Jack Teagarden: Trombone King

The soulful jazz trombone starts with Jack Teagarden. He began recording in 1927 and over the decades developed a rich, expressive playing style that touched listeners of all ages and backgrounds. Though he was predated by plenty of trombonists, such as Miff Mole and Tommy Dorsey, Teagarden was the most innovative of the pre-war era, largely by embracing the blues.

Like his friend and stage-mate Louis Armstrong, Teagarden also sang, but with a laid-back, whiskey-soaked voice that remains timeless and appealing. Teagarden is important because of the moaning technique he developed on his trombone and the New Orleans ballad style he perfected.

Whenever you hear him, you think of lazy summer afternoons, the smell of cut grass and simpler times, before everyone was at each other's throats on social media and TV. Maybe more people today should listen to his records and watch his videos. Jack Teagarden died in 1964 at age 58.

Here are a bunch of videos of Teagarden. Like Armstrong, it's not enough to just hear him:

Here's Basin Street Blues...



Here's Teagarden with Armstrong performing Rockin' Chair at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1959...



Here's Teagarden and group in Tokyo in 1958...



Here's Teagarden with Armstrong, Ruby Braff (tp), Tony Parenti (cl), Marty Napoleon (p), Chubby Jackson (b) and Cozy Cole (d)...



And here's Teagarden, a year before his death, on the International Hour in Chicago hosted by Willis Conover...



Bonus: Here's the full Jazz Ultimate album from 1958, featuring Teagarden and cornetist Bobby Hackett, with Ernie Caceres (bs,cl), Peanuts Hucko (ts,cl), Gene Schroeder (p), Billy Bauer (g), Jack Lesberg (b) and “Buzzy" Drootin (d)...