157:, Indiana on December 11, 1906 to Sanford B. Purvis, a real estate agent and his wife Nettie (Jackson) Purvis. Jack's behavior became uncontrollable after his mother's death in 1912, and, as a result of many acts of petty larceny, he was sent to a reform school. While there, he discovered that he had an uncanny musical ability, and soon became proficient enough to play both the trombone and trumpet professionally. This also enabled him to leave the reformatory and continue his high school education, while he was playing paying gigs on the side. One of the earliest jobs he had as a musician was with a band led by the
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According to researcher Paul Larsen, Purvis gassed himself to death in San
Francisco on March 30, 1962. Yet Purvis' death certificate indicates the cause of death to be "fatty degeneration of the liver" rather than death by gas poisoning. Cornetist Jim Goodwin claimed that a man who looked like (and
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On
September 30, 1946 Purvis was released from prison one last time. He had a wild reputation and is said to have set hotel rooms on fire. He seldom stuck with one band for very long and was known to hit the streets as a busker. From this time onward he worked at non-musical careers which included
188:'s band. It is reported that he had an early brush with the law when he cheated a tourist out of his travelers checks and was forced to leave the band and flee France. Ship's passenger list information reports "Jacques F. Purvis" returning to New York, from Le Havre, France, on November 19. 1928.
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Purvis' mental stability was always in question, and he attempted suicide on several occasions. Although he was a brilliant musician, capable of either a hot jazz solo or a difficult passage through the hardest of arrangements, he could not be counted on to arrive anywhere on time. This lack of
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and toured New
England. He then worked the remainder of 1926 and the beginning of 1927 with Whitey Kaufman's Original Pennsylvanians. Purvis married in Pittsburgh, in 1927, and soon became a father. His daughter, Betty Lou, was, for a time, a disc jockey in Pittsburgh in the late 1940s, and a
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accountability plagued him throughout his life, and can be traced to his earliest years. In many instances, once Jack Purvis showed up to play an extended engagement, not so coincidentally, there was a spike in petty thefts and burglaries for the vicinity of that gig.
287:' orchestra and then disappeared for a couple of years. There was a confirmed sighting of him working in a diner in the midwest around this time. It is also speculated that he worked as a ship's cook on a freighter at the time.
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In August 1940, Purvis was conditionally pardoned from prison, but he quickly broke his parole and was sent back to prison for six more years. Some sources claim he did this deliberately because he missed the prison band.
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After high school he worked in his home state for a time then went to
Lexington, Kentucky where he played with the Original Kentucky Night Hawks. Around this time he learned to fly planes. In 1926 he was with
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After leaving Hal Kemp in 1930, allegedly because legal issues precluded his going with the band to
Florida, Purvis found work with the California Ramblers. He also worked with the
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He was arrested in Texas in June 1937, while working as a cook, for his involvement in a robbery in El Paso, Texas. He was tried and convicted and sentenced to jail time in
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He moved to
California and was successful with radio broadcasting work. In Los Angeles, Purvis worked for the George Stoll Orchestra as a writer and even worked for
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magazine. This was Purvis' only verified marriage, and rumors persist that he committed bigamy on several occasions. For a short time he played trumpet with
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introduced himself as) Jack Purvis showed up at a band date a couple of times in about 1968 and that they had a long talk about his life.
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for a one hundred and ten piece orchestra. Afterwards he found work in San
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In 1930, Purvis led a couple of racially mixed recording sessions including the likes of
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Rhythm on Record; who's Who and register of recorded Dance Music, 1906/1936
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Lost Chords: White
Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz, 1915 to 1945
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Lost Chords: White
Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz, 1915 to 1945
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and on occasion a number of other instruments professionally (including
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Purvis was best known as a trumpet player and the composer of
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Black Beauty, White Heat:A Pictural
History of Classic Jazz
184:'s orchestra, and by July 1928 he traveled to France with
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118:(December 11, 1906 – March 30, 1962) was an American
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19:For the British film actor, see
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153:John "Jack" Purvis was born in
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534:The Many Lives of Jack Purvis
390:1930s Jazz – The Small Combos
279:At the end of 1935 he joined
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579:American male jazz composers
644:20th-century jazz composers
609:People from Kokomo, Indiana
315:, an aviator in Florida, a
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594:American male trombonists
589:American jazz trombonists
634:20th-century trombonists
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564:American jazz trumpeters
488:The Rough Guide to Jazz=
629:20th-century trumpeters
574:American jazz composers
272:arranging. He composed
203:(a pseudonym for agent
619:Suicides in California
263:The Carnival of Venice
16:American jazz musician
367:, Melody Maker Ltd.,
217:Mental Strain at Dawn
584:Okeh Records artists
270:Warner Bros. Studios
21:Jack Purvis (actor)
475:Fairweather, Digby
439:, Backbeat Books,
369:Hilton R. Schleman
323:in South America.
244:Fletcher Henderson
191:In 1929 he joined
174:correspondent for
604:American aviators
292:Huntsville Prison
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149:Early years
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32:Jack Purvis
543:Categories
331:References
302:Later life
285:Joe Haymes
209:Rube Bloom
205:Ed Kirkeby
163:Hal Denman
127:Dismal Dan
122:musician.
95:Occupation
54:1906-12-11
39:Birth name
471:Carr, Ian
321:mercenary
317:carpenter
298:in 1938.
223:The 1930s
177:Down Beat
481:(2004).
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171:Bud Rice
139:trombone
98:Musician
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443:, 2001
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155:Kokomo
85:Genres
506:2011
493:ISBN
313:chef
296:WBAP
143:harp
129:and
120:jazz
89:Jazz
68:Died
48:Born
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