Alabama has a long history of producing individuals who have contributed to one or more styles of jazz: W.C. Handy, James Reese Europe, Erskine Hawkins, Cleve Eaton, Sun Ra, Dinah Washington, Urbie Green, Nat King Cole and Eric Essex are only a few. Inductees of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame provide a much longer--although incomplete--listing. Wikipedia also has a list of jazz musicians from Alabama.
Marion native Hal Kemp is another of the state's connections to jazz. Born on March 27, 1904, he led his first band in high school and played alto saxophone and clarinet. In college at the University of North Carolina he led the Carolina Club Orchestra. That group performed in England and received unexpected publicity when the Prince of Wales performed with them. Kemp's recording career also began with this outfit on Okeh Records. The band toured Europe during summer breaks.
By 1927 Kemp had formed his own orchestra that included such singers and sidemen as Skinnay Ennis, Bunny Berigan, and John Scott Trotter, and the band soon became a popular one. During the Great Depression the Orchestra under Kemp's guidance developed a "sweet" sound that increased its popularity even more. The group performed regularly at the Blackhawk Restaurant in Chicago from 1932 until 1934. Popular records included "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" and "In the Middle of a Kiss." Live touring and club performances were supplemented by frequent radio appearances. Kemp's orchestra had its limitations, but managed to overcome most of them as personnel and arrangements changed.
On December 19, 1940, Kemp was driving to an engagement in San Francisco when his car hit an oncoming truck in foggy conditions near Madera, California. He survived but died of pneumonia two days later. The band attempted to continue without him, but soon broke up.
James Hal Kemp was married twice. His first wife was Bessie [or Betsy] Slaughter [1932-37] and his second Martha Stevenson, with whom he had one daughter, Helen. Kemp is buried in North Carolina.
Kemp and the Orchestra appeared in a few film shorts; some can be seen on YouTube. An extensive list of their recordings can be found here.
This 78 rpm collection was released in 1948.
University of North Carolina Yearbook
Source: Ancestry.com
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