TROMBONE HALL OF FAME NO. 45 — Sam Lewis
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| Sam Lewis |
The joy of doing a thing well is in itself
ample compensation for most people, if they are really sincere in whatever
their undertakings may be. The exploitation of all of one's best faculties, and
the realization that they count for a whole lot, is bound to put one in the
best of happy moods — and what could be a luckier combination to induce the
smiles of Dame Fortune!
Of the many men in the trombone world, the
man who is before the readers in this issue of the Trombone Hall of Fame
possesses a vast amount of the gratification to be found in well-doing, as his
ever happy mood attests. A performer on the slide trombone is called upon to do
many kinds of work. Whether it be symphony, opera or concert, or the higher sort
of reception or dance work, he must prepare himself for whatever certain goal
from which he desires to reap success.
Considering artistic (and I dare say great financial)
achievement, Sam Lewis, about whom these lines are written, may be rated as one
of the most successful dance trombonists in this country today. When one's
services are accepted and in demand by dozens of the paramount hotel and dance
leaders in a city like New York, and also by as many phonograph recording
companies, it is safe to assert that the party who is in demand is doing his
work well. No better proof of this assertion can be found than on the
phonograph records themselves, for records do not lie. They tell the truth, and
they record whatever transpires when being made. They cannot be doctored and
touched up like a photograph, and whatever goes in must come out. If there
should be a doubt in the minds of my readers as to the truth of these remarks,
I can but refer them to the late Victor records made by Paul
Whiteman and his orchestra. He is the present leader with whom Mr. Lewis
is fulfilling a two years contract at the Palais Royal, one of New York City's most
popular rendezvous for the elite and people of wealth.
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| Modeste Alloo |
Sam Lewis was a pupil of Mr. Modeste Alloo — formerly
solo and first trombonist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, but now the
assistant conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. It was Mr. Alloo who
gave Lewis his first real inspiration to become a trombonist, who instilled in
him a feeling of confidence (which is half of success), and who enabled him to
realize the joy of doing a thing well. It has been said that "Youth must
have its fling," and it is a sad truism that thereby much valuable time is
lost through neglect of study during the best time for it. But I assure you, as
you will gather from reading this article, that as a youth Lewis improved every
moment of his time, and as a result he is now enjoying full compensation and a
rich reward for his sincere efforts. He really has not yet passed out of the
youthful period, as just lately he has celebrated the twenty-third anniversary
of his birth.
Sam Lewis was born in Boston, Massachusetts,
in 1897. At the age of four years he was placed in an orphan asylum known as
the Leopold Morse Home in Mattapan,
Mass., his mother, upon the death
of his father, having decided to leave the boy in the care of this institution.
At this age music did not bother the youngster much, and it was not until his
eighth year that music entered into his young life. At this time an alto horn
was introduced to "Sammy." The institution had also organized a brass
band from among its inmates and Sammy became one of its members. One lesson on
this alto horn to the boy, and into the band he went.
But Sam quickly became dissatisfied. He wanted to be on
the beat and not after it, so in a week's time he was given a cornet
and placed on the eighth chair — Sam personally told me that this business of
starting on the eighth is an absolute fact. Lewis' ability soon brought him up
to the solo cornet chair, where the work held his enthusiastic interest. The two
following years are very pleasant memories in Sammy's mind to this day — not
alone because of his connection with the band of that institution, but also on
account of the many friendships which he formed during the happy days he spent
there. The bandmaster in particular, Mr. Emil Posselt, was one of Mr. Lewis'
nearest friends. His kindness to the boys and girls who came under his care
made them feel toward him as if he were their own parent.
At the age of thirteen years, and much to his regret, Sam
was transferred from this institution to the English High School in Boston, and
it was while attending this school that (as previously stated) he took up the
study of the slide trombone under the able tutorship of Mr. Modeste Alloo in
that city. Mr. Lewis now aspired to become a symphony man. To travel this road
was no easy task, and in order to accomplish it he was compelled to work five
hours a day after school in a wholesale men's furnishing place. There he did
everything, from running errands to keeping books, and for which he received
the munificent sum of five dollars per week — this money helping towards the
support of his mother.
The work did not bother Sam in the least. He had but one
thing in his mind, and that was to play trombone and to play it well. This one
absorbing ambition was greatly inspired and aided through Mr. Alloo's kindness.
Not only did he teach the young man trombone, but also gave him his initial
knowledge of harmony, solfeggi and tympani — this was done mostly to give Lewis
a good ear training. Besides giving up many precious hours to help the boy's
advancement, Mr. Alloo also furnished him with a trombone upon which to study.
One can readily comprehend the magnitude of the unselfish interest bestowed
upon Sam Lewis by Mr. Alloo, when it is taken into consideration that all the
knowledge gained through this man by Sam was given without any compensation
whatsoever.
After graduating from the English High School Sam came to
New York City,
where he secured a position on trial in a moving-picture theatre. The trial
proved a success, for it was six months before he got out of there. The Olympic
Theatre in Brooklyn, a vaudeville house, was
the next stopping place, where another six months was spent. After sixteen
months of this sort of work in different theatres around New York, he decided to give up that end of
the business and make another effort to gain the goal of his ambition, which
was to play music for music's sake. A glowing advertisement appeared in one of
the daily newspapers, in reference to an organized band over in the town of Morris Plains in New
Jersey. The advertisement told all about the
wonderful tuition, free board, laundry, etc., and nothing to do but play in
the band and practice. It looked like heaven to him, but being at low ebb financially it took
his last remaining dollar to secure a ticket to the town where this
organization was located.
Upon his arrival in Morris Plains Lewis encountered a
shock that will remain clear in his memory throughout his life — the band was
made up of the attendants in an insane hospital, the home of the mentally
unsound. Being financially embarrassed he was compelled to remain, although
considerably scared and decidedly uncomfortable. The following morning another
shock came, for he was ordered into the violent ward. I will relate his
experience in this violent ward in his own words, which are taken from a letter
I received from Lewis some time ago: "My duty was to see that no harm
befell these poor creatures, but between you and me I wasn't worrying much
about what happened to them! At the end of eight hours I left the ward —
pale-faced, dripping with sweat and shaking like a man with the St. Vitas
Dance. My hopes were shattered, for the only playing I did there was a weekly
rehearsal along with two dances a week, and very little time to practice. The
band consisted of twenty such attendants as myself. After four months of this I
decided to leave before I, like the others, should start talking out of my turn
and be taken for a product of Brazil."
Back to New York came Lewis, and
many substituting engagements came his way which gave him an insight into all
branches of the musical and theatrical business. After a short time he returned
to Boston,
because of his mother who had been taken ill, and soon after his arrival there
he was engaged by Charles Frank to play at the Boston Theatre. This was in
1918, and it was while playing with Mr. Frank that he received an offer from
Mr. Earl Fuller in New York City,
where at that time Mr. Fuller and his orchestra were all the rage. Lewis
accepted the engagement and returned to New
York, where Mr. Fuller placed him in Rector's
Restaurant at 48th Street
and Broadway, and where Sam Lewis learned the gentle art of jazzing and playing
artistically for the dance end of the music profession. After a sixteen-weeks'
engagement at Rector's, his work there and at individual engagements with
different leaders soon became the talk of the town — so much so, that such
prominent leaders in this branch of the business as Joseph C. Smith and Mike
Markels were quick to grasp the value of Sam's
artistic playing and between these two men he had little time that he could
call his own, for they kept him a very busy man.
The phonograph companies were the next ones to inquire
about Sam's work, and it was not long before his services were in demand for
the phonograph records. His work is now recorded with the following phonograph
companies: The Victor, Columbia, Emerson,
Aeolian, Paramount, Starr, Jones, Arto, Puritan,
Pathe, Okeh, Edison, and the Gray Gull of Boston,
Mass. The records are made with the following
orchestras and leaders who are engaged by the companies mentioned: Benny
Selvin, Joseph C. Smith, Rudy Wiedoeft, Bennie Krueger, Nicholas Orlando, Max
Fells, Sam Lannon, Earl Fuller, Chris Chapman, Hazay Natzy, Oscar Adler, Jules
Levy, Jr., Julius Lensberg and Paul Whiteman.
After playing for a season or so with the many different
leaders in New York City, Mr. Hazay Natzy,
musical director at the Hotel Biltmore in New York, tendered Mr. Lewis an exceptional
contract which was accepted.
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| Paul Whiteman |
Then, fresh from their Western triumphs, Paul Whiteman and his world-famous orchestra came to town,
and Mr. Whiteman's trombonist had decided to hand that director his resignation.
Of course Mr. Whiteman was compelled to accept the
resignation, but the important question with which Mr. Whiteman was confronted was — where to find another man!
Good fortune
now smiled upon the man who had always experienced the joy of doing a thing
well, for it was Sammy Lewis who was sought for the job.
The outcome of it all is, as I have previously stated, that Sam Lewis has signed a contract which has two years to run, and which makes him a member of one of the greatest dance orchestras in this country — known as "Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra." This organization is composed of men who are musicians of the highest standard, and with their work Mr. Whiteman has proved himself to be in the dance world what Heifitz is to the violin world —A Genius. And it has all come about through the joy of doing a thing well!
Bassist Edward Jones, also known as "Eddie" or "Jonesy," was originally from Greenwood, Mississippi where he was born on March 1, 1929. He grew up in Redbank, New Jersey, where he lived two doors from William "Count" Basie's childhood home. He studied music at Howard University and worked in Washington with tenor saxophonists Benny Golson and Frank Wess.
