Cincinnati Jazz Hall of History - Historical Newspaper Clips

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UNOFFICIAL

Cincinnati jazz newspaper clippings researched and compiled by Bill Soudrette and Pat Kelly

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1940s

Local, touring national acts, and territory bands performed in the Cincinnati area in the 1940s. Coney Island's Moonlight Gardens, the Taft Theater and Castle Farm were among the venues that presented them.

The reader may find, at times, that some of the writing in the articles is shallow and that there is only a superficial sense of what is going on artistically with the music. Much uninformed cliche is used to describe the music by writers who lack the sophistication to discuss the genre.



1943 - 1944 -- George "Fuzzy" Ballard was a local tenor and clarinet player before my time, although I did play with him one time at Arnold's near the end of his life. He was a player that later prominent local saxophonist Jimmy McGary admired.

July 1940	July 18, 1940
May 5, 1948	December 5, 1948
November 14, 1948
\ October 15, 1949	April 8, 1949

stuff smith

July 1940

Basie

July 18, 1940

kenton

May 5, 1948

duke

December 5, 1948

diz

November 14, 1948

diz

granz \

October 15, 1949

Duke

April 8, 1949

lucky

March 23, 1948

clyde trask

March 31, 1945

Pianist Maurice Rocco was born in Oxford, OH (just a few miles from Cincinnati) in 1915. Growing up in a musical household, his mother provided classical training from age 10, but he developed his boogie-wooge style on his own. He was an expert entertainer, especially in boogie-woogie piano and vocals. He received degrees from Miami University of Ohio. This clip shows him in the 1945 movie "Incendiary Blonde" with Betty Hutton and his trademark standing performance style.