
Joe Venuti
Giuseppe "Joe" Venuti (September 16, 1903 – August 14, 1978) was an Italian-American jazz musician and pioneer jazz violinist. Considered the father of jazz violin, he pioneered the use of string instruments in jazz along with the guitarist Eddie Lang, a friend since childhood. Through the 1920s and early 1930s, Venuti and Lang made many recordings, as leader and as featured soloists. He and Lang became so well known for their 'hot' violin and guitar solos that on many commercial dance recordings they were hired to do 12- or 24-bar duos towards the end of otherwise stock dance arrangements. In 1926, Venuti and Lang started recording for the OKeh label as a duet (after a solitary duet issued on Columbia), followed by "Blue Four" combinations, which are considered milestone jazz recordings. Venuti also recorded commercial dance records for OKeh under the name "New Yorkers". He worked with Benny Goodman, Adrian Rollini, the Dorsey Brothers, Bing Crosby, Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden, Frank Signorelli, the Boswell Sisters, and most of the other important white jazz and semi-jazz figures of the late 1920s and early 1930s. However, following Lang's death in 1933, Venuti's career began to wane, though he continued performing through the 1930s, recording a series of commercial dance records (usually containing a Venuti violin solo) for the dime store labels, OKeh and Columbia, as well as the occasional jazz small group sessions. He was also a strong early influence on western swing players like Cecil Brower. Many of the 1920s OKeh sides continued to sell and remained in print through 1935 when ARC discontinued the OKeh label and reissued selected sides on the 35-cent Vocalion label (the OKeh label was revived by CBS in 1940). After a period of relative obscurity in the 1940s and 1950s, Venuti played violin and other instruments with Jack Statham at the Desert Inn Hotel in Las Vegas. Statham headed several musical groups that played at the Desert Inn from late 1961 until 1965, including a Dixieland combo. Venuti was with him during that time, and was active with the Las Vegas Symphony Orchestra during the 1960s. He was 'rediscovered' in the late 1960s. In the 1970s, he established a musical relationship with tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims that resulted in three recordings. In 1976, he recorded an album of duets with pianist Earl Hines entitled Hot Sonatas. He also recorded an entire album with country-jazz musicians including mandolinist Jethro Burns (of Homer & Jethro), pedal steel guitarist Curly Chalker and former Bob Wills sideman and guitarist Eldon Shamblin. Venuti died in Seattle, Washington. |
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Birth and Death Data: Born September 16th, 1903 (Philadelphia;Lecco), Died August 14th, 1978 (Seattle)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1924 - 1950
Roles Represented in DAHR: violin, leader, composer, director, vocalist, songwriter
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 132 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | B-31206 | 10-in. | 11/24/1924 | I didn't know | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | B-31207 | 10-in. | 11/24/1924 | I want to see my Tennessee | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | B-31208 | 10-in. | 11/24/1924 | Remember | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | B-31209 | 10-in. | 11/25/1924 | Play me slow | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | B-31210 | 10-in. | 11/25/1924 | Honest and truly | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | B-31211 | 10-in. | 11/25/1924 | What's the use of dreamin' | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | B-31212 | 10-in. | 11/25/1924 | Adoration | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-36813 | 10-in. | 10/12/1926 | Idolizing | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-36814 | 10-in. | 10/12/1926 | I'd rather be the girl in your arms (Than the girl in your dreams) | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo (takes 5-8); with male vocal trio (takes 1-4) | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-36815 | 10-in. | 10/12/1926 | Hush-a-bye | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-36829 | 10-in. | 10/15/1926 | Sunday | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with mixed vocal chorus | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-36830 | 10-in. | 10/15/1926 | Cover me up with sunshine (And feather my nest with love) | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-36831 | 10-in. | 10/15/1926 | Just one more kiss | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-37579 | 10-in. | 1/28/1927 | Proud of a baby like you | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with mixed vocal trio | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-37580 | 10-in. | 1/28/1927 | I'm looking over a four leaf clover | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-37583 | 10-in. | 1/31/1927 | I'm gonna meet my sweetie now | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-37584 | 10-in. | 1/31/1927 | Hoosier sweetheart | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-37586 | 10-in. | 2/1/1927 | Look at the world and smile | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-37587 | 10-in. | 2/1/1927 | My pretty girl | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-37588 | 10-in. | 2/1/1927 | Stampede | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-37599 | 10-in. | 2/3/1927 | Sunny disposish | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-37738 | 10-in. | 2/3/1927 | A lane in Spain | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-38264 | 10-in. | 5/16/1927 | In my merry Oldsmobile | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-38267 | 10-in. | 5/23/1927 | Play it, Red | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-40211 | 10-in. | 9/15/1927 | Blue river | Jean Goldkette Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, violin |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Venuti, Joe," accessed February 25, 2021, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103186.
Venuti, Joe. (2021). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved February 25, 2021, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103186.
"Venuti, Joe." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2021. Web. 25 February 2021.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Venuti, Joe - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81071364
Wikidata: Joe Venuti - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1344139
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/39563542/
MusicBrainz: Venuti, Joe - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/17a5b041-46df-43c3-8861-f8e012c3690d
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