Hal Singer
Hal Singer (b. Harold Joseph Singer, 8 October 1919, Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American R&B and jazz bandleader and saxophonist.
He 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 Savoy Records in Newark, New Jersey. He soon recorded the instrumental "Corn Bread", which made # 1 on the 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.
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 on session work. 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.
In 1965, after touring Europe with Earl "Fatha" Hines' band, Singer stayed in France to settle near Paris and continuing to record. He also toured extensively around Europe and Africa, performing with various bands including Charlie Watts’ and the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He appeared as an actor in the award winning 1990 feature film "Taxi Blues", and in 1992 was awarded the prestigious title of "Chevalier des Arts" by the French government.