Dave Tough
Encyclopedia
Dave Tough was an American
jazz drummer
associated with both Dixieland
and swing
jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. He has been described as "the most important of the drummers of the Chicago circle".
, Tough's interest for drumming was not fully supported by his family or community. Fortunately his suburban Chicago home allowed Tough to find his way to southside Chicago exposing him to an exciting and evolving jazz scene. Here Tough broke cultural and musical boundaries taking the scene's fresh sense back to a seemingly different suburban upper-middle class world.
He worked with such musicians as Bud Freeman
, Woody Herman
, Eddie Condon
, Red Nichols
, Red Norvo
, Tommy Dorsey
, Bunny Berigan
and Benny Goodman
. Berendt describes him as "one of the most subtle and inspired of drummers" with "a rhythmic palette on which he held in readiness the right colour for each soloist".
Dave Tough appears as the poet-drummer "Dick Rough," who played at Chicago's legendary Green Mask, in the Autobiographical Novel of Kenneth Rexroth. Rexroth describes Tough as the "first and greatest of the hipsters and one of the few really great musicians in the history of jazz." (p.163)
In the later 1920s, Tough floated between Nice and Paris doing freelance work. Overseas he worked loosely with George Carhart and while in Paris sessioned extensively with Mezz Mezzrow
. He toured and recorded throughout early 1930s Europe, mostly on the Tri-Ergon label. Though without official record, Tough spent portions of 1942-44 in the Navy playing behind Shaw's Naval Band.
Tough was to lead only one album, a small sided release by the Jamboree label. Although he had varied successes, he also had difficulties with alcoholism
and illness.
Although he wasn't known as a bebop drummer himself, he was a fan of it and was influenced by the playing of Max Roach.
He died, aged 41, from cerebral trauma after falling down in a Newark
street.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz drummer
Jazz drumming
Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz-rock fusion and 1980s-era latin jazz...
associated with both Dixieland
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
and swing
Swing (genre)
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...
jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. He has been described as "the most important of the drummers of the Chicago circle".
Biography
Born in Oak Park, IllinoisOak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...
, Tough's interest for drumming was not fully supported by his family or community. Fortunately his suburban Chicago home allowed Tough to find his way to southside Chicago exposing him to an exciting and evolving jazz scene. Here Tough broke cultural and musical boundaries taking the scene's fresh sense back to a seemingly different suburban upper-middle class world.
He worked with such musicians as Bud Freeman
Bud Freeman
Lawrence "Bud" Freeman was a U.S. jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing the tenor saxophone, but also able at the clarinet. He had a smooth and full tenor sax style with a heavy robust swing. He was one of the most influential and important jazz tenor saxophonists of...
, Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
, Eddie Condon
Eddie Condon
Albert Edwin Condon , better known as Eddie Condon, was a jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in the so-called "Chicago school" of early Dixieland, he also played piano and sang on occasion....
, Red Nichols
Red Nichols
Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader.Over his long career, Nichols recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and critic Steve Leggett describes him as "an expert cornet player, a solid improviser, and apparently a workaholic, since he is...
, Red Norvo
Red Norvo
Red 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...
, Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, Bunny Berigan
Bunny Berigan
Rowland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan was an American jazz trumpeter who rose to fame during the swing era, but whose virtuosity and influence were shortened by a losing battle with alcoholism that ended in his early death at age 33. He composed the jazz instrumentals "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues"...
and 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...
. Berendt describes him as "one of the most subtle and inspired of drummers" with "a rhythmic palette on which he held in readiness the right colour for each soloist".
Dave Tough appears as the poet-drummer "Dick Rough," who played at Chicago's legendary Green Mask, in the Autobiographical Novel of Kenneth Rexroth. Rexroth describes Tough as the "first and greatest of the hipsters and one of the few really great musicians in the history of jazz." (p.163)
In the later 1920s, Tough floated between Nice and Paris doing freelance work. Overseas he worked loosely with George Carhart and while in Paris sessioned extensively with Mezz Mezzrow
Mezz Mezzrow
Milton Mesirow, better known as Mezz Mezzrow was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist from Chicago, Illinois. Mezzrow is well known for organizing and financing historic recording sessions with Tommy Ladnier and Sidney Bechet. Mezzrow also recorded a number of times with Bechet and...
. He toured and recorded throughout early 1930s Europe, mostly on the Tri-Ergon label. Though without official record, Tough spent portions of 1942-44 in the Navy playing behind Shaw's Naval Band.
Tough was to lead only one album, a small sided release by the Jamboree label. Although he had varied successes, he also had difficulties with alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and illness.
Although he wasn't known as a bebop drummer himself, he was a fan of it and was influenced by the playing of Max Roach.
He died, aged 41, from cerebral trauma after falling down in a Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
street.
External links
- [ Scott Yanow, Allmusic]
- Drummerworld (Mostly the same as Yanow's, but with pictures and birthdate)
- www.myspace.com/daveytough (Official Unofficial Fan Site)