Bill Douglass
Encyclopedia
William "Bill" Douglass (1923–December 19, 1994) was an American
jazz drummer born in Sherman
, Texas
. Douglass relocated to Los Angeles
when he was six months old, becoming in his adulthood a popular LA musician who worked shows and sessions with some of swing's top performers. Douglass provided drums for notable instrumentalists like Benny Goodman
and Ben Webster
, as well as providing backing for vocalists such as Lena Horne
and June Christy
. Douglass was also known for his work in the American Federation of Musicians
, where he was an active proponent of desegregation
. He held offices in local unions both before and after their racial integration.
. A member of a musical family, Douglass took an early interest in music. He cited as a pivotal moment in his life when he first heard Benny Goodman's drummer Gene Krupa
performing "Sing, Sing, Sing
" on the radio, when he realized, "That's what I had to do. That's all there was to it." Douglass met and befriended Dexter Gordon
while attending McKinley Junior High School in Los Angeles, at which point he first began playing drums. At Jefferson High School
, both Douglass and Gordon began taking band under teacher Lloyd Reese, who encouraged the rudiments and private instruction. Though a drummer, Douglass took private keyboard instructions, which he credited with helping him to understand how the various instruments in an ensemble relate. Douglass never took private drum lessons, but eventually made the acquaintance of Cab Calloway
drummer Cozy Cole
, who used to allow Douglass to watch him practice. Douglass learned a lot watching Cole and other drummers, who gradually helped him evolve a style of his own.
Along with Gordon and Lammar Wright, Jr.
, Douglass began playing night clubs while still in school and frequently haunted Central Avenue
, an important nexus of African American jazz music at the time. Douglass eventually began playing drums for pianist
Gerald Wiggins
, along with double bass
and tuba
player Red Callender
, until he and Callender left to form a trio with blind pianist Art Tatum
.
and was assigned to the African-American 10th Cavalry Regiment at Camp Lockett
in Campo, California
, where he served along with his high school band teacher as a member of the band. Fifteen months after enlisting, he was shipped overseas, serving in such diverse locations as Casablanca
, Oran
, Algiers
, Naples
and Rome
. During these travels, Douglass became drum major
of his 28-piece ensemble, a position he attributed to his "great height".
, Charlie Mingus and Chico Hamilton
, to work against the discrimination in the unions, which they did along with Marl Young and Benny Carter
. Not allowed to voice opinions at their local union from the floor, the group ran for office, succeeding well enough to take the majority position on the board of directors, though only Douglass took a high position, the vice presidency. At the same time, white members of the American Federation of Musicians were applying pressure within their local. In spite of significant opposition, a majority vote of both of the unions eventually led to their joining into one in 1953.
The amalgamation of the unions was not without some difficulty. Horace Tapscott
, who was a 15-year-old member of the union at the time and remembered Douglass as among the "vanguard of the movement," indicated in his 2001 autobiography that after the amalgamation, the union was separated by clique
s, where a "particular, small, black group of guys would work all the time, because they were in that particular clique with these particular guys who ran the studios." Though he said that the work seemed to get better "for certain people", he also said that many of the older musicians "didn't have anyplace to go" after the closing of the black union.
, the adopted son of Ray Brown (musician)
, Karen Carpenter
, and Ella Fitzgerald
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz drummer born in Sherman
Sherman, Texas
Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's estimated population as of 2009 was 38,407. It is also one of two principal cities in the Sherman-Denison Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Douglass relocated to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
when he was six months old, becoming in his adulthood a popular LA musician who worked shows and sessions with some of swing's top performers. Douglass provided drums for notable instrumentalists like Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
and Ben Webster
Ben Webster
Benjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...
, as well as providing backing for vocalists such as Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
and June Christy
June Christy
June Christy , born Shirley Luster, was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a solo career from 1954 and is best known for her debut album Something Cool...
. Douglass was also known for his work in the American Federation of Musicians
American Federation of Musicians
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada is a labor union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada...
, where he was an active proponent of desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
. He held offices in local unions both before and after their racial integration.
Youth
Six months after Douglass was born in Sherman, Texas, his extended family relocated to Los Angeles in an effort to escape Jim Crow lawsJim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
. A member of a musical family, Douglass took an early interest in music. He cited as a pivotal moment in his life when he first heard Benny Goodman's drummer Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
performing "Sing, Sing, Sing
Sing, Sing, Sing
"Sing, Sing, Sing " is a 1936 song, written by Louis Prima and first recorded by him with the New Orleans Gang and released in March 1936 as a 78 as Brunswick 7628 . It is strongly identified with the big band and swing eras. It was covered by Fletcher Henderson and most famously Benny Goodman...
" on the radio, when he realized, "That's what I had to do. That's all there was to it." Douglass met and befriended Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
while attending McKinley Junior High School in Los Angeles, at which point he first began playing drums. At Jefferson High School
Jefferson High School (Los Angeles, California)
For schools with a similar name, see Jefferson High School.Thomas Jefferson High School, usually referred to as Jefferson High School was founded in 1916, it is the fourth oldest public high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District...
, both Douglass and Gordon began taking band under teacher Lloyd Reese, who encouraged the rudiments and private instruction. Though a drummer, Douglass took private keyboard instructions, which he credited with helping him to understand how the various instruments in an ensemble relate. Douglass never took private drum lessons, but eventually made the acquaintance of Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
drummer Cozy Cole
Cozy Cole
Cozy Cole was an American jazz drummer who scored a #1 Cashbox magazine hit with the record "Topsy Part 2". "Topsy" peaked at number three on Billboard Hot 100, and at number one on the R&B chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The track peaked at #29 in the UK...
, who used to allow Douglass to watch him practice. Douglass learned a lot watching Cole and other drummers, who gradually helped him evolve a style of his own.
Along with Gordon and Lammar Wright, Jr.
Lammar Wright, Jr.
Lammar Wright, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter. He was the son of trumpeter Lammar Wright, Sr.....
, Douglass began playing night clubs while still in school and frequently haunted Central Avenue
Central Avenue (Los Angeles)
Central Avenue is a major north-south thoroughfare in the central portion of the Los Angeles, California metropolitan area. Located just to the west of the Alameda Corridor, it runs from the eastern end of the Los Angeles Civic Center south, ending at Del Amo Boulevard in Carson...
, an important nexus of African American jazz music at the time. Douglass eventually began playing drums for pianist
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
Gerald Wiggins
Gerald Wiggins
Gerald Wiggins was a jazz pianist and organist. He studied classical, but switched to jazz in his teens. He began as a professional playing accompaniment to Stepin Fetchit. He worked with Louis Armstrong and Benny Carter. In the 1940s he moved to Los Angeles where he played music for television...
, along with double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
and tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
player Red Callender
Red Callender
Red Callender, , was a jazz bass and tuba player, famous for turning down a chance to work with Duke Ellington's Orchestra and the Louis Armstrong All-Stars....
, until he and Callender left to form a trio with blind pianist Art Tatum
Art Tatum
Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...
.
Military service
In 1941, Douglass graduated high school. He enlisted in the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and was assigned to the African-American 10th Cavalry Regiment at Camp Lockett
Camp Lockett
Camp Lockett was a United States Army military base located in Campo, California, east of San Diego, and north of the Mexican border. Camp Lockett has historical connections to the Buffalo Soldiers due to the 10th and 28th Cavalry Regiments having being garrisoned there during World War II. It was...
in Campo, California
Campo, California
Campo is a census-designated place located in the Mountain Empire area of southeastern San Diego County, California. The population was 2,684 at the 2010 census....
, where he served along with his high school band teacher as a member of the band. Fifteen months after enlisting, he was shipped overseas, serving in such diverse locations as Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
, Oran
Oran
Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
, Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
, Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. During these travels, Douglass became drum major
Drum Major
A drum major is the leader of a marching band, drum and bugle corps, or pipe band, usually positioned at the head of the band or corps. The drum major, who is often dressed in more ornate clothing than the rest of the band or corps, is responsible for providing commands to the ensemble regarding...
of his 28-piece ensemble, a position he attributed to his "great height".
Music and political career
After leaving the service, in about 1949, Douglass began a three year stint with Benny Goodman, where he was at the time the only black member of the band. During that period, Goodman often complained of the need to deal with a separate local chapter of the American Federation of Musicians for Douglass, as the chapters of the union were segregated. Lloyd Reese encouraged Douglass, along with fellow musicians Buddy ColletteBuddy Collette
William Marcel "Buddy" Collette was an American tenor saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist. He was highly influential in the West coast jazz and West Coast blues mediums, also collaborating with saxophonist Dexter Gordon, drummer Chico Hamilton, and his lifelong friend, bassist Charles...
, Charlie Mingus and Chico Hamilton
Chico Hamilton
Chico Hamilton , is an American jazz drummer and bandleader.-Early life through 1960s:Hamilton was born in Los Angeles, California. He had a fast-track musical education in a band with Charles Mingus, Illinois Jacquet, Ernie Royal, Dexter Gordon, Buddy Collette and Jack Kelso...
, to work against the discrimination in the unions, which they did along with Marl Young and Benny Carter
Benny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
. Not allowed to voice opinions at their local union from the floor, the group ran for office, succeeding well enough to take the majority position on the board of directors, though only Douglass took a high position, the vice presidency. At the same time, white members of the American Federation of Musicians were applying pressure within their local. In spite of significant opposition, a majority vote of both of the unions eventually led to their joining into one in 1953.
The amalgamation of the unions was not without some difficulty. Horace Tapscott
Horace Tapscott
Horace Tapscott was an American jazz pianist and composer. He formed the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in 1961 and led the ensemble through the 1990s...
, who was a 15-year-old member of the union at the time and remembered Douglass as among the "vanguard of the movement," indicated in his 2001 autobiography that after the amalgamation, the union was separated by clique
Clique
A clique is an exclusive group of people who share common interests, views, purposes, patterns of behavior, or ethnicity. A clique as a reference group can be either normative or comparative. Membership in a clique is typically exclusive, and qualifications for membership may be social or...
s, where a "particular, small, black group of guys would work all the time, because they were in that particular clique with these particular guys who ran the studios." Though he said that the work seemed to get better "for certain people", he also said that many of the older musicians "didn't have anyplace to go" after the closing of the black union.
Music education
Even as a working musician, Douglass expanded into teaching drums at Drum City. Among his students, Douglass taught Ray Brown, Jr.Ray Brown, Jr.
Ray Brown, Jr. is an American jazz and blues pianist and singer.The adopted son of Ray Brown and Ella Fitzgerald, he was born in New York City, New York to Fitzgerald's half-sister Frances...
, the adopted son of Ray Brown (musician)
Ray Brown (musician)
Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one...
, Karen Carpenter
Karen Carpenter
Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances of idealistic romantic ballads of true love...
, and Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
.
Select discography
- Gerald Wiggins Trio, Gerald WigginsGerald WigginsGerald Wiggins was a jazz pianist and organist. He studied classical, but switched to jazz in his teens. He began as a professional playing accompaniment to Stepin Fetchit. He worked with Louis Armstrong and Benny Carter. In the 1940s he moved to Los Angeles where he played music for television...
, 1953. - The Lowest, Red CallenderRed CallenderRed Callender, , was a jazz bass and tuba player, famous for turning down a chance to work with Duke Ellington's Orchestra and the Louis Armstrong All-Stars....
, 1958. - The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume Seven, Art TatumArt TatumArthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...
with Buddy DeFrancoBuddy DeFrancoBoniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco is an American jazz clarinet player.-Biography:DeFranco began his professional career just as swing music and big bands — many of which were led by clarinetists like Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman — were fading in popularity...
, 1975. - The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume EightThe Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume EightThe Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume Eight is a 1975 jazz album featuring a 1956 session between pianist Art Tatum and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, with Red Callender on double bass and Bill Douglass on drums...
, Art Tatum with Ben WebsterBen WebsterBenjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...
, 1975. - Rubisa PatrolRubisa PatrolRubisa Patrol is an album by American jazz pianist Art Lande recorded in 1976 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Michael G. Nastos awarded the album 4½ stars stating "This recording, with the short lived ensemble Rubisa Patrol, may someday be considered as one of the...
(ECM, 1976), Desert MaraudersDesert MaraudersDesert Marauders is an album by American jazz pianist Art Lande and the band Rubisa Patrol recorded in 1977 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:...
(ECM, 1977) with Art LandeArt LandeArt Lande is a jazz pianist, drummer, composer and educator.Born in New York City, he began piano at age 4, studied at Williams College, and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1969. He made the first record of his own compositions in 1973 for ECM Records, in a duo with saxophonist/flutist Jan... - Honor Thy Fatha, Earl HinesEarl HinesEarl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, was an American jazz pianist. Hines was one of the most influential figures in the development of modern jazz piano and, according to one source, is "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".-Early...
, 1978. - The Complete Aladdin Recordings of Amos Milburn, Amos MilburnAmos MilburnAmos Milburn was an African American rhythm and blues singer and pianist, popular during the 1940s and 1950s...
, 1994. - Naturally, The Red Norvo QuintetRed NorvoRed Norvo was one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba and later the vibraphone as viable jazz instruments...
, 2005.