She was short and dumpy and wore those foot-saver shoes- a grey-haired little old lady, who got a standing ovation. She would play her two piano rags, and everyone would stand up and cheer! She always brought the house down. Jack would have mother come on stage at the Hollywood Bowl and Monterey Jazz Festival. We all played together and never thought about doing anything else.
Jack teagarden trombone how to#
She taught us all how to read music and started us on instruments. Years later, Norma recalled their mother: As he experimented, he had no one to tell him, “you can’t do that on trombone.” Beginning while the family still lived in Vernon, Weldon joined his mother with his trombone to play in theaters. And when the time came to open presents, he saw his first trombone. According to Jim Cullum, Charles and Helen Teagarden didn’t have enough money to buy a Christmas tree in 1913, so they decorated a coat rack.Īs they put the presents under it, young Weldon heard them and apparently thought he’d see Santa Claus. Sources disagree on how old he was when that occurred. He learned euphonium before he started on trombone. Weldon started piano lessons with his mother when he was 5. Throughout his life, Jack frequently collaborated with his brothers Charlie (trumpet) and Clois (drums) and with his sister Norma (piano).
Jack teagarden trombone professional#
After Charles died, Helen moved the family first to Chappell, Nebraska and then to Oklahoma City.Īll four Teagarden children became professional musicians. His mother Helen taught piano, played church organ, and accompanied silent films in theaters. When he was home, he played cornet locally. His father Charles worked in the oilfields. Jack Teagarden was born Weldon Leo Teagarden on Augin Vernon, Texas. And unlike most jazz instrumentalists, Teagarden was also a gifted singer. Only Miff Mole and Jimmy Harrison had attempted anything similar before Teagarden began to make records in New York in 1927. He played extended solos using the upper register and lip trills. In his hands, the trombone became a solo instrument on par with all the other instruments. He had a technique vastly superior to Ory’s. Teagarden, on the other hand, completely redefined the trombone’s role in jazz. Ory elevated jazz trombone from a simple bass instrument by improvising fills to compliment the more melodically dominant cornet and clarinet. It was a guttural sound in the trombone’s middle to low register, with frequent glissandos.
He could improvise but also read complicated arrangements.Īt the beginning of the jazz era, Kid Ory’s tailgate style defined the trombone’s role. His mother had given him a solid background in music. Until Jack Teagarden burst on the jazz scene, the trombone took a back seat to the principal melody instruments. Jack Teagarden, Victor studio, New York, ca.