Bert Bales born 20 April 1917

Burt Bales (April 20, 1917 – October 26, 1989) was an American jazz stride and ragtime pianist. Not well known outside San Francisco, classic jazz pianist Burt Bales was among the best ever heard on the West Coast. He was a spectacular piano player with explosive dynamics and one of the earliest disciples of Jelly Roll Morton. Though he also loved the music 
of Fats Waller, James P. Johnson, Earl Hines and Joe Sullivan, Morton’s style is the one he is generally associated with, and the one he performed and recorded most frequently.

Burton Franklin Bales was born in Stevensville, Montana. His family moved to California when Burt was a pre-teen. His mother helped him develop the ability to play piano by ear. Eventually he was good enough to play at speakeasies in Northern California. He was freelancing in the Bay Area when he encountered the musicians who eventually formed the Yerba Buena Jazz Band.

Burt Bales enlisted in the army in 1943 but was soon discharged due to myopia. During WWII he played with ‘Papa Mutt’ Carey at the Dawn Club and with Bunk Johnson at the C.I.O. Hall in San Francisco. He appears on all the recordings by Johnson. Jelly Roll Morton influence is readily apparent in Bales’ piano work. At the same time, he was developing a highly individualistic style with an extremely powerful left hand and unusual syncopated phrasing in the right.

After the war bales played as a soloist in several Bay Area clubs, including the 1018 Club. He also made frequent rehearsals and presumably a few engagements with banjoist/vocalist Clancy Hayes’ Bay City Boys. At the end of 1947, Bales participated in the first recording session under Turk Murphy’s name, the Bay City Stompers, for the Jazz Man label, and in 1948 recorded with Bob Scobey’s Alexander’s Jazz Band for Ragtime Records. Bales played at Hambone Kelly’s in 1949 with a sextet led by Turk Murphy.

                            

Bales travelled to Los Angeles to record with this same ensemble, and on the same trip played a concert with Murphy’s group at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. 
He also played on subsequent sessions with Kid Ory’s rhythm men Ed Garland and Minor Hall, and on another date with George Bruns, Joe Darensbourg, Hall, and Jeanne Gayle. Back in San Francisco, Bales played with Wingy Manone, Turk Murphy and other bandleaders at the newly-opened Club Hangover.

Bales mostly performed as a solo pianist (1954-1966), often at Pier 23 in San Francisco. He was badly injured in 1960 when he was struck by a car after leaving Pier 23. Dozens of musicians performing in four San Francisco nightclubs donated a large percentage of the evening’s income to help defray Bales’ hospital 
expenses. He recovered fully, but walked with a cane for the rest of his life.

The 1960s were lean years for Bales. He left the steady engagement at Pier 23 and played whatever jobs were offered. His timekeeping had become more erratic, which may have accounted for the lack of playing opportunities with bands. He worked occasionally with Earl Scheelar’s New Orleans House Band, Ted Shafer’s Jelly Roll Jazz Band and a few other groups, but mostly played solo piano.

During the 1970s, Bales’ work situation improved. In San Francisco he played a long residency at Dick’s At The Beach, plus regular appearances at the Washington Square Bar & Grill and the Rose and Thistle British Pub. He performed at the Clancy Hayes Day benefits at Earthquake McGoon’s in 1970 and 1971.

Later, he showed up regularly at Vic’s Place in the Financial District, where Ev Farey’s Golden State Jazz Band performed. There was no piano in the building, but Bales enjoyed sitting in just to sing with the band. Across the Bay in Oakland, he performed at the Serenader, where many East Bay musicians came to sit in.

After recovering from a serious illness, Bales made a cross-country trip in 1980, visiting and playing sessions with old friends. By the end of the ‘80s, he was suffering from cancer. However, he took one last trip away from the Bay Area in 1989—appropriately, to New Orleans. Soon after returning to San Francisco, he died on 26 October 1989.

"Burt's depth was refreshing.  On one occasion he played an unbelievable version of Chimes Blues.  It was like Elijah boarding his holy space ship.  When Bales finished, he sat there staring at the keyboard, silent, staggered. Finally, I asked, 'Burt are you OK?'  He said:  'You know, an artist who is a painter, like Rembrandt or Da Vinci or Van Gogh, its there, you can live it for all time.  They have it over us musicians.  Something like what just happened here is in the ether, lost forever'." (Ken Mills)

(Edited from Wikipedia & Jazz Rhythm, but mainly from an article by Hal Smith @ Stanford Libraries)