Georgie AULD @ Mike BRYAN Sextet 1961 & 1962
Georgie Auld had a long and varied career, changing his tenor sound gradually with the times and adapting to many different musical situations. He moved from Canada to the U.S. in the late '20s and, although originally an altoist, he switched to tenor after hearing Coleman Hawkins. While with Bunny Berigan during 1937-1938, Auld sounded like a dead ringer for Charlie Barnet. After spending a year with Artie Shaw in 1939 (including leading the band briefly after Shaw ran away to Mexico), Auld sounded much closer to Lester Young when he joined Benny Goodman. With B.G., Auld was a major asset, jamming with a version of Goodman's Sextet that also included Cootie Williams and Charlie Christian. He was back with Shaw in 1942, and then led his own big band (1943-1946), an excellent transitional unit between swing and bop that at various times included such young modernists as Dizzy Gillespie, Erroll Garner, and Freddie Webster; Sarah Vaughan also guested on a couple of his recordings.
After the band's breakup, Auld led some smaller groups that tended to be bop-oriented. He was with Count Basie's octet in 1950 and then freelanced for the remainder of his career, maintaining a lower profile but traveling frequently overseas and not losing his enthusiasm for jazz. Some may remember that, in 1977, he had a small acting role as a bandleader and played Robert De Niro's tenor solos in the otherwise forgettable Liza Minelli movie New York, New York.
A fine rhythm guitarist who rarely soloed, Mike Bryan was a journeyman player who never became that famous. He was self-taught on the guitar and grew up in Germantown, Tennessee. He played jobs in Memphis, in Chicago with Red Nichols and then led his own group in Greenwood, Mississippi during 1938-39. Bryan's most famous association was with Benny Goodman, first during 1940-41 and then 1945-46 when he recorded with the BG Sextet (which at the time included Red Norvo and Slam Stewart). After leaving BG the first time, Bryan played with Bob Chester, Jan Savitt and Artie Shaw briefly and before spending much of 1942-44 in the Army.
He recorded in Clyde Hart's octet in early-1945, a onetime only group also including Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. From the late 1940's on, Bryan was mostly a studio musician in California. In 1962 he led an all-star group (including Doc Severinsen and Georgie Auld) that was filmed as part of a Goodyear Tire jazz television series and the band toured Europe; the resulting soundtrack album was his only recording as a leader. Otherwise Mike Bryan ran a car agency in L.A., later on had a music store and accompanied Martha Raye during a tour of Vietnam.
After the band's breakup, Auld led some smaller groups that tended to be bop-oriented. He was with Count Basie's octet in 1950 and then freelanced for the remainder of his career, maintaining a lower profile but traveling frequently overseas and not losing his enthusiasm for jazz. Some may remember that, in 1977, he had a small acting role as a bandleader and played Robert De Niro's tenor solos in the otherwise forgettable Liza Minelli movie New York, New York.
A fine rhythm guitarist who rarely soloed, Mike Bryan was a journeyman player who never became that famous. He was self-taught on the guitar and grew up in Germantown, Tennessee. He played jobs in Memphis, in Chicago with Red Nichols and then led his own group in Greenwood, Mississippi during 1938-39. Bryan's most famous association was with Benny Goodman, first during 1940-41 and then 1945-46 when he recorded with the BG Sextet (which at the time included Red Norvo and Slam Stewart). After leaving BG the first time, Bryan played with Bob Chester, Jan Savitt and Artie Shaw briefly and before spending much of 1942-44 in the Army.
He recorded in Clyde Hart's octet in early-1945, a onetime only group also including Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. From the late 1940's on, Bryan was mostly a studio musician in California. In 1962 he led an all-star group (including Doc Severinsen and Georgie Auld) that was filmed as part of a Goodyear Tire jazz television series and the band toured Europe; the resulting soundtrack album was his only recording as a leader. Otherwise Mike Bryan ran a car agency in L.A., later on had a music store and accompanied Martha Raye during a tour of Vietnam.
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