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* March 25 1902 New Orleans, La
† Aug 25 1976 New Orleans, La
A legendary clarinetist with lovers of New
Orleans jazz but otherwise somewhat overlooked, Albert Burbank (who had a
beautiful tone in his lower register) never had a major name but he
generally worked steadily. He started playing clarinet seriously when he
was 17 and in the 1920's performed with drummer
Arnold DePass's
band,
Buddy
Petit,
Chris
Kelly and
Punch Miller among others. Burbank
played in dance halls in the 1930's and had his own quartet by the war
years. Among his associations in the 1940's and 50's were
Wooden Joe Nicholas,
Albert Jiles,
DeeDee Pierce,
Herb Morand
(1949-50),
Paul Barbarin,
Kid Clayton,
Bill Matthews,
Octave Crosby,
Ernie Cagnoletti
and (during a rare trip outside of New Orleans to Los Angeles) briefly in
1954 with
Kid Ory. Burbank
was a regular feature at the Paddock Lounge (1954-66), Dixieland Hall and
Preservation Hall (1969-73) and he often worked with
Kid Thomas Valentine
and
Papa French. Albert
Burbank only recorded one album as a leader (for Smoky Mary in 1969) but
appeared on a variety of recordings as a sideman including with
Wooden Joe Nicholas
as early as 1945.
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fifixqu5ldhe~T1
Born in
New Orleans Albert
Burbank was taught clarinet by
Lorenzo Tio (Jr.
1916 16), one of
that cities most famous clarinet players. He stayed in the New Orleans
area throughout the 1920s playing wherever his services were needed.
During the thirties, he worked with
Kid Milton's band
but was drafted to the US navy during
World War II. Upon
demobilization, he worked internationally with the bands of
Paul Barbarin and
Kid Ory but
returned to New Orleans where he played with several of the well-known
jazz and brass bands in the city. He was regularly seen at
Preservation Hall
and toured
Australia with a
band made up from Preservation Hall musicians. In 1975, he suffered a
stroke but continued playing until his death on 15th August 1976.
Broadcast performances made with Kid Ory's band at San Francisco's
Hangover Club have been issued on the Danish Storyville label, and some
with trombonist,
Bill Matthews
appear on Southland.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Burbank
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