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{{Short description|American musician (1919–2020)}}
'''Harold Joseph "Hal" Singer''' (born [[8 October]], [[1919]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[R&B]] and [[jazz]] [[bandleader]] and [[saxophonist]].
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2015}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Hal Singer
| image = Hal Singer.FF.jpg
| caption =Singer in 2012
| image_size =
| birth_name = Harold Joseph Singer
| alias = Hal "Cornbread" Singer
| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|10|8|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Tulsa, Oklahoma|Tulsa]], [[Oklahoma]], United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|8|18|1919|10|8|mf=y}}
| death_place = [[Chatou]], France
| instrument = Saxophone
| genre = [[Jazz]], [[rhythm and blues]]
| occupation = Musician
| years_active = Late 1930s–1990
| label =
| associated_acts =
| website =
}}
'''Harold Joseph Singer''' (October 8, 1919 &ndash; August 18, 2020),<ref name="bare">{{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues - A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger Publishers| location= Santa Barbara| pages=358–359 | isbn= 978-0313344237}}</ref> also known as '''Hal''' "'''Cornbread'''" '''Singer''', was an American [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] and [[jazz]] bandleader and saxophonist.


==Biography==
== Early life==
Harold Joseph Singer was born in [[Greenwood District, Tulsa|Greenwood]], an African-American district of [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]], to father Charles and mother Anna Mae.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=2020-09-14|title=Hal Singer obituary |first= Peter |last=Vacher|url=http://www.theguardian.com/global/2020/sep/14/hal-singer-obituary|access-date=2021-09-30|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> His father was employed by an oil-drilling tools manufacturer and his mother was a caterer.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Aridi|first=Sara|date=2020-09-11|title=Hal Singer, Influential Saxophonist, Is Dead at 100|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/11/arts/music/hal-singer-dead.html|access-date=2021-09-30|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He was a survivor of the 1921 [[Tulsa race massacre]], during which his family's home was burnt down. Singer and his mother were helped to travel to Kansas City during the riot by his mother's white employer. There they waited out the violence with family until they could return.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=McArdle|first=Terence|date=8 September 2020|title=Hal Singer, influential R&B saxophonist with a No. 1 hit, dies at 100|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/hal-singer-influential-randb-saxophonist-with-a-no-1-hit-dies-at-100/2020/09/08/cfd21e44-f145-11ea-999c-67ff7bf6a9d2_story.html|access-date=30 September 2021}}</ref> The official records of Singer's birth were destroyed during the violence.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-19|title=He's 100, a renowned jazz musician and a survivor of Tulsa's 1921 race massacre|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/hes-100-a-renowned-jazz-musician-and-a-survivor-of-tulsas-1921-race-massacre/|access-date=2021-09-30|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US}}</ref>
Born in [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]], Singer studied [[violin]] as a child, but as a teenager switched to [[clarinet]] and then [[tenor saxophone]], which became his instrument of choice. From the late 1930s he began playing in local bands, including that of [[Ernie Fields]], before joining [[Jay McShann]]'s orchestra in 1943 and then moving to [[New York]]. After working in various other bands, he joined [[Oran "Hot Lips" Page]]’s band in 1947, and also began working as a [[session musician]] with [[King Records]].
In early 1948 he left Page, formed his own small group, and was signed to [[Mercury Records]] where he cut his first single "Fine As Wine" with a B side "Rock Around the Clock" (not the same title made famous by [[Bill Haley]]). For the [[Savoy Records|Savoy label]] of [[Newark, New Jersey]] he recorded the instrumental "Corn Bread", which made # 1 on the [[Rhythm and blues|R & B]] charts in September 1948, and gave Singer a new popularity and nickname. His follow-up the following year, "Beef Stew", was a much smaller hit.


Singer studied violin as a child but later switched to reed instruments. He ultimately settled on the tenor saxophone influenced by hearing [[Ben Webster]] and [[Lester Young]].<ref name=":2" />
In the early and mid 1950s he recorded with [[Mercury Records|Mercury]], toured with R&B artists such as [[The Orioles]] and [[Charles Brown (musician)|Charles Brown]], and increasingly worked as a session musician. In 1958 he also began recording with [[Prestige Records]] as a jazz soloist, and performing at the Metropole Club in New York with leading jazz musicians such as [[Roy Eldridge]] and [[Coleman Hawkins]].


On the advice of his father to pursue a "proper" career, Singer attended the [[Hampton University|Hampton Institute]] and graduated in 1939 with a degree in agriculture. While studying, Singer regularly took time off to tour with local bands.<ref name=":0" />
In 1965, after touring [[Europe]] with [[Earl "Fatha" Hines]]' band, Singer stayed in [[France]] to settle near [[Paris]]. He continued to record and also toured extensively around Europe and [[Africa]], performing with various bands including [[Charlie Watts]]’ and the [[Duke Ellington Orchestra]]. His 1969 album, ''Paris Soul Food'', featuring himself on saxophone and singing; Robin Hemingway, vocals, arrangements and album production; and [[Manu Dibango]], saxophone, organ & arrangements won a French Record Academy award for best international lp in 1969. Singer also appears on the 1981 live recording ''[[Rocket 88 (album)|Rocket 88]]'' with the UK-based [[boogie-woogie]] band [[Rocket 88 (band)|Rocket 88]]. He appeared as an [[actor]] in the award winning 1990 feature film ''Taxi Blues'', and in 1992 was awarded the prestigious title of "[[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres|Chevalier des Arts]]" by the French government.

== Career ==
From the late 1930s, Singer began performing in local bands, including [[Ernie Fields]]', before joining [[Jay McShann]]'s orchestra in 1943 and then moving to New York. After working in other bands, he joined [[Oran "Hot Lips" Page]]'s band in 1947 and began working as a [[session musician]] with [[King Records (USA)|King Records]].

In early 1948, he left Page, formed his own small group, and was signed to [[Mercury Records]] where he cut his first single "Fine As Wine" with a B side "Rock Around the Clock" (not the same tune as the [[Bill Haley (musician)|Bill Haley]] recording), co-written with [[Sam Theard]].<ref name=otto>Fuchs, Otto (2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=_l_1NkpGBrEC&dq=%22You+rascal+you%22+sam&pg=PA118 ''Bill Haley: Father of Rock 'n' Roll''], p. 118. Wagner Verlag, at Google Books. Retrieved May 7, 2013.</ref> For the [[Savoy Records|Savoy]] label, he recorded the instrumental "Corn Bread", which made No. 1 on the [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] charts in September 1948, and raised Singer's profile and his nickname. His follow-up the following year, "Beef Stew", was a much smaller hit.

In the early and mid-1950s, he recorded with [[Mercury Records|Mercury]], toured with R&B artists such as [[The Orioles]] and [[Charles Brown (musician)|Charles Brown]], and increasingly worked as a session musician. In 1958, he began recording with [[Prestige Records]] as a jazz soloist and performing at the [[Metropole Cafe]] in New York with jazz musicians such as [[Roy Eldridge]] and [[Coleman Hawkins]].

In 1965, after touring Europe with [[Earl Hines]]' group, Singer remained in France, settling near Paris. He continued to record and also toured extensively around Europe and Africa, performing with the [[Duke Ellington]] Orchestra and [[Charlie Watts]].

=== Later ===
Singer appears on the 1981 live recording ''[[Rocket 88 (album)|Rocket 88]]'' with the UK-based [[boogie-woogie]] band [[Rocket 88 (band)|Rocket 88]]. Also in the summer of 1981, Singer visited London, where he recorded two albums for John Stedman's record label, JSP. The first album, ''Swing on it'' (JSP 1028), was recorded with British musicians, including [[Jim Mullen]], [[Peter King (saxophonist)|Peter King]], [[Mike Carr (musician)|Mike Carr]] and Harold Smith, while the second, recorded a day later with the same group, also featured [[Jimmy Witherspoon]] (''[[Big Blues (Jimmy Witherspoon album)|Big Blues]]'', JSP 1032).

Singer shared artist billing on a recording made in 1989, along with [[Al Copley]], ''Royal Blue'', released on the Black Top label in 1990.

=== Acting ===
He appeared as an actor in the feature film ''[[Taxi Blues]]'' (1990).

== Honors, awards, distinctions ==
Singer's 1969 album, ''Paris Soul Food'', featuring him on saxophone and vocals; Robin Hemingway, vocals, arrangements and album production; and [[Manu Dibango]], saxophone, organ and arrangements won a French Record Academy award for best international LP.

In 1974, he went on a State Department tour of Africa with [[Horace Parlan]].<ref name="feather">[[Leonard Feather|Feather, Leonard]], & [[Ira Gitler]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=ma1BpsFE1WoC&q=hal+singer&pg=PA6 ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz''], Oxford University Press US, 2007, {{ISBN|0-19-532000-X}}, 9780195320008, at Google Books.</ref> Singer was awarded the prestigious title of "[[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres|Chevalier des Arts]]" by the French government.

== Legacy ==
A documentary film, ''Hal Singer, Keep the Music Going'' (1999), was directed by Guetty Felin. It was made in collaboration with the [[National Center of Cinematography and the moving image|CNC]] in France and the French cable music network Muzzik. The documentary wove into the narrative Singer's personal super-8 movies, archival images of the jazz era, and footage of Singer's home in Paris, in concert and teaching jazz to the younger generation of musicians in France. Spoken-word poet [[Jessica Care Moore]] is featured in a duet with Singer.

== Personal life ==
Singer became a [[centenarian]] on 8 October 2019.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Krehbiel |first1=Randy |title=Noted musician and Tulsa Race Massacre survivor, Hal Singer, moves into the coda of a remarkable life overseas |url=https://www.tulsaworld.com/entertainment/noted-musician-and-tulsa-race-massacre-survivor-hal-singer-moves/article_e3cd96eb-53c3-582a-b2a9-2b0156010ba6.html |website=[[Tulsa World]] |date=December 2019 |access-date=December 1, 2019}}</ref> He died on August 18, 2020.<ref>[https://lequotidien.lu/culture/deces-du-saxophoniste-americain-hal-singer-a-100-ans/ "Décès du saxophoniste américain Hal Singer à 100 ans"], ''Le Quotidien'', 20 August 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020</ref>

==Discography==
* 1948: "Fine As Wine" & "Rock Around the Clock" ([[Mercury Records|Mercury]])
* 1948: "Corn Bread" – as leader
* 1949: "Beef Stew" – as leader
* 1959: ''[[Blue Stompin']]'' – Hal Singer and the [[Charlie Shavers]] Quintet ([[Prestige Records|Prestige]])
* 1960: ''[[Blues by Lonnie Johnson]]'' – [[Lonnie Johnson (musician)|Lonnie Johnson]] Quintet (Bluesville)
* 1963: ''Blues in the Night'' – as leader (Fidelio)
* 1968: ''A Funky Day in Paris'' – Johnny Letman ([[Black & Blue Records|Black & Blue]])
* 1968: ''Milt and Hal'' – [[Milt Buckner]] (Black & Blue)
* 1969: ''Paris Soul Food'' – as leader ([[Polydor]])
* 1969: ''[[Kidney Stew is Fine]]'' − [[Eddie Vinson|Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson]] (Delmark)
* 1971: ''Blues and News'' – as leader ([[Marge Records|Marge]])
* 1973: ''[[Grey's Mood]]'' – [[Al Grey]] (Black & Blue)
* 1975: ''Soul of Africa'' – as leader ([[Le Chant du Monde]])
* 1977: ''Le Grand Voyage / The Long Trip'' – as leader (Pastoral)
* 1981: ''[[Rocket 88 (album)|Rocket 88]]'' – [[Rocket 88 (band)|Rocket 88]]
* 1981: '' Swing on it'' – as leader (JSP)
* 1990: ''Royal Blue'' – as co-lead with Al Copley – (Black Top)
* 2010: ''Challenge'' – as co-lead with [[David Murray (saxophonist)|David Murray]] – ([[Marge Records|Marge]])

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.rockabillyeurope.com/references/messages/hal_singer.htm More information]
* [http://www.rockabillyeurope.com/references/messages/hal_singer.htm More information] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929221919/http://www.rockabillyeurope.com/references/messages/hal_singer.htm |date=September 29, 2011 }}
*[http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/hsinger.html Details on early career]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070305123716/http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/hsinger.html Details on early career]
* {{Discogs artist|Hal Singer}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Singer, Hal}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singer, Hal}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Tulsa, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:African American musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American saxophonists]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American saxophonists]]
[[Category:African-American men centenarians]]
[[Category:African-American saxophonists]]
[[Category:American jazz bandleaders]]
[[Category:American jazz bandleaders]]
[[Category:American jazz saxophonists]]
[[Category:American jazz saxophonists]]
[[Category:American male jazz musicians]]
[[Category:American male saxophonists]]
[[Category:American men centenarians]]
[[Category:Black & Blue Records artists]]
[[Category:Black Top Records artists]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Musicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:People involved in the Tulsa race massacre]]
[[Category:Prestige Records artists]]
[[Category:Savoy Records artists]]
[[Category:Savoy Records artists]]


[[de:Hal Singer]]
[[fr:Hal Singer]]

Latest revision as of 18:56, 4 December 2024

Hal Singer
Singer in 2012
Singer in 2012
Background information
Birth nameHarold Joseph Singer
Also known asHal "Cornbread" Singer
Born(1919-10-08)October 8, 1919
Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
DiedAugust 18, 2020(2020-08-18) (aged 100)
Chatou, France
GenresJazz, rhythm and blues
OccupationMusician
InstrumentSaxophone
Years activeLate 1930s–1990

Harold Joseph Singer (October 8, 1919 – August 18, 2020),[1] also known as Hal "Cornbread" Singer, was an American R&B and jazz bandleader and saxophonist.

Early life

[edit]

Harold Joseph Singer was born in Greenwood, an African-American district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, to father Charles and mother Anna Mae.[2] His father was employed by an oil-drilling tools manufacturer and his mother was a caterer.[3] He was a survivor of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, during which his family's home was burnt down. Singer and his mother were helped to travel to Kansas City during the riot by his mother's white employer. There they waited out the violence with family until they could return.[3][4] The official records of Singer's birth were destroyed during the violence.[5]

Singer studied violin as a child but later switched to reed instruments. He ultimately settled on the tenor saxophone influenced by hearing Ben Webster and Lester Young.[4]

On the advice of his father to pursue a "proper" career, Singer attended the Hampton Institute and graduated in 1939 with a degree in agriculture. While studying, Singer regularly took time off to tour with local bands.[2]

Career

[edit]

From the late 1930s, Singer began performing in local bands, including Ernie Fields', before joining Jay McShann's orchestra in 1943 and then moving to New York. After working in other bands, he joined Oran "Hot Lips" Page's band in 1947 and began working as a session musician with King Records.

In early 1948, he left Page, formed his own small group, and was signed to Mercury Records where he cut his first single "Fine As Wine" with a B side "Rock Around the Clock" (not the same tune as the Bill Haley recording), co-written with Sam Theard.[6] For the Savoy label, he recorded the instrumental "Corn Bread", which made No. 1 on the R&B charts in September 1948, and raised Singer's profile and his nickname. His follow-up the following year, "Beef Stew", was a much smaller hit.

In the early and mid-1950s, he recorded with Mercury, toured with R&B artists such as The Orioles and Charles Brown, and increasingly worked as a session musician. In 1958, he began recording with Prestige Records as a jazz soloist and performing at the Metropole Cafe in New York with jazz musicians such as Roy Eldridge and Coleman Hawkins.

In 1965, after touring Europe with Earl Hines' group, Singer remained in France, settling near Paris. He continued to record and also toured extensively around Europe and Africa, performing with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and Charlie Watts.

Later

[edit]

Singer appears on the 1981 live recording Rocket 88 with the UK-based boogie-woogie band Rocket 88. Also in the summer of 1981, Singer visited London, where he recorded two albums for John Stedman's record label, JSP. The first album, Swing on it (JSP 1028), was recorded with British musicians, including Jim Mullen, Peter King, Mike Carr and Harold Smith, while the second, recorded a day later with the same group, also featured Jimmy Witherspoon (Big Blues, JSP 1032).

Singer shared artist billing on a recording made in 1989, along with Al Copley, Royal Blue, released on the Black Top label in 1990.

Acting

[edit]

He appeared as an actor in the feature film Taxi Blues (1990).

Honors, awards, distinctions

[edit]

Singer's 1969 album, Paris Soul Food, featuring him on saxophone and vocals; Robin Hemingway, vocals, arrangements and album production; and Manu Dibango, saxophone, organ and arrangements won a French Record Academy award for best international LP.

In 1974, he went on a State Department tour of Africa with Horace Parlan.[7] Singer was awarded the prestigious title of "Chevalier des Arts" by the French government.

Legacy

[edit]

A documentary film, Hal Singer, Keep the Music Going (1999), was directed by Guetty Felin. It was made in collaboration with the CNC in France and the French cable music network Muzzik. The documentary wove into the narrative Singer's personal super-8 movies, archival images of the jazz era, and footage of Singer's home in Paris, in concert and teaching jazz to the younger generation of musicians in France. Spoken-word poet Jessica Care Moore is featured in a duet with Singer.

Personal life

[edit]

Singer became a centenarian on 8 October 2019.[8] He died on August 18, 2020.[9]

Discography

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. pp. 358–359. ISBN 978-0313344237.
  2. ^ a b Vacher, Peter (September 14, 2020). "Hal Singer obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Aridi, Sara (September 11, 2020). "Hal Singer, Influential Saxophonist, Is Dead at 100". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  4. ^ a b McArdle, Terence (September 8, 2020). "Hal Singer, influential R&B saxophonist with a No. 1 hit, dies at 100". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  5. ^ "He's 100, a renowned jazz musician and a survivor of Tulsa's 1921 race massacre". The Seattle Times. June 19, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  6. ^ Fuchs, Otto (2011), Bill Haley: Father of Rock 'n' Roll, p. 118. Wagner Verlag, at Google Books. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  7. ^ Feather, Leonard, & Ira Gitler, The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, Oxford University Press US, 2007, ISBN 0-19-532000-X, 9780195320008, at Google Books.
  8. ^ Krehbiel, Randy (December 2019). "Noted musician and Tulsa Race Massacre survivor, Hal Singer, moves into the coda of a remarkable life overseas". Tulsa World. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  9. ^ "Décès du saxophoniste américain Hal Singer à 100 ans", Le Quotidien, 20 August 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020
[edit]
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