Joe Venuti
Although renowned as one of the world's great practical jokers (he once called a couple dozen bass players with an alleged gig and asked them to show up with their instruments at a busy street corner just so he could view the resulting chaos), Joe Venuti's real importance to jazz is as improvised music's first great violinist. He was a boyhood friend of Eddie Lang (jazz's first great guitarist) and the duo teamed up in a countless number of settings during the second half of the 1920s, including recording influential duets. Venuti moved to New York in 1925, and immediately he and Lang were greatly in demand for jazz recordings, studio work, and club appearances. Venuti seemed to play with every top white jazz musician during the segregated era and, in 1929, he and Lang joined Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, appearing in the film The King of Jazz.
Lang's premature death in 1933 was a major blow to Venuti, who gradually faded away from the spotlight. In 1935, after visiting Europe, the violinist formed a big band and, although it survived quite awhile and helped introduce both singer Kay Starr and drummer Barrett Deems, it was a minor-league orchestra that only recorded four songs (which Venuti characteristically titled "Flip," "Flop," "Something," and "Nothing"). His brief stint in the military during World War II ended the big band, and when he was discharged, Venuti stuck to studio work in Los Angeles. He was regularly featured on Bing Crosby's early-'50s radio show, but in reality the 1936-1966 period was the Dark Ages for Venuti as he drifted into alcoholism and was largely forgotten by the jazz world.
However, in 1967 Joe Venuti began a major comeback, playing at the peak of his powers at Dick Gibson's Colorado Jazz Party. His long-interrupted recording career resumed with many fine sessions (matching his violin with the likes of Zoot Sims, Earl Hines, Marian McPartland, George Barnes, Dave McKenna, and Bucky Pizzarelli, among others) and, despite his increasingly bad health, Venuti's final decade was a triumph.
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
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Happy Feet: A Tribute to Paul Whiteman
New England Conservatory Jazz Repertory Orchestra, Gunther Schuller
Jazz - Released by GM Recordings on 1 Jan 2003
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Presenting Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang
Jazz - Released by Universal Digital Enterprises on 8 Jul 1928
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Presenting Joe Venuti
Jazz - Released by Universal Digital Enterprises on 8 Jul 1927
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The Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang Collection 1926-33
Jazz - Released by Fabulous on 14 Apr 2014
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Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang, 20 Essential Classics
Jazz - Released by Firefly Entertainment on 1 Oct 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Complete Jazz Series 1926 - 1928
Jazz - Released by Complete Jazz Series on 29 Jun 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Joe Venuti with Lino Patruno
Italy - Released by Legacy Recordings on 22 Dec 2021
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The Father of Jazz Violin (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Master Tape Records on 13 Aug 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang 1926-28
Jazz - Released by Documents on 1 Sep 2009
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Pink Elephants
Dixieland - Released by Supreme Media on 9 Oct 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang 1928-31
Jazz - Released by Documents on 1 Sep 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best Of Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang: Stringin' The Blues
Jazz - Released by Saar srl on 18 Jun 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang
Jazz - Released by Saar srl on 24 Jul 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo