Henry Crowder
Born1890
Gainesville, Georgia
Died1955
Washington, D.C.
OccupationJazz musician

Henry Crowder (1890–1955) was an American jazz musician. He was an important figure in the European jazz culture of his time.[1]

Crowder was born in Gainesville, Georgia, to a poor family and was largely a self-taught musician. Crowder began his career playing piano in the brothels of Washington, D.C., and rose to become an important bandleader here before leaving for Europe in 1928[2] with Eddie South's Alabamians.[3]

He was best known for his romantic and professional involvement with avant-garde poet, muse, and shipping heiress Nancy Cunard. They met in 1928 in Venice, where the Alabamians had an extended engagement to play, a residency at the Hotel Luna.[3] Cunard’s 1934 anthology Negro is inspired by and dedicated to Crowder.[4][5] Crowder also assisted Cunard in creating her Hours Press publishing house, which published Richard Aldington, Ezra Pound, and Samuel Beckett among others. Crowder’s influence on Cunard was profound. She claimed in one letter that: “Henry made me”.[6] Cunard and Crowder collaborated on a book of music and poetry with contributions from Samuel Beckett, Richard Aldington, and pictures by Man Ray.[7]

By Crowder’s own account, musician Sidney Bechet was deported from France after an argument with a member of Crowder’s group turned violent and several bystanders were shot.[8]

Crowder died in Washington, District of Columbia, having largely given up performing and recording jazz on his return from Europe in the 1940s.

Personal life

Henry Crowder was married to May Frances "Frankie" Turner, Eleanor Roosevelt's seamstress at the White House, with whom he had one son, Henry Jr.[9]

Europe

Henry Crowder lived for almost 12 years in Paris and Brussels. During his stay there, the Nazis invaded France. He was interned for 22 and a half months in POW camps, first in Belgium then in Germany.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Schafer, William J. (May 2008). "Book Review: Listening for Henry Crowder". The Mississippi Rag. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24.
  2. ↑ Crowder, Henry. As Wonderful As All That? Wild Tree Press:Navarro California, 1987
  3. 1 2 Young, Kevin (December 2, 2021). "'And I One of Them'". New York Review of Books. LXVIII (19): 52. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  4. ↑ William A. Shack (4 September 2001). Harlem in Montmartre: A Paris Jazz Story between the Great Wars. University of California Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-520-22537-4. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  5. ↑ Cunard, Nancy (1970). Negro : an anthology. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. ISBN 9780804412100. OCLC 18781384.
  6. ↑ Allen, Robert L. "Epilogue" in As Wonderful As All That? Wild Trees Press: Navarro, California 1987
  7. ↑ Cunard, Nancy,ed. Henry Music. The Hours Press: Paris, 1930
  8. ↑ Crowder, Henry.As Wonderful As All That? Wild Tree Press:Navarro California, 1987
  9. 1 2 "Corrections and supplementary materials to Anthony Barnett: Listening for Henry Crowder". Abar.net. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
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