Kansas Fields

Carl Donnell "Kansas" Fields (December 5, 1915, Chapman, Kansas – March 7, 1995, Chicago, Illinois) was an American jazz drummer.

Fields played in Chicago from the late 1920s, and worked with King Kolax and Jimmie Noone in the 1930s. In 1940, he joined Roy Eldridge's group for a year; he returned to play with Eldridge again later in the 1940s. He briefly led his own ensemble and played with Ella Fitzgerald and Benny Carter before joining the Marines during World War II. After the war, he played with Cab Calloway, Claude Hopkins, Sidney Bechet, Dizzy Gillespie (recording with Gillespie in 1951), and Eldridge again before the close of the decade.

He led another group of his own early in the 1950s, then played with Mezz Mezzrow in Europe in 1953. Fields stayed in Europe for more than a decade; he relocated to France and worked as a sideman. In 1965, he returned to Chicago, working once more with Gillespie and doing studio work.

Birth and Death Data: Born December 5, 1915 (Kansas), Died August 3, 1995 (Chicago)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1949 - 1950

Roles Represented in DAHR: drums

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca 74676 1/11/1949 Move on up a little higher, part 1 Sister Rosetta Tharpe instrumentalist, drums  
Decca 74677 1/11/1949 Move on up a little higher, part 2 Sister Rosetta Tharpe instrumentalist, drums  
Decca 74815 3/31/1949 I can't forget it, can you? Mary (Marie) Knight instrumentalist, drums  
Decca 74816 3/31/1949 Up in my heavenly home Mary (Marie) Knight instrumentalist, drums  
Decca 75866 2/16/1950 If I knew you were comin', I'd 've baked a cake Georgia Gibbs instrumentalist, drums  
Decca 75867 2/16/1950 Stay with the happy people Georgia Gibbs instrumentalist, drums  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Fields, Kansas," accessed April 25, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/315290.

Fields, Kansas. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 25, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/315290.

"Fields, Kansas." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 25 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/315290

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