Description
TitleTeddy McRae oral history interview
Date Created1981-10-06, 1981-10-08
NoteTheodore (Teddy) McRae (b Philadelphia, 22 Jan 1908; d New York, 4 March 1999). was an American tenor saxophonist, arranger, and composer. He performed locally with his brothers in the mid-1920s and briefly studied medicine. From 1926 he played intermittently with June Clark and in 1927 he led his own group in New York. He worked with various leaders in the early 1930s, among them Chick Webb, Charlie Johnson, Elmer Snowden (1932), Stuff Smith (1934), and Lil Armstrong (1935). He first recorded in 1934 with Benny Morton. He then spent three years with Webb (1936-9), during which time he also made recordings with Teddy Wilson and Henry Red Allen (both 1936). When Webb died (1939) McRae remained with the band under Ella Fitzgerald's leadership (until 1941), acting for a short time as its music director. Thereafter he performed with Cab Calloway (1941-2, with whom he appeared in the soundies "Blues and the Night" and "Minnie the Moocher," 1942), Jimmie Lunceford (late 1942), and Lionel Hampton (1943), and worked as staff arranger for Artie Shaw (1943) and as music director of Louis Armstrong's big band (spring 1944 spring 1945). After touring with his own band (1945) McRae played with small groups and concentrated on writing arrangements; he also formed Raecox, a record company, with Eddie Wilcox. His compositions include "Back Bay Shuffle," recorded by Shaw in 1938
Genreoral histories, interviews
Languageeng
CollectionJazz Oral History Project
Organization NameRutgers University. Institute of Jazz Studies
Organization NameRutgers University. Institute of Jazz Studies
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