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Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols (May 8, 1905–June 28, 1965) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 cornet
Cornet

Not to be confused with coronetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical Bore , compact shape, and mellower tone quality....
tist, composer, and jazz bandleader.

Biography
Red Nichols was born in Ogden, Utah
Ogden, Utah

Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, Utah, United States. The population was 81,605 according to 2005 United States Census Bureau estimates....
, the son of a music teacher. By the age of 12 he was playing cornet
Cornet

Not to be confused with coronetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical Bore , compact shape, and mellower tone quality....
 with his father's brass band. He decided to take up the new style of music called jazz after hearing the phonograph
Phonograph

The record player, phonograph or gramophone was the most common device for playing Sound recording and reproduction sound from the 1870s through the 1980s....
 records of the Original Dixieland Jass Band
Original Dixieland Jass Band

Original Dixieland Jass Band was a New Orleans, Dixieland Jazz band that made the first jazz recordings early in 1917, their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first issued Jazz single....
. In 1923 he moved east to perform with a band in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City is a City in Atlantic County, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. Famous for its boardwalk, casino, sandy beaches, shopping centers, spectacular view of the Atlantic Ocean, and as the inspiration for the board game Monopoly , Atlantic City is a resort community located on Absecon Island on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean....
, and (with a few tours of the midwest) made New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 his base throughout the 1920s and 1930s.






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Encyclopedia


Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols (May 8, 1905–June 28, 1965) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 cornet
Cornet

Not to be confused with coronetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical Bore , compact shape, and mellower tone quality....
tist, composer, and jazz bandleader.

Biography


Red Nichols was born in Ogden, Utah
Ogden, Utah

Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, Utah, United States. The population was 81,605 according to 2005 United States Census Bureau estimates....
, the son of a music teacher. By the age of 12 he was playing cornet
Cornet

Not to be confused with coronetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical Bore , compact shape, and mellower tone quality....
 with his father's brass band. He decided to take up the new style of music called jazz after hearing the phonograph
Phonograph

The record player, phonograph or gramophone was the most common device for playing Sound recording and reproduction sound from the 1870s through the 1980s....
 records of the Original Dixieland Jass Band
Original Dixieland Jass Band

Original Dixieland Jass Band was a New Orleans, Dixieland Jazz band that made the first jazz recordings early in 1917, their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first issued Jazz single....
. In 1923 he moved east to perform with a band in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City is a City in Atlantic County, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. Famous for its boardwalk, casino, sandy beaches, shopping centers, spectacular view of the Atlantic Ocean, and as the inspiration for the board game Monopoly , Atlantic City is a resort community located on Absecon Island on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean....
, and (with a few tours of the midwest) made New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 his base throughout the 1920s and 1930s. He worked for various bandleaders including Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman

Paul Whiteman was an United States orchestral leader. He was born in Denver, Colorado. After a start as a classical violinist and viola, Whiteman then led a jazz-influenced dance band, which became locally popular in San Francisco, California in 1918....
 and Harry Reser
Harry Reser

Harry F. Reser was an American banjo player and bandleader. Born in Piqua, Ohio, Reser was best known as the leader of The Clicquot Club Eskimos....
. Henry Halstead
Henry Halstead

Henry Halstead was a U.S. bandleader.Henry Halstead's Orchestra began in early 1922 and over the next 20 years Halstead's band engagements extended from coast to coast, including the Blossom Room at Hotel Roosevelt, New York City; the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California; the St....
 was a regular in the cooperative California Ramblers in addition to leading groups under his own name (often called Red Nichols & His Five Pennies), and of the band of his friend trombonist Miff Mole
Miff Mole

Irving Milfred Mole, better known as Miff Mole was a jazz trombonist and band leader. He is generally considered as one of the greatest jazz trombonists and credited with creating "the first distinctive and influential solo jazz trombone style." His major recordings included "Slippin' Around", "Red Hot Mama" in 1924 with Sophie Tucker...
. Nichols became one of the busiest phonograph
Phonograph

The record player, phonograph or gramophone was the most common device for playing Sound recording and reproduction sound from the 1870s through the 1980s....
 session musicians of his era, making hundreds of recording sessions of jazz and hot dance band music. He also played in several Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
 shows.

Career


During his Brunswick career (1926-1932) a virtual who's who of great jazz musicians were members of Nichols' studio recording sessions:
  • Jimmy Dorsey
    Jimmy Dorsey

    James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent United States jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader....
  • Arthur Schutt
    Arthur Schutt

    File:Arthur Schutt .jpgArthur Schutt was an American jazz pianist and arranger.Schutt learned piano from his father, and accompanied silent films as a teenager in the 1910s....
  • Miff Mole
    Miff Mole

    Irving Milfred Mole, better known as Miff Mole was a jazz trombonist and band leader. He is generally considered as one of the greatest jazz trombonists and credited with creating "the first distinctive and influential solo jazz trombone style." His major recordings included "Slippin' Around", "Red Hot Mama" in 1924 with Sophie Tucker...
  • Joe Venuti
  • Eddie Lang
    Eddie Lang

    Eddie Lang was an American jazz guitarist, regarded as the most important Chicago jazz guitarist and the Father of the Jazz Guitar. He played a Gibson L-4 and Gibson L-5 guitar, providing great influence for many guitarists, including Django Reinhardt....
  • Adrian Rollini
    Adrian Rollini

    Adrian Francis Rollini was a instrumentalist best known for his jazz music. He played the bass saxophone, piano, xylophone, and many other instruments....
  • Manny Klein
    Manny Klein

    Manny Klein was a jazz trumpeter most associated with Swing music.He began with Paul Whiteman in 1928 and was active throughout the 1930s playing with several major bands of the era including the Dorseys and Benny Goodman....
  • Pee Wee Russell
    Pee Wee Russell

    Charles Ellsworth Russell, much better known by his nickname Pee Wee Russell, was a jazz musician. Early in his career he played clarinet and saxophones, but eventually focused solely on clarinet....
  • Lennie Hayton
    Lennie Hayton

    Leonard George Hayton was a Jewish American composer, conductor and arranger. He was initially a pianist in jazz groups led by Frankie Trumbauer, Bix Beiderbecke, Red Nichols, Joe Venuti and others....
  • Dick McDonough
    Dick McDonough

    Dick McDonough was an influential American jazz guitarist and composer. His major recordings included "Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jibe" with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra with Johnny Mercer, "Stage Fright" with Carl Kress, "Chasin' a Buck", "Feelin' No Pain", recorded in 1927 with Red Nichols, and "Chicken a la Swing"....
  • Fud Livingston
    Fud Livingston

    Fud Livingston was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer. He co-wrote the jazz and pop standard "I'm Through With Love"....
  • Carl Kress
    Carl Kress

    Carl Kress was an American jazz guitarist.Kress began his career with Paul Whiteman in 1926, and thereafter launched a successful career as a studio guitarist....
  • Chauncey Morehouse
    Chauncey Morehouse

    File:Chauncey Morehouse .jpgChauncey Morehouse was an American jazz drummer.Chauncey Morehouse was born in Niagara Falls, NY in 1902. He was raised in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where he played drums from a very early age....
  • Benny Goodman
    Benny Goodman

    Benjamin David Goodman, was an United States jazz musician, clarinetist and bandleader, known as "King of Swing ", "Patriarch of the Clarinet", "The Professor", and "Swing's Senior Statesman"....
  • Tommy Dorsey
    Tommy Dorsey

    Tommy Dorsey was an United States jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big band era. He was the younger brother of Jimmy Dorsey....
  • The Boswell Sisters
  • Glenn Miller
    Glenn Miller

    Alton Glenn Miller , was an United States jazz musician, arranger, composer, and band leader in the Swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1942, leading one of the best known "Big band"....
  • Jack Teagarden
    Jack Teagarden

    Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden , known as "Big T", was an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist....
  • Babe Russin
    Babe Russin

    Irving "Babe" Russin was a tenor saxophone player. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Russin played with some of the best known jazz bands of the 1930s and 1940s, including Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey....
  • Rube Bloom
    Rube Bloom

    Reuben Bloom was a Jewish United States composer of popular songs.Rube Bloom was a multi-faceted entertainer, and in addition to being a songwriter, was a pianist, arranger, band leader, recording artist, and writer ....
  • Charlie Teagarden
    Charlie Teagarden

    Charlie Teagarden was an American jazz trumpeter. He was the younger brother of Jack Teagarden.Charlie worked locally in Oklahoma before he and Jack joined Ben Pollack's Orchestra in 1929....
  • Joe Sullivan
    Joe Sullivan

    Michael Joseph "Joe" O'Sullivan was an United States jazz pianist....
  • Wingy Manone
    Wingy Manone

    Wingy Manone was an United States jazz trumpeter, composer, singer, and bandleader. His major recordings included "Tar Paper Stomp", "Nickel in the Slot", "Downright Disgusted Blues", "There'll Come a Time ", and "Tailgate Ramble"....
  • Nappy Lamare
    Nappy Lamare

    Nappy Lamare was an United States jazz banjoist, guitarist and vocalist born in New Orleans, perhaps best-known for his work from 1930-1935 with the Ben Pollack band, and from 1935-1943 with the Bob Crosby band ....
  • Roy Bargy
    Roy Bargy

    Roy Fredrick Bargy was an American composer and pianist.Born in Newaygo, Michigan, he grew up in Toledo, Ohio, where he was exposed to the music of pianists Johnny Walters and Luckey Roberts....
  • Gene Krupa
    Gene Krupa

    Gene Krupa was an influentialUnited States jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style....
  • Harold Arlen
    Harold Arlen

    Harold Arlen was an United States Jewish composer of popular music.Having written over 400 songs, a number of which have become known the world over, Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook....


In 1927, Red Nichols and His Five Pennies reached number one on the U.S. pop singles chart with his recording of "Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider", which was number one for three weeks, reaching that position during the week of November 26, 1927.

In 1942 Nichols moved to California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, where he headlined with his own band, as Red Nichols And His Five Pennies, in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is the largest city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles is rated as a beta global city, has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California....
 and San Francisco
San Francisco, California

The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States, with a 2007 estimated population of 799,183....
 into the 1950s.

The 1959 Hollywood film The Five Pennies
The Five Pennies

The Five Pennies was a semi-biographical 1959 film starring Danny Kaye as cornet player and bandleader Red Nichols. Other cast members included Barbara Bel Geddes, Harry Guardino, Bob Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Susan Gordon , and Tuesday Weld....
, the film biography of Red Nichols, starring Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye was an American award-winning actor, singer and comedian....
 as Red Nichols, was very loosely based on Nichols' career. Nichols played his own trumpet parts for the film, but did not appear on screen. The Paramount movie received four Academy Award nominations. "The Five Pennies" movie theme song was composed by Sylvia Fine, the wife of Danny Kaye. Nichols also made a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance

A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television....
 in the biopic The Gene Krupa Story
The Gene Krupa Story

The Gene Krupa Story is a 1959 in film biopic of United States drummer and bandleader Gene Krupa. The conflict in the film centers around Krupa's rise to success and his corresponding use of marijuana....
 in 1959.

Nichols and his band toured the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and overseas until Nichols suffered a sudden fatal heart attack
Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when the Blood flow to part of the heart is interrupted. This is most commonly due to occlusion of a coronary artery following the rupture of a Vulnerable plaque, which is an unstable collection of lipids and white blood cells in the wall of an artery....
 in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, Nevada, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and entertainment....
 in 1965.

Compositions by Red Nichols


Red Nichols' compositions include "Hurricane" with Paul Madeira Mertz, "Five Pennies" (1927), "That's No Bargain", "Get With It", "Hangover" with Miff Mole, "The King Kong", "Nervous Charlie", "Trumpet Sobs" (1926), "The Parade of the Pennies", "Sugar", "Overnight Hop", "Lowland Blues", and "Meet Miss 8 Beat".

Honors


In 1986, Red Nichols was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.

External links