He is revered by many, if not most, baritone saxophone players as the “godfather” of the instrument. He could blow and hold notes on his saxophone like few other players then or since. His name was Harry Carney, and he was from Boston:
Harry Carney during his years with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, in an undated portrait. Carney was born in Boston on April 1, 1910, and grew up in the South End. And though he traveled the world with the Ellington Orchestra, his story bookends in Boston, thanks to his saxophone.“His dad was a porter. His mother was a domestic, which is a fairly common occupational division between mother and father of a Black family at that time” says Boston attorney, author, and jazz aficionado Con Chapman.
As a teenager Carney was playing the clarinet and alto saxophone professionally around Boston. In the summer of 1927, he also gigged prohibition-era jazz joints in New York, the Savoy Ballroom and the Bamboo Inn, places you went if you wanted to be seen.There, Carney was spotted by Duke Ellington who invited him to play a few one-night sets in New England where it was cooler in the summer heat.
The Duke Ellington Orchestra pose for a group shot in 1934 with Duke Ellington in centre, Sonny Greer kneeling left and Freddy Jenkins right then Barney Bigard, Marshall Royal, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney and Wellman Braud, Cootie Williams, Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown, Arthur Whetsol and Fred Guy.
For Sevian, no song exemplifies that more than Carney and the Ellington band playing “Sophisticated Lady,” one of the band’s signature songs. Just the same, the Smithsonian’s Hasse says Ellington intentionally traveled to the south for two reasons, first to reach African-American audiences with his music, and second: “To serve as an example of someone who is African-American, who's very distinguished, who's very charming, who's brilliant at what he does, who is successful.”
Pat Patrick’s son is former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. “He was one of the founding members of the Sun Ra Arkistra back in Chicago. But he played with everybody. He sat in with Duke Ellington a good deal as well,” Patrick says describing his father.
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