Johnnie Garry
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Johnnie Garry | |
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| Born | October 31, 1924 Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Died | March 13, 2018 (aged 93) Windsor Mill, Maryland [1] Windsor Hills Historic District |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation(s) | Production Director, Producer, Road Manager (entertainment) |
Johnnie Garry was an entertainment director, producer, historian, nightclub manager, and road manager for Sarah Vaughn and Mary Lou Williams. He was a stage manager, and in the entertainment industry for over 60 years as a manager for Birdland, a jazz club in New York City. He was a stagehand and a production director for Jazzmobile in New York City.[2][3] During his 60 years in the entertainment industry, he worked with hundreds of musicians, artists, and singers.
Early life
Johnny Garry was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. His family moved to Harlem in 1928. He grew up in Harlem on 127th street near the Apollo Theatre. He says that the first show that he saw at the Apollo was "Don Redman". He says that he was attracted to the saxophone. Which he later tried to play. He left high school to support his mother and worked in the garment district. He later became a stagehand at the Apollo.[4]
Career
His career as a stagehand started at Cafe Society in Greenwich Village. He was asked by Josh White to fill in for another stagehand and road manager for pianist Mary Lou Williams. He continued to work as a stagehand for other artists such as a Lena Horne, Billie Holiday, and Eddie Heywood. He was part of Sarah Vaughan's management team for over twelve years.
In the 1960s Johnnie was a manager for Birdland jazz club in New York City.[5]
Johnnie started working for Jazzmobile in New York City in 1977. He worked for Jazzmobile for 35 years as production coordinator, technical director, and historian. He served as production coordinator for the production of Jazzmobile's free outdoor summer mobile concert series. He was hired to work for Jazzmobile by Dr Billy Taylor.
During his career in the entertainment industry, he worked with hundreds of artists over six decades. He worked with such artists as Dr Billy Taylor, Joe Williams, Nancy Wilson, B.B. King, Jimmy Heath, Clark Terry, Sarah Vaughan, Wycliffe Gordon, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis, James Brown, Houston Person, Lou Donaldson, Jimmy Heath, Roy Hargrove, Dianne Reeves, King Solomon Hicks, Randy Weston, Christian Sands, Frank Foster, Charenee Wade, Bobby Sanabria, Antoinette Montague, Monty Alexander, TK Blue, Cedar Walton and more.
Awards
- 2018 Jazzmobile's Jazzy Award (posthumously)[6]
References
- ^ "Obituary of Johnnie Garry - Vaughn C Greene Funeral Services". Vaughncgreene.com.
- ^ "Jazz Icons: Sarah Vaughan DVD". Jazzicons.com.
- ^ "JOHNNIE GARRY - 'MR. JAZZMOBILE' October 31, 1924 - March 13, 2018". Harleminestop.com.
- ^ "The Jazz Museum in Harlem". Jazzmuseuminharlem.org.
- ^ Kelly, Liz (1 June 2010). "May Crowning, Mass, and Merton". Loyola Press – via Google Books.
- ^ [1] [dead link]