Artist: Jack Teagarden

Jack Teagarden was an American jazz trombonist and singer.  According to critic Scott Yannow of Allmusic, Teagarden was the preeminent American jazz trombone player before the bebop era of the 1940s and "one of the best jazz singers too". Teagarden's early career was as a sideman with the likes of Paul Whiteman and lifelong friend Louis Armstrong.  

Teagarden's trombone style was largely self-taught, and he developed many unusual alternative positions and novel special effects on the instrument. He is usually considered the most innovative jazz trombone stylist of the pre-bebop era – Pee Wee Russell once called him "the best trombone player in the world". 

By 1920, Teagarden was playing professionally in San Antonio, including with the band of pianist Peck Kelley. In the mid-1920s he started traveling widely around the United States in a quick succession of different bands. In 1927, he went to New York City where he worked with several bands. By 1928 he played for the Ben Pollack band. 

In the late 1920s, he recorded with such bandleaders and sidemen as Louis Armstrong,  Benny Goodman, Bix Beiderbecke, Red Nichols, Jimmy McPartland, Mezz Mezzrow,  Glenn Miller, Eddie Condon, and Fats Waller. In 1931, Teagarden’s early orchestra recorded the tune “Chances Are” with Fats Waller playing piano and Jack singing and playing trombone.

Miller and Teagarden collaborated to provide lyrics and a verse to Spencer Williams' "Basin Street Blues", which in that amended form became one of the numbers that Teagarden played until the end of his days. 

Teagarden sought financial security during the Great Depression and signed an exclusive contract to play for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra from 1933 through 1938. In 1946, Teagarden joined Louis Armstrong's All-Stars. In late 1951, Teagarden left to again lead his own band. 

Further information about Jack Teagarden is found at JackTeagarden.com.

This content was excerpted from the Wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Teagarden, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).

Photography credit: Ad on page 123 of Billboard 1944 Music Yearbook, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons