Eddie Condon

Eddie Condon

Photo: William P. Gottlieb

Source: Wiki 2

Born in Goodland, Indiana, on 16 November 1905, guitarist, Eddie Condon, helped shape the sound of early jazz in Chicago before moving on to New York City to become master of Dixieland, spending his entire career surrounded by musicians who could play in their sleep, epitomizing jazz with the ease that they rolled extemporaneous phrases about. Condon first learned ukulele but shifted over to banjo before his initial professional gigs in 1921. Several years later in 1925 he and Red McKenzie formed the catalyst to his future career in the Chicago Rhythm Kings of which various associated configurations would arise. McKenzie was a comb player and later vocalist but his main vocation was running bands. In 1927 he and Condon formed a partnership called the McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans which included Jimmy McPartland at cornet and Gene Krupa at drums which recorded 'Sugar' and 'China Boy' in December. Condon and McKenzie partnered in numerous operations like the Mound City Blue Blowers and McKenzie's Rhythm Kings into 1935. They would team up again in 1944 and 1945. Krupa, for whom 'Sugar' and 'China Boy' were also his first recordings, worked with Condon variously into 1929 with reunions in 1942, 1944, 1962, 1969 and 1972. McPartland joined Condon in the latter's Footwarmers in 1928. Their careers took different paths though they reunited a few times from 1949 to as late as 1969. In the meantime the McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans reunited in October of 1961 toward 'Chicago and All That Jazz'.

'Sugar'   McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans

Recorded 8 Dec 1927 in Chicago    Matrix 82030-A   Issued on Okeh 41011

Debut recording of both Condon and Krupa

Cornet: Jimmy McPartland   Clarinet: Frank Teschemacher

Tenor sax: Bud Freeman

Piano: Joe Sullivan   Banjo: Condon

String bass: Jim Lannigan   Drums: Gene Krupa

Composition: Maceo Pinkard

'China Boy'   McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans

Recorded 8 Dec 1927 in Chicago    Matrix 82031-B   Issued on Okeh 41011

Second recording of both Condon and Krupa

Cornet: Jimmy McPartland   Clarinet: Frank Teschemacher

Tenor sax: Bud Freeman

Piano: Joe Sullivan   Banjo: Condon

String bass: Jim Lannigan   Drums: Gene Krupa

Composition: Phil Boutelje / Dick Winfree

'Nobody's Sweetheart'   McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans

Recorded 16 Dec 1927 in Chicago    Matrix 82082-B   Issued on Okeh 40971

Cornet: Jimmy McPartland   Clarinet: Frank Teschemacher

Tenor sax: Bud Freeman   Piano: Joe Sullivan   Banjo: Condon

String bass: Jim Lannigan   Drums: Gene Krupa   Cymbals: Mez Mezzrow

Composition: Billy Meyers / Elmer Schoebel / Ernie Erdman / Gus Kahn

'Liza'   McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans

Recorded 16 Dec 1927 in Chicago    Matrix 82083-A   Issued on Okeh 40971

Cornet: Jimmy McPartland   Clarinet: Frank Teschemacher

Tenor sax: Bud Freeman   Piano: Joe Sullivan   Banjo: Condon

String bass: Jim Lannigan   Drums: Gene Krupa   Cymbals: Mez Mezzrow

Composition: Eddie Condon / Red McKenzie / Aaron Rubin

'There'll Be Some Changes Made'   Chicago Rhythm Kings

Recorded 6 April 1928 in Chicago    Brunswick 4001

Cornet: Muggsy Spanier   Clarinet: Frank Teschemacher

Tenor sax: Mezz Mezzrow   Piano: Joe Sullivan   Banjo: Condon

String bass: Jim Lannigan   Drums: Gene Krupa   Vocals: Red McKenzie

Composition: Billy Higgins / William Benton Overstreet

After tracks with Frank Teschmacher's Chicagoans on 28 April 1928 Condon left Chicago for New York City in time for 'My Baby Came Back Home' and 'From Monday On' with McKenzie's Music Box in May that year. Stacking below is a tour through some of the names with whom Condon worked, cornet player, Red Nichols, a good place to begin. Condon and Nichols sat in the orchestra of Miff Mole in July of 1928 toward 'Windy City Stomp'. Condon later backed Nichols' Five Pennies on titles in the summer of 1929. Condon and Mole are found on numerous tracks together to as late as 1945 either backing each other or other operations. Three weeks after 'Windy City Stomp' Condon held his initial session as a leader in his own name in July, adding vocals to 'Oh Baby' and 'Indiana' with his Quartet filled by Teschmacher at clarinet, Joe Sullivan on piano and Krupa at drums.

'Windy City Stomp'   Miff Mole Orchestra

Recorded 6 July 1928 in NYC    Issued on HRS 15

Trumpet: Red Nichols   Mellophone: Dudley Fosdick

Trombone: Miff Mole   Clarinet: Frank Teschemacher

Piano: Joe Sullivan   Banjo: Condon   Drums: Gene Krupa

Composition: Jesse Greer

'Oh Baby'   Eddie Condon Quartet

Recorded 28 July 1928 in NYC    Matrix 400899-A   Issued on Columbia 35950

Clarinet / alto sax: Frank Teschemacher

Piano: Joe Sullivan   Banjo / vocals: Condon   Drums: Gene Krupa

Composition: Owen Murphy

'Indiana'   Eddie Condon Quartet

Recorded 28 July 1928 in NYC    Matrix 401035-A   Issued on Columbia 35950

Clarinet / alto sax: Frank Teschemacher

Piano: Joe Sullivan   Banjo / vocals: Condon   Drums: Gene Krupa

Composition: James Hanley

'I'm Gonna Stomp Mr. Henry Lee'   Eddie's Hot Shots

Recorded 8 Feb 1929 in NYC

Take 2 of 2 on matrix 48345-2   Issued on Bluebird B-10168

(Take 1 of 2 on matrix 48345-1 issued on Victor V38046)

Trumpet: Leonard Davis   Trombone / vocals: Jack Teagarden

C-melody sax: Mezz Mezzrow   Tenor sax: Happy Cauldwell

Piano: Joe Sullivan   Banjo: Condon   Drums: Gene Krupa

Composition: Peck Kelly / George Rubens / Condon / Jack Teagarden

'That's a Serious Thing'   Eddie's Hot Shots

Recorded 8 Feb 1929 in NYC

Take 1 of 2 on matrix 48346-1   Issued on Bluebird B-10168

(Take 2 of 2 on matrix 48346-2 issued on Victor V38046)

Trumpet: Leonard Davis   Trombone / vocals: Jack Teagarden

C-melody sax: Mezz Mezzrow   Tenor sax: Happy Cauldwell

Piano: Joe Sullivan   Banjo: Condon   Drums: Gene Krupa

Composition: Joe Sullivan / Mezz Mezzrow / Condon / Jack Teagarden

Condon and Fats Waller first got mixed with Waller's Buddies on 1 March 1929 and joined one another on several occasions to as late as a concert at Carnegie Hall in 1942. Four days later Condon joined Louis Armstrong's Savoy Ballroom Five on 'I Can't Give You Anything But Love' and 'Mahogany Hall Stomp'. In 1949 Armstrong backed Condon on several telecasts of the 'Eddie Condon Jam Session' for NBC television. They joined one another again at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956.

'Harlem Fuss'   Fats Waller and His Buddies

Recorded 1 March 1929 in NYC   Victor V-38050

Trumpet: Charlie Gaines   Trombone: Charlie Irvis

Clarinet / alto sax: Arville Harris

Piano: Fats Waller   Banjo: Condon

Composition: Fats Waller

'Mahogany Hall Stomp'   Louis Armstrong & His Savoy Ballroom Five

5 March 1929 in NYC   Okeh 8680 / Vocalion 3055 / Jolly Roger J7001 / Columbia 35879

Trumpet: Louis Armstrong   Trombone: J. C. Higginbotham

Alto sax: Albert Nicholas / Charlie Holmes   Tenor sax: Teddy Hill

Piano: Luis Russell   Guitar: Lonnie Johnson   Banjo: Condon

String bass: Pops Foster   Drums: Paul Barbarin

Composition: Spencer Williams

Among the major figures in Condon's career was clarinetist, Pee Wee Russell, who first got mixed with Condon in Nichols' Five Pennies toward 'Who Cares?' (Brunswick 4778) in June of 1929. Condon and Russell spent the next two decades working together to as late as 'The Eddie Condon Floor Show' television broadcast for NBC in 1949. Come 'Live! Miami Beach' with Wild Bill Davison in 1955 followed by numerous occasions to as late as 'Eddie Condon in Japan' in March 1964.

'Who Cares?'   Red Nichols and His Five Pennies

12 June 1929 in NYC   Brunswick 4778

Cornet: Red Nichols   Trumpet: Tommy Thunen / John Egan

Trombone: Herb Taylor   Clarinet: Pee Wee Russell

Piano: Irving Brodsky   Banjo / vocals: Condon   Drums: George Beebe

Music: Milton Ager   Lyrics: Jack Yellen   1922

It was September of 1929 when trumpeter, Henry Red Allen, joined Condon in Waller's Buddies toward 'Lookin' Good But Feelin' Bad' and 'I Need Someone Like You'. They rubbed shoulders in the bands of Billy Banks and Jack Bland in 1932 before backing Putney Dandridge on titles like 'A Star Fell Out of Heaven' and 'If We Never Meet Again' in 1936.

'I Need Someone Like You'   Fats Waller & His Buddies

30 Sep 1929 in NYC   Victor V-38086

Trumpet: Henry Red Allen   Trombone: Jack Teagarden

Alto sax: Albert Nicholas / Otto Hardwick   Tenor sax: Larry Binyon

Piano: Fats Waller   Banjo: Condon

String bass: Al Morgan   Drums: Gene Krupa

Vocals: The Four Wanderers:

Herman Hughes / Charles Clinchscales / Maceo Johnson / Oliver Childs

Composition: Thomas Fats Waller

It was a session in December of 1933 with McKenzie's Orchestra that Tom Lord finds Condon switching from banjo to guitar, those titles 'Whispering', 'Delta Bound' and 'Mean to Me' with only the last issued on IAJRC 28. His next guitar session with McKenzie's Rhythm Kings in July 1935 saw 'Murder In the Moonlight' released on Decca 507.

Condon's initial session with clarinetist, Joe Marsala, had been with Dandridge in 1936 per 'A Star Fell Out of Heaven' (above). Condon and Marsala worked together on numerous occasions to as late as Wild Bill Davison's Commodores in 1945. Condon had first sat in Davison's Commodores in November of 1943 toward such as 'That's a Plenty' and 'Muskrat Ramble'. Davison and Condon were constant companions for nigh another three decades. They worked together in various capacities, though usually Condon's band, nigh continuously to as late as Condon's last recordings in 1972.

'A Star Fell Out of Heaven'   Putney Dandridge Orchestra

3 Aug 1936 in NYC   Vocalion 3287

Trumpet: Henry Red Allen   Clarinet / alto sax: Joe Marsala

Piano: James Sherman   Guitar: Condon

String bass: Ernest Wilson Myers   Drums: Cozy Cole

Composition: Mack Gordon / Harry Revel

Another of Condon's steadfast compatriots was cornetist, Bobby Hackett, who backed Condon's Windy City Seven in January of 1938 toward titles like 'Love Is Just Around the Corner'. Condon and Hackett led a much interweaving trail to as late as 1955 backing either each other or other bands. They reunited in 1962 toward Condon's album, 'Midnight In Moscow'.

'At the Jazz Band Ball'   Bobby Hackett and his Band

From the Vitaphone film: 'Saturday Evening Swing Club'

Vocalion session 16 Feb 1938 in NYC

Filming begun 18 Feb 1938   Release: 30 July 1938

Cornet: Bobby Hackett   Trombone: George Brunies

Clarinet: Pee Wee Russell

Piano: Dave Bowman   Guitar: Condon

String bass: Clyde Newcomb   Drums: Johnny Blowers

Composition: Nick LaRocca / Larry Shields

Condon commenced a residency at a Manhattan club called Nick's in the latter thirties. He would be joined there by not only Pee Wee Russell, but another clarinetist with whom he often recorded, being Edmond Hall with whom he backed Hackett in 1941 for a BBC radio broadcast of such as 'The Man I Love'. Hall regularly contributed to 'Eddie Condon's Jazz Concerts' aired by WJZ in New York City in 1944. Backing several sessions between Condon and Davison to 1946, he signed up with them again from 1951 to 1955, and finally in 1964 with Davison and Eddie Condon's All Stars.

'Eddie Condon's Jazz Concert'   Eddie Condon   Radio

Blue Network Show #8 (AFRS #6)

Broadcast from Town Hall NYC 8 July 1944

Cornet: Bobby Hackett   Trumpet: Billy Butterfield / Jonah Jones

Trombone: Benny Morton

Clarinet: Pee Wee Russell / Edmond Hall   Baritone sax: Ernie Caceres

Piano: Gene Schroeder   Guitar: Condon

String bass: Johnny Williams   Drums: Joe Grauso

From 1945 to 1967 Condon ran his own jazz club in NYC called Eddie Condon's. He published his autobiography, 'We Called It Music', in 1947.

Concert aboard the USS Wasp   Eddie Condon   Film   1952

Cornet: Wild Bill Davison   Trombone: Cutty Cutshall

Clarinet: Edmond Hall   Piano: Gene Schroeder   Guitar: Condon

String bass: Bob Casey   Drums: Cliff Leeman

Condon visited Great Britain with Davison in 1957. 'Chicago And All That Jazz' below was essentially a reunion of the McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans of 1927 with some additional personnel. Those of the original band were Jimmy McPartland, Bud Freeman, Joe Sullivan and Gene Krupa. Pee Wee Russell filled Teschemacher's spot at clarinet while Bob Haggart assumed Jim Lannigan's place at string bass. Condon later formed an all-star band to tour Australia and Japan in 1964. Tom Lord traces him to as late as 'Jazz at the New School' with Davison and Krupa in April of 1972 (see Chiaroscuro CR110). He narrated at the Big Horn Jazz Fest in Ivanhoe, Illinois, featuring Davison in May 1972 (see Big Horn SB2001).

'Chicago And All That Jazz'   Eddie Condon   Album

Recorded 30-31 Oct 1961 in Chicago   Verve MGV8441

'Royal Garden Blues'   Eddie Condon   Television   1963

Cornet: Wild Bill Davison   Trombone: Cutty Cutshall

Clarinet: Peanuts Hucko   Piano: Johnny Varro   Guitar: Condon

String bass: Joe Williams   Drums: Buzzy Drootin

Composition: Spencer Williams / Clarence Williams   1919

'Jazz at the New School'   Tracks 1-5 of 12   Eddie Condon   Album

Session 3 April 1972 in NYC

Cornet: Wild Bill Davison   Soprano sax: Kenny Davern

Piano: Dick Wellstood   Guitar: Condon   Drums: Gene Krupa

Amazon (vendor) has Condon's 'The Eddie Condon Scrapbook of Jazz' published in January of 1973. Gene Krupa, whose debut sessions were also Condon's back in 1927, recorded his final tracks in June of 1973. Condon died of bone disease in New York City on August 4 of 1973. A few years younger than Condon, Krupa followed in October that year.