Dave Tough
Dave Tough | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | David Jarvis Tough |
| Born | April 26, 1907 Oak Park, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | December 9, 1948 (aged 41) Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Drums |
| Years active | 1925–1948 |
Dave Tough (April 26, 1907 – December 9, 1948)[1] was an American jazz drummer associated with Dixieland and swing jazz in the 1930s and 1940s.
Biography
[edit]Born in Oak Park, Illinois, United States,[1] Tough was a friend of Bud Freeman, who was part of a group of musicians known as the Austin High School Gang in Chicago.[1] In 1925, he became a professional musician, playing with Jack Gardner, Art Kassel, Sig Meyers, and Husk O'Hare's Wolverines. After two years in Europe, he returned home and played with Benny Goodman and Red Nichols.[2]
He left music for three years until 1935, then joined the big bands of Tommy Dorsey, Red Norvo, Bunny Berigan, and Benny Goodman.[2][3] He played Dixieland jazz with Bud Freeman, Jack Teagarden, Eddie Condon, Mezz Mezzrow, and Joe Marsala.[1] In the 1940s, he played with the big bands of Charlie Spivak and Claude Thornhill, in Artie Shaw's Symphonic Swing Orchestra (1941) and the subsequent naval band led by Shaw (1942-1944), then joined Woody Herman's big band (1945).[1] He subsequently worked with Eddie Condon, Jerry Gray, Muggsy Spanier, Will Bradley and Jazz at the Philharmonic.[2]
Tough struggled with epilepsy throughout his life. He died at the age of 41 after falling down and hitting his head on the street in Newark, New Jersey.[2]
"...(Woody) Herman told (Ed) Soph that Dave Tough was an epileptic. This condition wasn't fully understood in the twenties and thirties. In many instances it was considered a mental deficency. As a recommended aid in reducing the epileptic attacks, Tough drank... ...One cold icy evening in the winter of 1948, Dave Tough was out walking on leave from a stay at a Veterans Hospital. He had an epileptic attack, fell hitting his head on the sidewalk and was dead."[4]
He was played by Shelly Manne in the 1959 Paramount Pictures biopic The Five Pennies, a biography of Red Nichols starring Danny Kaye, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Louis Armstrong.
Critical reception
[edit]Dave Tough has been described as "the most important of the drummers of the Chicago circle".[3]
Awards and honors
[edit]In 2000, he was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.
Discography
[edit]With Tommy Dorsey
- Tribute to Dorsey Vol. 1 (RCA 1956)
- Tribute to Dorsey Vol. 2 (RCA Victor, 1957)
- Yes Indeed! (RCA Victor, 1956)
With Benny Goodman
- Trio Quartet Quintet (RCA Victor, 1956)
- This Is Benny Goodman and His Orchestra (RCA Victor, 1956)
- Charlie Christian (Philips, 1959)
- Performance 1937-1938 Volume 2 (MGM, 1959)
- Swing, Swing, Swing (RCA Camden, 1960)
- Portrait in Swing (Verve, 1964)
- This Is Benny Goodman (RCA Victor, 1971)
- Goodman On the Air (Nostalgia, 1979)
- The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings (RCA Victor, 1997)
With Charlie Ventura
- Jumping with Ventura (EmArcy, 1955)
- Carnegie Hall Concert (Columbia, 1956)
- East of Suez (Regent, 1958)
- Live at the Three Deuces! with Bill Harris (Phoenix Jazz, 1975)
- Aces at the Deuces with Bill Harris (Phoenix Jazz, 1976)
- Euphoria (Savoy, 1980)
- Live at the Three Deuces Vol. 2 with Bill Harris (HighNote, 2000)
With others
- Mildred Bailey, Her Greatest Performances 1929–1946 (Columbia, 1962)
- Bunny Berigan, Bunny Berigan Volume 2 (Shoestring, 1975)
- George Brunies & Wild Bill Davison, Tin Roof Blues (Commodore, 1980)
- Charlie Christian, Solo Flight (Columbia, 1972)
- Eddie Condon, A Legend (Mainstream, 1965)
- Bud Freeman, Midnight at Eddie Condon's (Emarcy, 1955)
- Woody Herman, The Thundering Herds (Columbia, 1961)
- Woody Herman, The Turning Point 1943–1944 (Coral, 1969)
- Joe Marsala, Joe Marsala and His Orchestra featuring Adele Girard (Aircheck, 1976)
- Joe Marsala, Lower Register (IAJRC, 1981)
- Flip Phillips, A Melody from the Sky (Bob Thiele Music, 1975)
- Alvino Rey, Uncollected 1946 (Hindsight, 1978)
- Artie Shaw, Born to Swing (Durium, 1976)
- Artie Shaw, Evensong (Hep, 2000)
- Rex Stewart, Rex Stewart and the Ellingtonians (Riverside, 1960)
- Jack Teagarden, Jack Teagarden (RCA Victor, 1966)
- Jack Teagarden, King of the Blues Trombone (Epic/Columbia, 1963)
- Claude Thornhill, Buster's Last Stand (Hep, 2001)
- Ben Webster, Ben and the Boys (Jazz Archives, 1976)
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 398/9. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
- ^ a b c d Yanow, Scott. "Dave Tough". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- ^ a b Berendt, Joachim E. (1976). The Jazz Book. Paladin., p. 286
- ^ Fish, Scott Kevin (1979). "Profile of a Legend: Dave Tough". Modern Drummer Magazine (January/February 1979): 50.
