Larry Shields

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Larry Shields was an early American Dixieland clarinettist, born in Uptown New Orleans in 1893, on the same street as the pioneer Buddy Bolden. His brothers also played professionally. He began on clarinet at the age of fourteen and played in the bands of Papa Jack Laine. In the summer of 1915 he moved to Chicago as one of the first New Orleans musicians to do so, first with Bert Kelly and Tom Brown, and in November 1916 he joined the Original Dixieland Jass Band.

Music and breakthrough

That band made the first jazz records the following year and brought Shields's playing to the attention of the whole of America. In 1921 he left the group, played in New York, briefly with Paul Whiteman, and moved to Los Angeles, where he led his own band and played brief roles in Hollywood films. In the 1930s he returned to Chicago with the reformed ODJB. He died in Los Angeles in 1953.

Influence

Shields co-wrote classics of the band, such as Clarinet Marmalade with Henry Ragas, and At the Jazz Band Ball, Ostrich Walk and Fidgety Feet with Nick LaRocca. His recordings were a model for later clarinettists, including Benny Goodman, and Dink Johnson began playing clarinet after hearing him. In 2006 his 1917 recording of Darktown Strutters' Ball was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. He lets us hear how jazz sounded when it was still a new sound.

Listening

In School of Rock

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