Bob Fuller (b. c. 1898) was an American blues and jazz
saxophonist and clarinetist, best known for his recordings accompanying female
singers of the 1920s.
Born and raised in New York City, Fuller toured the United
States with Mamie Smith, then settled down to extensive studio work. He was a
house saxophonist for Ajax and Victor Records, playing with Elmer Snowden and
Louis Hooper. These musicians also recorded on their own, including as the Five
Musical Blackbirds. Fuller also played with Fats Waller's combo, Six Hot
Babies.
Fuller worked on at least 140 sessions between 1920 and
1928, accompanying singers such as Martha Copeland, Helen Gross, Rosa
Henderson, Maggie Jones, Viola McCoy, and Monette Moore.
Among his many 1920's recordings, his trio sides (with piano
and banjo) were issued as "Three Hot Eskimos", "The Black
Diamonds", "Three Jolly Jesters", and "Three Monkey
Chasers".
Fuller left music permanently after he was sent to prison in
the 1930s.
Louis Stanley Hooper (May 18, 1894, North Buxton, Ontario -
September 17, 1977, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) was a Canadian jazz
pianist.
Hooper was raised in Ypsilanti, Michigan and attended the
Detroit Conservatory, where he played locally in dance orchestras in the 1910s.
He then moved to New York City around 1920; he recorded with Elmer Snowden and
Bob Fuller frequently in the middle of the decade, and performed with both of
them in Harlem as well as with other ensembles. Hooper served for some time as
the house pianist for Ajax Records and accompanied many blues singers on
record, including Martha Copeland, Rosa Henderson, Lizzie Miles, Monette Moore,
and Ethel Waters. He participated in the Blackbirds revue of 1928.
In 1932 Hooper returned to Canada, where he played in Mynie
Sutton's dance band, the Canadian Ambassadors. He did local work solo and in
ensembles for the next two decades, then was brought back into the limelight by
the Montreal Vintage Music Society in 1962. Hooper released an LP of ragtime
piano tunes in 1973 entitled Lou Hooper, Piano. He taught at the University of
Prince Edward Island late in his life and appeared regularly on CBC television
in Halifax.
His papers, which include unpublished compositions and an
autobiography, are now held at the National Library of Canada in Ottawa.
Elmer Snowden (October 9, 1900 – May 14, 1973) was a banjo
player of the jazz age. He also played guitar and, in the early stages of his
career, all the reed instruments. He contributed greatly to jazz in its early
days as both a player and a bandleader, and is responsible for launching the
careers of many top musicians. However, Snowden himself has been largely
overlooked in jazz history.
Born in Baltimore, Snowden is remembered today mainly as the
original leader of the Washingtonians, a group he brought to New York City from
the capital in 1923. Unable to get a booking, Snowden sent for Duke Ellington,
who was with the group when it recorded three test sides for Victor that remain
unissued and are, presumably, lost. Ellington eventually took over leadership
of the band,[1] which contained the nucleus of what later became his famous
orchestra. Snowden was a renowned band leader – Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford,
Bubber Miley, "Tricky Sam" Nanton, Frankie Newton, Benny Carter, Rex
Stewart, Roy Eldridge and Chick Webb are among the musicians who worked in his
various bands.
Very active in the 1920s as an agent and musician, Snowden
at one time had five bands playing under his name in New York, one of which was
led by pianist Cliff Jackson. Unfortunately, most of his bands were not
recorded, but a Snowden band that included Eldridge, Al Sears, Dicky Wells and
Sid Catlett appeared in a 1932 film, Smash Your Baggage. Snowden also made numerous
appearances as a sideman on almost every New York label from 1923 on.
Unfortunately, he rarely received credit, except for two sides with Bessie
Smith in 1925, and six sides with the Sepia Serenaders in 1934.
Though Snowden continued to be musically active throughout
his life, after the mid 1930s he lived in relative obscurity in New York. He
continued to play throughout the 30s, 40s and 50s, but was far from the
limelight. After a dispute with the musicians union in New York, he moved to
Philadelphia where he taught music, counting among his pupils pianist Ray
Bryant, his brother, bassist Tommy Bryant, and saxophonist Sahib Shihab (Edmond
Gregory).
Snowden was working as a parking lot attendant in 1959 when
Chris Albertson, then a Philadelphia disc jockey, came across him. In 1960,
Albertson brought Snowden and singer-guitarist Lonnie Johnson together for two
Prestige albums, assembled a quartet that included Cliff Jackson for a
Riverside session, Harlem Banjo, and, in 1961, a sextet session with Roy
Eldridge, Bud Freeman, Jo Jones, and Ray and Tommy Bryant—it was released on
the Fontana and Black Lion labels.
In 1963, his career boosted, Snowden appeared at the Newport
Jazz Festival. He toured Europe in 1967 with the Newport Guitar Workshop. He
moved to California to teach at the University of California, Berkeley, and
played with Turk Murphy.
Bob Fuller cl / Louis Hooper p / Elmer Snowden bj.
Recorded in New York on August 8, 1925.
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