Jazz Musician. He one of the big three of late-1930s boogie-woogie pianists along with Pete Johnson and Mede Lux Lewis. Arguably the most powerful of the three, he was also flexible enough to play swing music. Albert Ammons played in Chicago clubs from the 1920s on, although he also worked as a cab driver for a time. Starting in 1934, he led his own band in Chicago, and he made his first records in 1936. In 1938, he appeared at Carnegie Hall with Pete Johnson and Mede Lux Lewis, an event that really helped launch the boogie-woogie craze. Ammons recorded with the other pianists in duets and trios, fit right in with the Port of Harlem Jazzmen on their Blue Note session, appeared regularly at Cafe Society, recorded as a sideman with Sippie Wallace in the 1940s, and he even cut a session with his son, the great tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons. He worked steadily throughout the 1940s, playing at President Harry Truman's inauguration in 1949; he died later that year.
Jazz Musician. He one of the big three of late-1930s boogie-woogie pianists along with Pete Johnson and Mede Lux Lewis. Arguably the most powerful of the three, he was also flexible enough to play swing music. Albert Ammons played in Chicago clubs from the 1920s on, although he also worked as a cab driver for a time. Starting in 1934, he led his own band in Chicago, and he made his first records in 1936. In 1938, he appeared at Carnegie Hall with Pete Johnson and Mede Lux Lewis, an event that really helped launch the boogie-woogie craze. Ammons recorded with the other pianists in duets and trios, fit right in with the Port of Harlem Jazzmen on their Blue Note session, appeared regularly at Cafe Society, recorded as a sideman with Sippie Wallace in the 1940s, and he even cut a session with his son, the great tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons. He worked steadily throughout the 1940s, playing at President Harry Truman's inauguration in 1949; he died later that year.
Bio by: Daniel L. Taylor Sr.
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