Alois Maxwell Hirt was born in New Orleans in 1922 and died in 1999, and between those moments, man, did he blow. It's funny, Hirt always bristled when anyone referred to him as a jazz trumpeter; as far as he was concerned, he played the trumpet, and he played a lot of types of music - pop, R&B, cabaret, show tunes, blues, and, jazz. All kinds of jazz, including, Dixieland, swing, bop, cool, big band, etc. What Al Hirt liked to do was play his trumpet and entertain; like many New Orleans musicians, he clowned around a lot on stage, and generally had a good time. For this reason, as well as his indifference to the "jazz as art form" movement and it's acolytes, jazz critics always gave him short shrift, even though he had incredible tone, beautiful phrasing, and insane power when he did play jazz. Miles Davis said of Hirt, "That cat can play. But, man, he's so corny". Yeah, well, Louis Prima had the same thing going on, and frankly, so did Louis Armstrong for the last few decades of his life. These guys were New Orleans born and bred, and they wanted to entertain people, and a lot of "serious" jazz fans turned up their noses at them because what they wanted were serious jazz "artists". Armstrong's reputation as an artist was rehabilitated after his death (and rightly so, the man was groundbreaking), but during the decades before his death he was not taken seriously by the jazz establishment. Prima and Hirt have not come in for forgiveness yet, and probably never will. Hirt played with Monk Hazel, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Horace Heidt, Ina Ray Hutton, Benny Goodman, and others, but things didn't really happen for him until he returned to New Orleans, signed with RCA, and then posted 22 albums on the Billboard charts in the 50's and the 60's. And, then, Hirt did a cover of Allen Toussaint's "Java" in 1964. It went to No. 4 on the Billboard charts and scored a gold record. I have favorites - the aforementioned "Java". "Boy Meets Horn", "And The Angels Sing". And, just in the interests of full disclosure, I am a hard-core jazz cat. I am definitely a fan. And I am also from New Orleans. BTW, Al Hirt was the guy playing the trumpet on the theme song for "The Green Hornet" television show in the 60's, later used in "Kill Bill". When you get a chance, listen to it. As you listen to it, it will seem impossible that a human being can play a trumpet that fast and still sustain that sort of power and breath control. Hirt was a big man (his nickname was "Jumbo") of prodigious appetites. He drank a lot, he smoked a lot, he ate a lot, he chased women a lot, he gambled a lot (loved the ponies), he stayed out all night, every night. And he still lived a pretty long time, all things considered. If you're a jazz fan, a trumpet fan, or just a fan of good music, do yourself a favor and get one of his many albums, CD or vinyl. I think it's going to make you happy.
Biff .... Thank you for sharing... I appreciate all the facts. When my son and I go vinyl surfing, I see some of his albums. People pass away and when they clean out the houses, they bring their vinyl collections to these record shops. You never know what treasures you will find! 😊
Thank you for saying what I wanted to say but more brilliantly. Al was a powerhouse but he didn't play by the jazz gatekeepers rules so he is not nearly as known today as he should be.
Best review I have read about Al Hirt. Thanks for that fine prose. Even with the snobbish attitude towards him, he is in many top tens lists I have seen about the greatest. So there you go.... and of course he is my favorite.
Those boys can really swing! This was why Ed’s show was top dog for so many years, quality entertainers. Now we just have junk. Those days were where it was at. I long for that time.
One man's junk is another's treasure. Clearly the younger generations find something to like about today's entertainment otherwise it wouldn't be the way it is.
immense talent, the whole band is amazing
Al Hirt …The BEST ALL AROUND TRUMPET PLAYER GOD PUT ON EARTH!
Alois Maxwell Hirt was born in New Orleans in 1922 and died in 1999, and between those moments, man, did he blow.
It's funny, Hirt always bristled when anyone referred to him as a jazz trumpeter; as far as he was concerned, he played the trumpet, and he played a lot of types of music - pop, R&B, cabaret, show tunes, blues, and, jazz. All kinds of jazz, including, Dixieland, swing, bop, cool, big band, etc. What Al Hirt liked to do was play his trumpet and entertain; like many New Orleans musicians, he clowned around a lot on stage, and generally had a good time. For this reason, as well as his indifference to the "jazz as art form" movement and it's acolytes, jazz critics always gave him short shrift, even though he had incredible tone, beautiful phrasing, and insane power when he did play jazz. Miles Davis said of Hirt, "That cat can play. But, man, he's so corny".
Yeah, well, Louis Prima had the same thing going on, and frankly, so did Louis Armstrong for the last few decades of his life. These guys were New Orleans born and bred, and they wanted to entertain people, and a lot of "serious" jazz fans turned up their noses at them because what they wanted were serious jazz "artists". Armstrong's reputation as an artist was rehabilitated after his death (and rightly so, the man was groundbreaking), but during the decades before his death he was not taken seriously by the jazz establishment. Prima and Hirt have not come in for forgiveness yet, and probably never will.
Hirt played with Monk Hazel, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Horace Heidt, Ina Ray Hutton, Benny Goodman, and others, but things didn't really happen for him until he returned to New Orleans, signed with RCA, and then posted 22 albums on the Billboard charts in the 50's and the 60's. And, then, Hirt did a cover of Allen Toussaint's "Java" in 1964. It went to No. 4 on the Billboard charts and scored a gold record.
I have favorites - the aforementioned "Java". "Boy Meets Horn", "And The Angels Sing". And, just in the interests of full disclosure, I am a hard-core jazz cat. I am definitely a fan. And I am also from New Orleans.
BTW, Al Hirt was the guy playing the trumpet on the theme song for "The Green Hornet" television show in the 60's, later used in "Kill Bill". When you get a chance, listen to it. As you listen to it, it will seem impossible that a human being can play a trumpet that fast and still sustain that sort of power and breath control.
Hirt was a big man (his nickname was "Jumbo") of prodigious appetites. He drank a lot, he smoked a lot, he ate a lot, he chased women a lot, he gambled a lot (loved the ponies), he stayed out all night, every night. And he still lived a pretty long time, all things considered.
If you're a jazz fan, a trumpet fan, or just a fan of good music, do yourself a favor and get one of his many albums, CD or vinyl. I think it's going to make you happy.
Biff .... Thank you for sharing... I appreciate all the facts. When my son and I go vinyl surfing, I see some of his albums. People pass away and when they clean out the houses, they bring their vinyl collections to these record shops. You never know what treasures you will find! 😊
Thanks for the information I really like reading 📚on this man's life
Thank you for saying what I wanted to say but more brilliantly. Al was a powerhouse but he didn't play by the jazz gatekeepers rules so he is not nearly as known today as he should be.
Best review I have read about Al Hirt. Thanks for that fine prose. Even with the snobbish attitude towards him, he is in many top tens lists I have seen about the greatest. So there you go.... and of course he is my favorite.
The “GOAT”. The King of trumpet players. Most versatile btw!
Those boys can really swing! This was why Ed’s show was top dog for so many years, quality entertainers. Now we just have junk. Those days were where it was at. I long for that time.
One man's junk is another's treasure. Clearly the younger generations find something to like about today's entertainment otherwise it wouldn't be the way it is.
AL THE KING HIRT
AWESOME
👍👏👏👏
grandiosi !!!!
👍❤️!
Love ragtime 💕
New Orleans own Al Hirt.
That was shown hours before I was born!
What great talent. Does anyone know the other musicians????
Does anyone know who any of the other musicians are that are on stage with Al?
Pee Wee Spitelera on clarinet for sure. Not sure about the others. Not Richard Nelson on trombone, though he was with Hirt for some time.
誕生日が私と同じ、11月7日らしい。
👍