Chick Webb
Chick Webb, born William Henry Webb on February 10, 1905, in Baltimore, Maryland, was a prominent American jazz and swing drummer and bandleader. Suffering from tuberculosis and a deformed spine from a young age, Webb turned to drumming as a form of therapy. He moved to New York in the mid-1920s, where he formed his own bands and began to gain recognition, especially after establishing residency at the Savoy Ballroom. Webb's orchestra, later named the Chick Webb Orchestra, thrived in the 1930s, achieving national fame with the help of vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, whom he adopted as a daughter. Renowned for his innovative drumming style that combined timekeeping with soloistic flair, Webb won numerous cutting contests against rival bands, enhancing his reputation as a skilled showman. Despite his declining health due to a rigorous performance schedule, he remained a significant figure in the swing era until his death in 1939. Webb's influence persists, inspiring many drummers who followed, as his unique artistry contributed to the evolution of big band music.
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Subject Terms
Chick Webb
Jazz musician
- Born: February 10, 1909
- Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland
- Died: June 16, 1939
- Place of death: Baltimore, Maryland
Webb is among the most famous drummers and bandleaders of the big band era. He was renowned for winning famous drum battles at Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom and for introducing singer Ella Fitzgerald.
Early Life
William Henry Webb was born to William Henry and Marie Johnson Webb on February 10, 1909, in Baltimore, Maryland. He got his nickname because of his short stature. The well-known story that Webb was dropped as a child and severely injured is probably untrue. It is more likely that Webb suffered from tuberculosis, which caused his lifelong health problems and deformed spine.
After beginning on homemade instruments, Webb acquired a drum set around age twelve. It has been reported that he took up drumming as therapy for the joint stiffness associated with tuberculosis. Later, during his teen years, Webb joined the local Jazzola Orchestra. Around 1925, Webb moved to New York with Jazzola member John Trueheart. There, in 1926, Webb formed his own five-piece group, which spent five months at the Black Bottom Club. He then led an eight-piece group at the Paddock Club before taking his group, the Harlem Stompers, to the Savoy Ballroom in January, 1927. During the rest of the 1920’s, Webb and his band played in the New York area; Webb made his first recordings in June, 1929, under the name the Jungle Band.
Life’s Work
In 1931, Webb and his Harlem Stompers began playing regular seasons at Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom. When not at the Savoy, they toured. In 1932, they played a series of theater dates accompanying Louis Armstrong. The band’s sound and Webb’s showmanship quickly attracted a large following, and the group changed its name to the Chick Webb Orchestra.
The first of numerous residencies at the Savoy Ballroom marked Webb’s emergence as one of the outstanding bandleaders of the swing period. Webb’s band remained the resident group at the Savoy from 1933 until Webb’s death in 1939. Although the group had only a few prominent soloists, including Taft Jordan and Sandy Williams, during its years of prolific recording activity it developed a distinctive style. That sound was characterized by Webb’s forceful drumming and the compositions and arrangements provided by Edgar Sampson. In April, 1935, Webb engaged Ella Fitzgerald as the band’s singer. She helped Webb and the band achieve popular success with performances and recordings of songs such as “A Tisket, a Tasket” (1938). Fitzgerald was an orphan and Webb came to regard her as his own daughter, legally adopting her soon after she joined the band. Webb and his band achieved national prominence through the recordings featuring Fitzgerald.
Throughout his career, Webb was widely admired by drummers for his forceful sense of swing, precise technique, control of dynamics, and imaginative breaks and fills. Although he was unable to read music, he led the band’s arrangements by giving memorized cues with his drumming while playing on a raised platform in the center of the band. Unlike earlier drummers of the 1920’s, Webb used the woodblocks and cowbells only for momentary effects and varied his playing with rim shots, temple-block sounds, and cymbal crashes.
Webb and his band regularly defeated rival bands in the Savoy Ballroom’s famous cutting contests. One of Webb’s most famous battles was with Benny Goodman’s band on May 11, 1937. Webb’s victory over Goodman’s band and drummer Gene Krupa enhanced his reputation as a showman and bandleader. Webb’s success also led to an exhausting schedule, which was partly responsible for a serious decline in his health. In June, 1939, Webb was hospitalized in Baltimore and died after surgery. After Webb’s death, Fitzgerald led the band for several years.
Significance
Webb’s unique big band drumming style included both the timekeeping and soloistic qualities that had previously been separate. In addition to displaying remarkable clarity of technique, Webb excelled as an improviser. His drumming was an inspiration to many of the famous big band drummers who followed in the 1940’s. In spite of his challenging health problems, Webb was admired for his consistent excellence.
Bibliography
Charters, Samuel B., and Leonard Kunstadt. Jazz: A History of the New York Scene. New York: Doubleday, 1962. A section on Webb includes biography and a short but detailed analysis of his career and place in the history of the Savoy Ballroom.
Korall, Burt. “Chick Webb.” In Drummin’ Men: The Heartbeat of Jazz, the Swing Era. New York: Schirmer Books, 2002. Includes analysis of Webb’s career, style, and personality with many firsthand accounts of Webb’s playing.
McCarthy, Albert. Big Band Jazz. New York: G. P. Putnam, 1974. Includes a general history of Webb’s career and detailed readings of Webb’s recordings.
Schuller, Gunther. “The Great Black Bands.” In The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Includes a detailed history of Webb’s band and analysis of Webb’s drumming style.
Tumpak, John R. “Chick Webb and Mario Bauza.” In When Swing Was the Thing: Personality Profiles of the Big Band Era. Milwaukee, Wis.: Marquette University Press, 2009. Offers a detailed profile of Webb in the context of his big band contemporaries. Also provides historical and cultural context.