Sy Oliver

Melvin James "Sy" Oliver (December 17, 1910 – May 28, 1988) was an American jazz arranger, trumpeter, composer, singer and bandleader.

Life

Sy Oliver was born in Battle Creek, Michigan. His mother was a piano teacher and his father was a multi-instrumentalist who made a name for himself demonstrating saxophones at a time that instrument was little used outside of marching bands.

Oliver left home at 17 to play with Zack Whyte and his Chocolate Beau Brummels and later with Alphonse Trent. He sang and played trumpet with these bands, becoming known for his "growling" horn playing.

Oliver arranged and conducted many songs for Ella Fitzgerald from her Decca years. As a composer, one of his most famous songs was "T'ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)", which he co-wrote with Trummy Young.

In 1933, Oliver joined Jimmie Lunceford's band, contributing many hit arrangements for the band, including "My Blue Heaven" and "Ain't She Sweet" as well as his original composition "For Dancers Only" which in time became the band's theme song. In 1939, he became one of the first African Americans with a prominent role in a white band when he joined Tommy Dorsey as an arranger, though he ceased playing trumpet at that time. (Fletcher Henderson joined the Benny Goodman orchestra as the arranger in the same year.) He led the transition of the Dorsey band from Dixieland to modern big band. His joining was instrumental in Buddy Rich's decision to join Dorsey. His arrangement of "On the Sunny Side of the Street" was a big hit for Dorsey, as were his own compositions "Yes, Indeed!" (a gospel-jazz tune that was later recorded by Ray Charles), "Opus One" (originally titled as "Opus No. 1", but changed to suit the lyric that was added later), "The Minor Is Muggin'", and "Well, Git It".

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Sy_Oliver

Sy Oliver

Life

Podcasts:

Sy Oliver

ALBUMS

Satchmo: The Louis Armstrong Collection

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

108 Classic Sides From a Great American Hitmaker

First Class Jazz

The Chronological Classics: Ella Fitzgerald 1950

On the Sunny Side of the Street

The Great Ella Fitzgerald [Goldies]

Jazz Greats, Volume 53: Big Band Voices

Frank Sinatra & Friends

Duets

Smoke Dreams

Swing for a Crime

Jazz in the Charts 093 (1950-1951)

Songs That Won the War: Swing Again, Yes Indeed!

Decca: The Legendary Big Band Singers

Born: 1910-12-17

Died: 1988-05-28

Don't Call Me

EXPLORE WN.com