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184:, United States, on 31 December 1908. His mother, Dolly Kirk (died October 1925) gave him up for adoption in 1908 and he was raised by Reverend Washington Johnson and his wife, Nancy, at 442 North Kent Street in Winchester. (Kirby is listed as a household member in the 1920 United States Federal Census, but not in the 1910 census.) Kirby was a student at the Winchester Colored School, renamed Douglass School in 1916. He took piano lessons from Nancy and valve trombone lessons around 1917 under the guidance of Professor Powell Gibson, the principal of Douglass School, as well as a math, drama, and music teacher. A photo of Kirby can be seen on page 13 of the History of Douglas School Winchester, Virginia by Judy Humbert and June Gaskins, Kirby's cousin. Kirby later stated that
221:. Harrison persuaded Kirby to switch from trombone to tuba. Shortly after his arrival in New York, Kirby played tuba with Bill Brown and His Brownies at the Star Ballroom on Forty-Second Street. Later, he performed with pianist Charlie Sheets at the Bedford Ballroom in Brooklyn and then with John C. Smith's Society Band at Harlem's Alhambra Ballroom.
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and was a frequent visitor to the
Winchester area. Kirby left the Winchester area in 1928 as a trombonist and played in the Baltimore area for two years. By 1936, Kirby was a successful sideman on the New York City jazz scene and Yvonne, now a student at Douglass herself, heard stories about her
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magazine listed The John Kirby Sextet album "Night
Whispers 1938-1946, #26 of 100 essential jazz albums. On the same "Essential Jazz albums" list, Kirby performed tuba and bass on #6 Fletcher Henderson's "Tidal Wave", as tuba and bassist on #17 saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, "The Essential Sides
303:." The group's name would vary with time and depending on who was credited as session leader: John Kirby and His Onyx Club Boys, John Kirby and His Orchestra, Buster Bailey and His Rhythm Busters, Buster Bailey and His Sextet, The John Kirby Sextet. Vocals were often performed by
393:. In 2010 a historical marker was placed in front of Kirby's childhood home located at 442 North Kent Street in Winchester, Va. The marker is listed on the Virginia Historical Registry commemorating Virginia's legacy of African American culture
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orchestra as a tuba player in 1930. In the early 1930s, he performed some complicated tuba work on a number of
Henderson's recordings, but switched to double-bass when tuba fell out of favor. In the early 1930s, Kirby took bass lessons from
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and they married on 25 August 1925. On 14 December 1925, Mary gave birth to Yvonne
Constance Kirk. Based on known affiliations (Yvonne, Powell Gibson, Mary Moten and former schoolmate, Anna Bertha), Kirby's biological father lived in
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April 7, 1940–January 12, 1941. The program also featured
Sullivan and the Golden Gate Quartet. Kirby and Sullivan have been cited as "the first artist (black or white, big or small) to sponsor their own jazz-oriented series."
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took away Kyle and
Procope; bad health claimed Spencer, who died from tuberculosis in 1944. Nevertheless, Kirby kept trying to lead a group in clubs and in the studio, occasionally managing to attract such talents as
362:, attracted only a small audience, which "crushed Kirby's spirit and badly damaged what little was left of his career. Kirby moved to Hollywood, California, where he died, aged 43, just before a planned comeback.
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Remastered", as bassist on #19 Billie
Holiday's "Lady Day, The Masters Takes and Singles", and as bassist on #27 Chick Webb and His Orchestra with vocalist Ella Fitzgerald "Stompin at the Savoy."
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who got featured billing. Kirby's sextet was soon known as the Onyx Club Boys, and took the shape it would basically hold until World War II, usually with
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As Kirby's career declined, he drank heavily and was beset by diabetes. After the war, Kirby got the surviving sextet members back together, with
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299:(drums). "The Biggest Little Band in the Land," as it was called it, began recording in August 1937 with a swing version of "
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164:", a jazz standard. He is perhaps the first musician in the chamber jazz genre. Earlier in his career he also played
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as vocalist, but the reunion did not last. A concert at
Carnegie Hall in December 1950, with Bailey plus drummer
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in 1937 confirmed Kirby's status as a bandleader, although in the first Onyx Club line-up, it was singer-drummer
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237:(bassist with Duke Ellington). About 1933 Kirby left Henderson to play two stints with drummer
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William P. Gottlieb (1995). The Golden Age of Jazz. Pomegranate
Artbooks, ISBN 9780876543559
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Kirby tended toward a lighter, classically influenced style of jazz, often referred to as
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sextet in the late 1930s and early 1940s, which scored several hit songs including "
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Kirby's formal education ended around 1923. That same year, he met Mary Moten of
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John Kirby and His
Orchestra - A Phenomenon Unlike Any Other in Jazz
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John Kirby and His Orchestra - A Phenomenon Unlike Any Other in Jazz
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144:(December 31, 1908 – June 14, 1952), was an American jazz
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and bandleader. In addition to sideman work (prominently with
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In 1928, Kirby arrived in Baltimore, where he met trombonist
675:"Ancestry.com Library, 1920 Census List search results"
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Kirby and his orchestra had a 30-minute radio program,
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749:"Sunday's Highlights-On the Air Today (page 27)"
152:), Kirby is remembered for leading a successful
252:'s earliest recording dates, both with pianist
241:, before returning to Henderson, and then join
802:On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio
549:The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings
969:John Kirby 78rpm jukebox on Internet Archive
942:Discography of American Historical Recordings
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780:. Pensacola, Fl: Alcoral Books. p. 50.
699:. Kindle Direct Publishing. pp. 1–109.
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822:Young, William H.; Young, Nancy Y. (2005).
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521:Complete Associated Transcriptions Vol. 3
515:Complete Associated Transcriptions Vol. 2
499:Complete Associated Transcriptions Vol. 1
311:(11 May and 23 June) accompanying singer
754:. Radio Television Mirror. December 1940
828:. ABC-CLIO, Incorporated. p. 220.
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483:John Kirby and His Orchestra 1945–1946
477:John Kirby and His Orchestra 1941–1943
471:John Kirby and His Orchestra 1938–1939
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315:as Billie Holiday and her Orchestra.
248:In 1937, Kirby played bass on two of
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1039:20th-century American male musicians
778:Fall From Grace-The John Kirby Story
509:Complete Columbia and RCA Recordings
489:The Biggest Little Band in the World
386:In 1993 Kirby was inducted into the
39:, Washington D.C., c. May 1946
882:Kaplan, Fred (November 20, 2008).
419:paid tribute to Kirby (along with
388:North San Diego County, California
260:, who produced these sessions for
16:American jazz musician (1908–1952)
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1004:People from Winchester, Virginia
1024:20th-century American musicians
623:Robinson, J. Bradford (2015) .
201:successful father from Gibson.
595:The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz
485:(Chronological Classics, 1994)
479:(Chronological Classics, 1994)
473:(Chronological Classics, 1994)
391:Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame
160:" and the debut recording of "
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1044:The Chocolate Dandies members
999:American male double-bassists
994:American jazz double-bassists
825:Music of the Great Depression
724:. Kindle Direct. p. 34.
395:The Winchester Star 6/26/2010
1034:20th-century double-bassists
1029:Jazz musicians from Virginia
989:American male jazz musicians
652:UK public library membership
443:John Kirby and His Orchestra
239:Chick Webb and His Orchestra
180:Kirby was born John Kirk in
804:. Oxford University Press.
411:recorded the tribute album
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367:Flow Gently, Sweet Rhythm
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455:(Harmony/Columbia, 1958)
884:"Don Byron's Bug Music"
858:"I Remember John Kirby"
800:Dunning, John. (1998).
776:Williams, Alan (1993).
720:Williams, Alan (2018).
695:Williams, Alan (2018).
637:Oxford University Press
1019:Apollo Records artists
267:Securing a gig at the
50:Background information
984:Swing double-bassists
938:John Kirby recordings
413:I Remember John Kirby
407:In 1961, saxophonist
529:(Jazz Legends, 2005)
427:) on his 1996 album
182:Winchester, Virginia
953:Columbia University
600:Guinness Publishing
371:The John Kirby Show
205:Bands and recording
43:William P. Gottlieb
910:"Boss of the Bass"
632:Grove Music Online
598:(First ed.).
523:(Storyville, 2002)
517:(Storyville, 2002)
511:(Definitive, 2001)
291:(alto saxophone),
226:Fletcher Henderson
810:978-0-19-507678-3
650:(subscription or
382:Awards and honors
224:Kirby joined the
193:Airmont, Virginia
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917:. Retrieved
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333:Benny Carter
324:World War II
320:chamber jazz
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258:John Hammond
254:Teddy Wilson
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94:(1952-06-14)
1014:1952 deaths
1009:1908 births
948:BBC radio 2
893:October 17,
888:Stereophile
437:Discography
360:Sid Catlett
337:Ben Webster
301:Loch Lomond
283:(trumpet),
273:52nd Street
231:Pops Foster
158:Loch Lomond
131:Double bass
978:Categories
958:John Kirby
680:9 December
635:. Oxford:
561:References
554:RCA Victor
534:As sideman
503:Storyville
465:John Kirby
400:New Yorker
341:Clyde Hart
293:Billy Kyle
277:Leo Watson
176:Background
142:John Kirby
127:Instrument
119:Occupation
103:California
78:Winchester
71:1908-12-31
56:Birth name
35:Kirby and
23:John Kirby
654:required)
430:Bug Music
417:Don Byron
409:Dave Pell
295:(piano),
269:Onyx Club
198:Baltimore
162:Undecided
99:Hollywood
60:John Kirk
962:AllMusic
914:AllMusic
862:AllMusic
841:15 March
447:Columbia
166:trombone
122:Musician
82:Virginia
940:at the
758:14 July
556:, 1997)
505:, 2000)
495:, 1999)
449:, 1951)
41:Photo:
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752:(PDF)
539:With
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895:2023
869:2020
843:2015
830:ISBN
806:ISBN
782:ISBN
760:2010
726:ISBN
701:ISBN
682:2022
604:ISBN
423:and
233:and
186:Bach
170:tuba
168:and
113:Jazz
89:Died
65:Born
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641:doi
375:CBS
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
