Willie Gant

Willie "The Tiger" Gant (May 10, 1899 – March 1974) was an American jazz bandleader and pianist.[1]

Willie Gant
Jazz pianist Willie Gant in 1921
Jazz pianist Willie Gant in 1921
Background information
Birth nameWilliam D. Gant
BornMay 10, 1899
OriginNew York City
DiedMarch 1974
New York City
GenresDixieland, jazz, swing, stride, ragtime
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Piano

History

Gant began on piano at age 12, and at 13 he began studying under James P. Johnson.[2] He played in local New York clubs and cafes from age 17. Gant recorded some sides in the 1920s, and after the dissolution of his Ramblers devoted himself almost exclusively to solo piano work. He played in New York at places such as the Hotel Fairfax and Carutti's from the 1930s into the 1960s.

Musical groups

Although he appears in a photograph with Lillyn Brown & Her Jazzbo Syncopators in 1921, he was not a band member and filled in for an absent piano player for the photo.[2] He formed his own band, the Ramblers, that same year. Over the course of the next six years, Gant's band rivaled Fats Waller in popularity; it also served as early experience for many noted sideman, including Freddie Green, Ward Pinkett, Billy Taylor, Happy Caldwell, and Manzie Johnson.

Discography

Per the Jazz and Ragtime Records Index[3]

With Eliza Christmas Lee

  • "I Ain't Givin' Nothin' Away" (1921)
  • "Arkansas Blues" (1921)

With Josie Miles

  • "If You Want to Keep Your Daddy Home" (1922)
  • "You're Fooling with the Wrong Gal Now" (1922)
  • "When I Dream of Old Tennessee Blues" (1922)
  • "I Don't Want You (If You Don't Want Me)" (1922)
  • "Low Down 'Bama Blues" (1923)

With Lavinia Turner

  • "How Many Times?" (1921)
  • "Can't Get Lovin' Blues" (1921)
  • "A-Wearin' Away the Blues" (1921)
  • "Sweet Man of Mine" (1921)

References
  1. Cadence, Vol. 8 no. 6 (June 1982), p. 47
  2. Lipskin, Mike; Kunstadt, Len (October 1960). "This Is William D. Gant". Archive.org. p. 3. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  3. Rust, Brian (2002). Jazz and Ragtime Records (1897-1942): L-Z, index. Mainspring Press. pp. 1021, 1144, 1708. ISBN 9780967181929.


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