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Biography
Meade Lux Lewis (September 1905 – June 7, 1964) was a United States|American pianist and composer , noted for his work in the boogie-woogie style. His best known work, "Honky Tonk Train Blues", has been sound recording and reproduction|recorded in various contexts, often in a big band arrangement. Early recordings of the piece by artists other than Lewis include performances by Adrian Rollini , Frankie Trumbauer , classical harpsichordist Sylvia Marlowe , theater organist George Wright (organist)|George Wright (with drummer Cozy Cole , under the title "Organ Boogie"), and Bob Zurke with Bob Crosby 's orchestra . Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer often included it in his repertoire and recorded it in 1972.
Biography
Lewis was born Meade Anderson Lewis in Chicago , Illinois , United States , in September 1905 (September 3, 4 and 13 have all been cited as his date of birth in various sources). In his adolescence|youth he was influenced by the pianist Jimmy Yancey .cite book|first=Tony|last=Russell|year=1997|title=The Blues - From Robert Johnson (musician)|Robert Johnson to Robert Cray | edition=|publisher=Carlton Books Limited|location=Dubai|page=135|isbn=1-85868-255-X
A 1927 rendition of "Honky Tonk Train Blues" on the Paramount Records record label|label marked his recording debut. He remade it for Parlophone in 1935 and for RCA Records|Victor in 1937 and a recording exists of a Camel Caravan broadcast, including "Honky Tonk Train Blues" from New York City in 1939. His performance at John H. Hammond|John Hammond 's historic From Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938 brought Lewis to public attention. Following the event, Lewis and two other performers from that concert, Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson often appeared as a trio and became the leading boogie-woogie pianists of the day.cite web|first=|last=|url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p98238/biography|pure_url=yes|title=Biography by Scott Yanow|publisher=Allmusic.com|accessdate=May 29, 2009
They performed an extended engagement at Café Society , toured as a trio, and inspired the formation of Blue Note Records in 1939. Their success led to a decade long boogie-woogie craze."Deep Blues" by Robert Palmer, 1981, p. 130 with big band swing treatments by Tommy Dorsey , Will Bradley, and others; and numerous country boogie and early rock and roll songs.
He became the first jazz pianist to double on Celesta|celeste (starting in 1936) and was featured on that musical instrument|instrument on a Blue Note quartet date with Edmond Hall and Charlie Christian . Lewis also played harpsichord on a few gramophone record|records in 1941. After the boogie-woogie craze ended, Lewis continued working in Chicago and California .
Lewis appeared in the film|movies New Orleans (film)|New Orleans (1947) and Nightmare (1956 film)|Nightmare (1956). Uncomfortable typecast as a boogie-woogie and blues pianist, Lewis spent his later years playing Ragtime|rags and old-time popular music|pop songs. He also appeared, uncredited, in the movie '' It's a Wonderful Life '', playing piano in the scene where George Bailey gets thrown out of Nick's Bar.cite web|url= http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0507540|title=Meade Lux Lewis on IMDb|accessdate=December 28, 2009
Lewis died in a traffic collision|car accident in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 7, 1964, aged 58.
Legacy
Lewis was mentioned in Chapter 81 of author Kurt Vonnegut 's novel '' Cat's Cradle . Lewis is also mentioned in Ross Macdonald 's novel The Moving Target and in Keith Richards 's autobiography Life .
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/meade-lux-lewis-true-boogie-woogie-piano Meade Lux Lewis biography on African American Registry
Persondata | NAME = Lewis, Meade Anderson | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Lewis, Meade Lux | SHORT DESCRIPTION = United States|American boogie-woogie pianist and composer | DATE OF BIRTH = September 1905 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Chicago , Illinois , United States | DATE OF DEATH = June 7, 1964 | PLACE OF DEATH = Minneapolis, Minnesota , United States DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Meade Lux Category:1905 births Category:1964 deaths Category:American jazz pianists Category:American blues pianists Category:Boogie-woogie pianists Category:Jazz composers Category:American blues musicians Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:Blue Note Records artists
de:Meade Lux Lewis es:Meade Lux Lewis eo:Meade Lux Lewis it:Meade Lux Lewis pt:Meade Lux Lewis simple:Meade Lux Lewis
