what happened to George Zack? (Chicago barrel-house pianist)

[romualdo]

I've recently scored the three Commodore  Mosaic boxes & am gradually mining the lode & digitalising what I already don't have on CD.

Came across George Zack who recorded most of his short lived output at Commodore (7 sessions & a total of 50 tracks, just under two & a half hours of outstanding Chicago "Barrel-House" duos (mostly with Wettling and some with Danny Alvin). He was one of Gabler's favourites according to the booklet notes - unfortunately he was a chronic alcoholic & spent most of the recording sessions juiced & wasn't able to play in groups (there was the disasterous Wild Bill Davison session where Dick Cary had to sub for him - he only recorded on a couple of the titles).

His last session was in 1951 (Jimmy James in Chicago), then he disappeared

I presume due to his affliction he didn't see out his later years?

[Big Beat Steve]

Noted John Chilton ("Who's Who of Jazz") sez thusly:

(abridged - limiting it to his post-1951 activities):

Moved to Tucson, AZ, and contined working there during the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1950s worked briefly with Ray Bauduc and Nappy Lamare and with Bob Scobey. Made regular trips to Chicago. During the 1970s worked in Tucson with Al Sanders and the Old Pueblo jazz Band.
Died Arizona, 7 Nov. 1977 (aged 69).

So as you can see he saw out many more of his later years than e.g. fellow pianolcoholic Bob Zurke.

Edited October 7, 2022 by Big Beat Steve

[romualdo]

6 hours ago, Big Beat Steve said:

Noted John Chilton ("Who's Who of Jazz") sez thusly:

(abridged - limiting it to his post-1951 activities):

Moved to Tucson, AZ, and contined working there during the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1950s worked briefly with Ray Bauduc and Nappy Lamare and with Bob Scobey. Made regular trips to Chicago. During the 1970s worked in Tucson with Al Sanders and the Old Pueblo jazz Band.
Died Arizona, 7 Nov. 1977 (aged 69).

So as you can see he saw out many more of his later years than e.g. fellow pianolcoholic Bob Zurke.

Thanks - BTW, Zack is not even mentioned in Leonard Feathers Encyclopaedia of Jazz Musicians (first edition)

[Big Beat Steve]

 

Zack isn't included in the 1960 edition of the Encyclopedia of Jazz either.
Neither is (to name one pianist of a similar caliber) Tut Soper.
(A blank for both in the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (1994 ed.) too, BTW. )

But it would be a poor jazz world (documentary-wise) if the musicians with an entry in Leonard Feather's Encyclopedia (which I do consult a lot too for jazz data up to c. 1960) would be the only ones (up to that period) worthy of consideration by the historically minded, wouldn't it?

John Chilton had a different approach, concentrating on artists born before 1920 (i.e. usually pre-Modern Jazz, with the exception of Dizzy Gillespie and a few others) and (much to his credit) clearly made a point of including as many "unsung heros" from those eras as possible.