisiana. When he turned 21, he moved to New Orleans. Later, he moved to Los Angeles in 1919 and then to Chicago in 1925. His band became very important in bringing back interest in New Orleans jazz music. They performed on radio shows like The Orson Welles Almanac in 1944. From 1944 to 1945, his band made many recordings for the Crescent label. This record company was started by Nesuhi Ertegun just to record Ory's band.
Kid Ory stopped playing music in 1966. He spent his last years living in Hawaii.
Contents
Early Life and Music Career
Kid Ory was born in 1886 on the Woodland Plantation in LaPlace, Louisiana. This place is now home to the 1811 Kid Ory Historic House. His family spoke Louisiana French and were of Black Creole background.
As a child, Ory started playing music with instruments he made himself. By the time he was a teenager, he was leading a popular band in southeast Louisiana. He stayed in LaPlace because of his family until his 21st birthday. Then, he moved his band to New Orleans.
In his youth, Ory played the banjo. People say that playing the banjo helped him create his special "tailgate" trombone style. This style involved playing a rhythmic line underneath the trumpets and cornets. His use of the glissando helped make it a key part of New Orleans Jazz.
When Ory lived on Jackson Avenue, the famous musician Buddy Bolden discovered him. Ory was playing his first new trombone, not an old Civil War one. Ory's sister thought he was too young to play with Bolden.
Leading a Band in New Orleans
In 1910, Kid Ory moved his six-person band to New Orleans. His band was one of the most famous in the city during the 1910s. He hired many great jazz musicians. These included cornet players like Joe "King" Oliver and Mutt Carey. Louis Armstrong also joined his band in 1919. Famous clarinet players like Johnny Dodds and Jimmie Noone also played with him.
In 1919, Ory moved to Los Angeles. Many New Orleans musicians moved there around that time. In 1922, he recorded music there with a band that included Mutt Carey and Ed Garland. Garland and Carey played with Ory for many years, even during his comeback in the 1940s.
While in Los Angeles, Ory and his band recorded two instrumental songs: "Ory's Creole Trombone" and "Society Blues." These were the first jazz recordings made on the West Coast by an African American jazz band from New Orleans. His band recorded with Nordskog Records. Ory paid Nordskog for the records and then sold them under his own label, "Kid Ory's Sunshine Orchestra." He sold them at Spikes Brothers Music Store in Los Angeles.
Moving to Chicago and Comeback
In 1925, Ory moved to Chicago. He was very busy there, working and recording with many famous musicians. These included Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Johnny Dodds, Bessie Smith, and Ma Rainey. He also helped guide younger musicians like Benny Goodman and, later, Charles Mingus.
Kid Ory was part of the first group of musicians in Louis Armstrong's Hot Five. They made their first recording on November 12, 1925. His song "Muskrat Ramble" was recorded during a Hot Five session in February 1926.
During the Great Depression, a difficult economic time, Ory stopped playing music. He did not play again until 1943. During this time, he ran a chicken farm in Los Angeles, California.
From 1944 to about 1961, he led one of the best New Orleans-style bands of that time. His band members included trumpeters Alvin Alcorn and Teddy Buckner. Clarinet players like Darnell Howard, Jimmie Noone, and Barney Bigard also played with him.
Ory's band played a big part in bringing back interest in New Orleans jazz. They made popular radio broadcasts in the 1940s, including on The Orson Welles Almanac starting in March 1944. As mentioned, they also made recordings for the Crescent label, which was created just for them.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Ory and his group performed at the Beverly Cavern in Los Angeles. In 1958, he played at 'On the Levee' in San Francisco.
Personal Life
Kid Ory retired from music in 1966. He spent his last years in Hawaii, with help from musician Trummy Young. Ory passed away in Honolulu from pneumonia and a heart attack. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California. His wife's name was Elizabeth.
Ory was a Catholic and was baptized at St Peter Church in Reserve, Louisiana.
Legacy
In 2021, the 1811 Kid Ory Museum House opened. It is located on the site of Woodland Plantation in LaPlace, Louisiana. This site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places of the United States. The museum honors both the 1811 German Coast uprising of enslaved people and Kid Ory.
Partial Discography
- 1950 Kid Ory and His Creole Dixieland Band (Columbia)
- 1951 At the Beverly Cavern (Sounds)
- 1954 Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band (Good Time Jazz)
- 1954 Creole Jazz Band (Good Time Jazz)
- 1954 Kid Ory's Creole Band/Johnny Wittwer Trio (Jazz Man)
- 1955 Sounds of New Orleans, Vol. 9 (Storyville)
- 1956 Kid Ory in Europe (Verve)
- 1956 Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band/This Kid's the Greatest! (Good Time Jazz)
- 1956 The Legendary Kid (Good Time Jazz)
- 1956 Favorites! (Good Time Jazz)
- 1957 The Kid from New Orleans: Ory That Is (Upbeat Jazz)
- 1957 Dixieland Marching Songs (Verve)
- 1957 Kid Ory Sings French Traditional Songs (Verve)
- 1958 Song of the Wanderer
- 1959 At the Jazz Band Ball (Rhapsody)
- 1959 Plays W.C. Handy
- 1960 Dance with Kid Ory or Just Listen
- 1961 The Original Jazz
- 1961 The Storyville Nights (Verve)
- 1968 Kid Ory Live (Vault)
- 1978 Edward Kid Ory and His Creole Band at the Dixieland Jubilee (Dixieland Jubilee)
- 19?? Kid Ory The Great New Orleans Trombonist (CBS/Sony)
- 1981 Kid Ory Plays The Blues (Storyville)
- 1990 Favorites
- 1992 Kid Ory at the Green Room, Vol. 1 (American Recordings)
- 1994 Kid Ory at the Green Room, Vol. 2 (American Recordings)
- 1997 Kid Ory and His Creole Band at the Dixieland Jubilee (GNP Crescendo)
- 1997 Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band (EPM)
- 1998 In Denmark (Storyville)
- 2000 Live at the Beverly Cavern (504)
With Red Allen
- 1957 Red Allen, Kid Ory & Jack Teagarden at Newport (Verve)
See also
In Spanish: Kid Ory para niños
