Artist Profile: Swing Drummer and Bandleader Chick Webb

Born:

February 10th, sometime between 1902 and 1909. The exact year is disputed, although Encyclopedia Britannica lists both years as his possible birth date. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland.

Died:

June 16th, 1939 in Baltimore.

Little Giant of Swing

Chick Webb, whose given name was William Henry Webb, grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, where tuberculosis of the spine left his back hunched and his body weak. He worked as a newspaper boy to earn enough money to buy a drum set, and learned to play the instrument at the suggestion of a doctor who thought it would help him strengthen his diseased body.

In 1924, Webb moved to New York City, where swing bands were playing to packed houses of dancers. Webb quickly became a highly sought after drummer, whose powerful style behind the drum set was considered ideal to propel explosive and upbeat swing music. He played with Duke Ellington, Benny Carter, Johnny Hodges, and several other legendary performers. Webb’s virtuosic technique proved to be the standard by which later swing drummers, most notably Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa, measured themselves.

Webb began leading a quintet called the Harlem Stoppers, who performed in theaters in Harlem, where swing music fueled the blaze of the Harlem Renaissance. In the late 1920s, the group expanded into a full big band called the Chick Webb Orchestra, and frequently headlined at the Savoy Ballroom. Webb’s band, pitted against other top big bands in good-natured “battles,” often came out as the winner. The losers of these battles included the Count Basie Big Band, Fletcher Henderson’s Jazz Orchestra, and bands led by Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman.

In 1935, Webb heard 18-year-old Ella Fitzgerald perform, and invited her to join his band on tour and in performances at top ballrooms. Thanks to Webb, Fitzgerald’s career took off after being signed to Decca Records in 1936. She gained widespread popularity with her hit rendition of “A-Tisket A-Tasket” in 1938 which she sang for Webb when he was feeling ill.

Webb’s health was a constant concern throughout his career. The power of his own drumming often wore him out, and he faced constant exhaustion from performances and life on the road. In 1939 he returned to Baltimore for an operation on his spine, and died shortly thereafter.

Ella Fitzgerald led the Chick Webb Orchestra for two years after his death, but when the demands of her solo career became too great, the band fell apart. However, through a tradition of bombastic and technically skilled jazz drummers, Webb’s legacy lives on.