Jack Purvis was sine qua non; one of the most larger-than-life personalities in a music with its fair share of unique characters. He was a fine trumpet player, in the mold of Louis Armstrong (Purvis wrote and recorded a song called "Copyin' Louis"). He was also a pilot, smuggler, burglar, con artist and may have either faked his own death or committed suicide.
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| Jack Purvis |
Purvis loved played with black musicians, including sitting in whenever possible with Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra-even "blacking up" to do so.
Poor Richard is a "burial" song. Purvis, Higgy and Hawkins all sound great.
Jack Purvis And His Orchestra: Jack Purvis (tp,vcl) J.C. Higginbotham (tb,vcl) Coleman Hawkins (ts) Adrian Rollini (bassax) Frank Froeba (p) Will Johnson (g,vcl) Charles Kegley (d) New York, April 4, 1930
- Dismal Dan- Okeh 8808, Hist HLP6, Od (G)SMS11, Electrola (G)IC054-06317;
- Poor Richard (1)- Okeh 8782, Od (G)SMS8;
- Down Georgia way- (G)SMS3, Electrola (G)IC054-06309
All entries are from my book “As Long as They Can Blow. Interracial Jazz Recording and Other Jive Before 1935.”
