|
Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZMILEY, Bubber(b James Wesley Miley, 3 April '03, Aiken SC; d 20 May '32, Welfare Island, NY) Trumpet. From musical family; sisters were known as the South Carolina Trio. Worked with Mamie Smith, etc; with Elmer Snowden's Washingtonians in NYC '23, stayed on with Duke Ellington '24-9, using one of the most resonant sounds in 20th-century music, the growling, vocalised plunger-muted trumpet that was a cornerstone of Ellington's classic "Jungle Band' of the Cotton Club era, and subsequently had to be learned by Cootie Williams and others. The unrecorded Chris Kelly (b late 1880s, d '29) in New Orleans was said to be the first to play with a mute, and King Oliver's muted horn was a thing of rare beauty, but Miley combined it with a highly characteristic melodic invention. He played on classic Ellington records incl. "The Mooche' and was listed as co-writer of "East St Louis Toodle-oo', "Black And Tan Fantasy' and "Creole Love Call': as Joe Igo wrote many years later, "It is significant that virtually the only tunes still played from those very early days are those on which Miley was a collaborator.' Ellington later said "Our band changed its character when Bubber came in. He used to growl all night long, playing gutbucket on his horn. That was when we decided to forget all about the sweet music.' But he drank too much: "...he used to get under the piano and go to sleep when he felt like it.' Miley went to France with Noble Sissle '29, recorded with Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Leo Reisman; formed Bubber Miley and his Mileage Makers '30 subsidised by Irving Mills, cut eight sides for Victor '30, all with period vocals. He was forced to quit music by TB. |