Albert Ammons (September 23, 1907 – December 2, 1949) was
an American pianist and player of boogie-woogie, a bluesy jazz style popular
from the late 1930s into the mid-1940s.
Born Albert C. Ammons in Chicago, Illinois, his parents
were pianists, and he had learned to play by the age of ten. His interest in
boogie-woogie is attributed to his close friendship with Meade Lux Lewis and
also his father's interest in the style. Both Albert and Meade would practice
together on the piano in the Ammons household.
boogie-woogie is attributed to his close friendship with Meade Lux Lewis and
also his father's interest in the style. Both Albert and Meade would practice
together on the piano in the Ammons household.
From the age of ten, Ammons learned about chords by
marking the depressed keys on the family pianola (player piano) with a pencil
and repeated the process until he had mastered it. He also played percussion in
the drum and bugle corps as a teenager and was soon performing with bands on
the Chicago club scene. After World War I he became interested in the blues,
learning by listening to Chicago pianists Hersal Thomas and the brothers Alonzo
and Jimmy Yancey.
In the early to mid-1920s Ammons worked as a cab driver
for the Silver Taxicab Company. In 1924 he met back up with boyhood friend and
fellow taxi driver Meade Lux Lewis. Soon the two players began working as a
team, performing at club parties. Ammons started his own band at the Club
DeLisa in 1934 and remained at the club for the next two years. During that
time he played with a five piece unit that included Guy Kelly, Dalbert Bright,
Jimmy Hoskins, and Israel Crosby. Ammons also recorded as Albert Ammons's
Rhythm Kings for Decca Records in 1936. The Rhythm Kings' version of
"Swanee River Boogie" sold a million copies.
Ammons moved from Chicago to New York, where he teamed up with another pianist, Pete Johnson. The two performed regularly at the Café Society, occasionally joined by Lewis, and performed with other jazz musicians such as Benny Goodman and Harry James.
In 1938 Ammons appeared at Carnegie Hall with Johnson and
Lewis at From Spirituals to Swing, an event that helped launch the boogie-woogie
craze. Two weeks later, record producer Alfred Lion, who had attended John H.
Hammond's From Spirituals to Swing concert on December 23, 1938, which had
introduced Ammons and Lewis, started Blue Note Records, recording nine Ammons
solos including "The Blues" and "Boogie Woogie Stomp",
eight by Lewis and a pair of duets in a one-day session in a rented studio.
In 1941, Ammons' boogie music was accompanied by
drawn-on-film animation in the short film Boogie-Doodle by Norman McLaren.
Ammons played himself in the movie Boogie-Woogie Dream (1944), with Lena Horne
and Johnson. As a sideman with 
Sippie Wallace in the 1940s Ammons recorded a
session with his son, the tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons.
Sippie Wallace in the 1940s Ammons recorded a
session with his son, the tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons.
Although the
boogie-woogie fad began to die down in 1945, Ammons had no difficulty securing
work. He continued to tour as a solo artist, and between 1946 and 1949 recorded
his last sides for Mercury Records, with bassist Israel Crosby, and took on the
position of staff pianist with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra.
On August 6, 1947, Albert's son, up-and-coming tenor
saxophonist 
Gene Ammons, joined him as a member of "Albert Ammons And His
Rhythm Kings" for a Mercury recording session. This, very likely, was the
first father-and-son recording team in jazz.
Gene Ammons, joined him as a member of "Albert Ammons And His
Rhythm Kings" for a Mercury recording session. This, very likely, was the
first father-and-son recording team in jazz.
In 1949 he played at President Harry S. Truman's
inauguration. During the last few years of his life Ammons played mainly in
Chicago's Beehive Club and the Tailspin Club, and just four days before he died
he had been at the Yancey apartment listening to Don Ewell and Jimmy Yancey
play. Albert himself could only play one song, having just regained the use of
his hands after a temporary paralysis.
Albert Ammons died from a heart attack on December 2,
1949, in Chicago and was interred at the Lincoln Cemetery, at Kedzie Avenue in
Blue Island, Worth Township, Cook County, Illinois. 
Even following his death,
the pianist continued to assert a strong influence over a new generation of
pianists, including Erroll Garner and Ray Bryant.
Even following his death,
the pianist continued to assert a strong influence over a new generation of
pianists, including Erroll Garner and Ray Bryant.
Boogie-woogie was an invigorating art form that bridged
the gap between jazz, blues, R&B and eventually rock and roll. Albert
Ammons represented boogie-woogie's highest level of artistic achievement. (Info mainly Wikipedia)
Fabulous piano duet by Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson with Boogie Woogie Dream from 1944. The girl is a very young Lena Horne!
