Hal Singer
Equally at home blowing scorching R&B or tasty jazz, Hal "Cornbread" Singer has played and recorded both over a career spanning more than half a century. Singer picked up his early experience as a hornman with various Southwestern territory bands, including the outfits of Ernie Fields, Lloyd Hunter, and Nat Towles. He made it to Kansas City in 1939, working with pianist Jay McShann (whose sax section also included Charlie Parker), before venturing to New York, in 1941, and playing with Hot Lips Page, Earl Bostic, Don Byas, and Roy Eldridge (with whom he first recorded in 1944). After the close of the war, Singer signed on with Lucky Millinder's orchestra.
Singer had just fulfilled his life's ambition -- a chair in Duke Ellington's prestigious reed section -- in 1948, when a honking R&B instrumental called "Cornbread" that he'd recently waxed for Savoy as a leader began to take off. That presented a wrenching dilemma for the young saxist, but in the end, his decision to go out on his own paid off; "Cornbread" paced the R&B charts for four weeks and gave him his enduring nickname. Another of his Savoy instrumentals, "Beef Stew," also cracked the R&B lists.
Singer recorded rocking R&B workouts for Savoy into 1956 (the cuisine motif resulting in helpings of "Neck Bones," "Rice and Red Beans," and "Hot Bread"), working with sidemen including pianists Wynton Kelly and George Rhodes, guitarist Mickey Baker, bassist Walter Page, and drummer Panama Francis. One of his last dates for the firm produced the torrid "Rock 'n' Roll," which may have featured Singer as vocalist as well as saxist.
By the late '50s, Singer had abandoned rock & roll for a life as a jazz saxist. He recorded for Prestige in a more restrained manner in 1959, and stayed in that general groove. Singer relocated to Paris in 1965, winning over European audiences with his hearty blowing and engaging in quite a bit of session work with visiting blues and jazz luminaries. The old R&B fire flared up temporarily in 1990, when he cut Royal Blue for Black Top with boogie piano specialist Al Copley.
© Bill Dahl /TiVo
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Discography
15 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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We're Still Buddies
Jazz - Released by Azzurra Music on 19 apr. 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blue Stompin' (Remastered)
Charlie Shavers, Hal Singer, Ray Bryant
Jazz - Released by Avid Entertainment on 22 jun. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Massimo Faraò Trio meets Hal Singer
Massimo Faraò Trio, Hal Singer
Jazz - Released by RACING JAZZ on 11 sep. 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues and News
Jazz - Released by Futura Marge - Atypeek Music on 8 mei 1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Challenge
Jazz - Released by Futura Marge - Atypeek Music on 10 apr. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Corn Bread: The Hal Singer Collection 1948-59
Jazz - Released by Acrobat on 7 apr. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rock Around the Clock (Lead Vocal by Spo-De-Odee)
Rock - Released by Fonot Records on 15 feb. 1949
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
1948-1951
Blues - Released by Classics Blues & Rhythm Series on 1 jan. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Swingville Volume 23: Blue Stompin'
Hal Singer, Charlie Shavers, Bryan Ray
Jazz - Released by SINETONE AMR on 1 jan. 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hal Singer 1948-1951
Rock - Released by Crazy Warthog Media on 1 jan. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blue Stompin'
Divers - Released by Ancien Prodige on 29 mrt. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo