Lunceford was born in Fulton, Mississippi. Little is known about his parents, though his father was a choirmaster in Warren, Ohio, before the family moved to Denver. Lunceford went to high school in Denver and studied music under Wilberforce J. Whiteman, father of Paul Whiteman, whose band was soon to acquire a national reputation. As a child in Denver, he learned several instruments. He played alto saxophone in the band led by the violinist George Morrison. After high school, Lunceford continued his studies at Fisk University. In 1922, he played alto saxophone in a local band led by George Morrison which included Andy Kirk, another musician destined for fame as a bandleader.
In 1927, while an athletic instructor at Manassas High School in Memphis, Tennessee, he organized a student band, the Chickasaw Syncopators, whose name was changed to the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra. Under the new name, the band started its professional career in 1929, and made its first recordings in 1930. Lunceford was the first high school band director in Memphis. After a period of touring, the band accepted a booking at the Harlem nightclub The Cotton Club in 1934 for their revue 'Cotton Club Parade' starring Adelaide Hall. The Cotton Club had already featured Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, who won their first widespread fame from their inventive shows for the Cotton Club's all-white patrons. Lunceford's orchestra, with their tight musicianship and the often outrageous humor in their music and lyrics, made an ideal band for the club, and Lunceford's reputation began to steadily grow. Jimmie Luncefords band differed from other great bands of the time because their work was better known for its ensemble than its solo work. Additionally, he was known for using a two-beat rhythm, called the Lunceford two-beat, as opposed to the standard four-beat rhythm. This distinctive "Lunceford style" was largely the result of the imaginative arrangements by trumpeter Sy Oliver, which set high standards for dance-band arrangers of the time.
Though not well known as a musician, Jimmie Lunceford was trained on several instruments and was even featured on flute in "Liza".
Comedy and vaudeville played a distinct part in Lunceford's presentation. Songs such as "Rhythm Is Our Business" (featured in a 1937 musical short with Myra Johnson (Taylor) on vocals), "I'm Nuts about Screwy Music", "I Want the Waiter (With the Water)", and "Four or Five Times" displayed a playful sense of swing, often through clever arrangements by trumpeter Sy Oliver and bizarre lyrics. Lunceford's stage shows often included costumes, skits, and obvious jabs at mainstream white bands, such as Paul Whiteman's and Guy Lombardo's.
Despite the band's comic veneer, Lunceford always maintained professionalism in the music befitting a former teacher; this professionalism paid off and during the apex of swing in the 1930s, the Orchestra was considered the equal of Duke Ellington's, Earl Hines' or Count Basie's. This precision can be heard in such pieces as "Wham (Re-Bop-Boom-Bam)", "Lunceford Special", "For Dancers Only", "Uptown Blues", and "Stratosphere". The band's noted saxophone section was led by alto sax player Willie Smith. Lunceford often used a conducting baton to lead his band.
The orchestra began recording for the Decca label and later signed with the Columbia subsidiary Vocalion in 1938. They toured Europe extensively in 1937, but had to cancel a second tour in 1939 because of the outbreak of World War II. Columbia dropped Lunceford in 1940 because of flagging sales. (Oliver departed the group before the scheduled European tour to take a position as an arranger for Tommy Dorsey). Lunceford returned to the Decca label. The orchestra appeared in the 1941 movie Blues in the Night.
Most of Lunceford's sidemen were underpaid and left for better paying bands, leading to the band's decline.
On July 12, 1947, while playing in Seaside, Oregon, Lunceford collapsed and died from cardiac arrest during an autograph session, aged 45. Allegations and rumors circulated that he had been poisoned by a fish-restaurant owner who was unhappy at having to serve a "Negro" in his establishment. This story is given credence by the fact other members of Lunceford's band who ate at this restaurant were sick within hours of the meal. He was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis.
Band members, notably Eddie Wilcox and Joe Thomas kept the band going for a time but finally had to break up the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra in 1949.
In 1999, band-leader Robert Veen and a team of musicians set out to acquire permission to use the original band charts and arrangements of the Jimmie Lunceford canon. 'The Jimmie Lunceford Legacy Orchestra' officially debuted in July 2005 at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands.
The Jimmie Lunceford Jamboree Festival was founded in 2007 by Ron Herd II a.k.a. R2C2H2 Tha Artivist and Artstorian, with the aim of increasing recognition of Lunceford's contribution to jazz, particularly in Memphis, Tennessee. The Jimmie Lunceford Legacy Awards was created by the Jimmie Lunceford Jamboree Festival to honor exceptional musicians with Memphis ties as well as those who have dedicated their careers to excellence in music and music education.
His music continues to have an impact. Most recently the tune "Rhythm is Our Business" was included as track on the compilation set Memphis Jazz Box in 2004 in honor of Lunceford's close ties to Memphis.
On July 19, 2009, a brass note was dedicated to Lunceford on Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee.
Selected discography
Prior to Lunceford's success on Decca (beginning September 1934), he made the following recordings:
"In Dat Mornin'"/"Sweet Rhythm" (Victor V-38141)- recorded Memphis, June 6, 1930
"Flaming Reeds and Screaming Brass"/"While Love Lasts" (Columbia tests - not issued until the late 1960s on LP) - recorded New York, May 15, 1933
"Jazznocracy"/"Chillun, Get Up" (Victor 24522) - recorded New York, January 26, 1934
"White Heat"/"Leaving Me" (Victor 24586) - recorded New York, January 26, 1934
"Breakfast Ball"/"Here Goes" (Victor 24601) - recorded New York, March 20, 1934
"Swingin' Uptown"/"Remember When" (Victor 24669) - recorded New York, March 20, 1934
The Decca recordings
Stomp It Off (1934-1935 Decca recordings) (CD: GRP, 1992)
For Dancers Only (1935-1937 Decca recordings) (CD: GRP, 1994)
Swingsation (1935-1939 Decca recordings) (CD: GRP, 1998)
Like a Ship at Sea (1935-1939 Decca recordings)
Columbia recordings[edit]
Lunceford Special (1939 Columbia recordings) (LP: 1956, expanded issue late 1960s, CD: Columbia Legacy, 2001)
Modern CD compilations from different recording labels[edit]
Rhythm Is Our Business (1933–1940, both Decca and Columbia periods successively) (ASV, 1992)
Jukebox Hits: 1937-1947 (Acrobat, 2005)
Life Is Fine or Quadromania (Membran/Quadromania Jazz, 2006)
Trivia[edit]
The Chickasaw Syncopators made a single 78 record on December 13, 1927 in Memphis (but without Lunceford); it was issued on Columbia 14301-D.
Mood Indigo
Jimmie Lunceford Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You ain't never been blue,
Till you've had that mood indigo.
That feelin' goes stealin' down to my shoes
While I just sit here and sigh, "Go 'long blues".
I always get that mood indigo,
Since my baby said goodbye.
I'm so lonely I could cry.
'Cause there's nobody who cares about me,
I'm just a poor fool that's bluer than blue can be.
When I get that mood indigo,
I could lay me down and die.
You ain't never been blue; no, no, no,
You ain't never been blue,
Till you've had that mood indigo.
That feelin' goes stealin' down to my shoes
While I just sit here and sigh, "Go 'long blues".
The song "Mood Indigo" is a classic blues tune that was made popular in the 1930s by the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra. The lyrics describe the feeling of being overwhelmed by a deep sense of sadness, or "blue." The use of the word "mood indigo" conveys a sense of melancholy and loneliness that is hard to shake. The singer laments his lost love, feeling so lonely that he could cry. The sadness is so palpable that it seems to seep into his very being, down to his shoes.
The lyrics also describe a sense of hopelessness and feeling like nobody cares about him. The singer feels like a "poor fool" with no one to turn to, trapped in his own despair. The repetition of the phrase "You ain't never been blue" emphasizes just how intense this emotion can be, and how difficult it is to understand if you haven't experienced it yourself. Overall, the song captures the raw emotion and depth of feeling that comes with heartbreak and sadness.
Line by Line Meaning
You ain't never been blue; no, no, no,
You have never truly experienced sadness.
You ain't never been blue,
You do not understand what it feels like to be sad.
Till you've had that mood indigo.
Unless you have experienced the sadness described as 'mood indigo', you cannot fully comprehend it.
That feelin' goes stealin' down to my shoes
The feeling of sadness is all-encompassing, overwhelming even the feet.
While I just sit here and sigh, "Go 'long blues".
Despite the overwhelming sadness, the singer feels helpless and unable to do anything to change it.
I always get that mood indigo,
The singer frequently experiences the deep sadness known as 'mood indigo'.
Since my baby said goodbye.
The source of the singer's sadness is a recent breakup with their significant other.
And in the evenin' when the lights are low,
The feeling of sadness is most intense in the quiet of the night.
I'm so lonely I could cry.
The singer is so isolated and sad that they feel tears might come at any moment.
'Cause there's nobody who cares about me,
The singer feels abandoned and unloved.
I'm just a poor fool that's bluer than blue can be.
The singer feels like a hopeless, pitiful failure consumed by sadness.
When I get that mood indigo,
Whenever the singer experiences deep sadness,
I could lay me down and die.
The sadness is so intense that the singer feels like life is not worth living.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Barney Bigard
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
camous joel
arrangement de Willie Smith (saxo alto)