Background

Edward Ory was born on December 25, 1886, in La Place, Louisiana, the son of John Osenee, a plantation owner, and Octavie Ory. One of seven children, Ory began working at the age of ten, after the death of his mother, to help support his ailing father and two younger sisters.

Education

Since Edward could not attend school, he paid a tutor ten cents per week to teach him at night. While earning a living as a water boy for field hands, he went into business for himself by getting up at 4 A. M. to catch crawfish and sell them before going to his regular job at 7 A. M. He also picked blackberries and mushrooms in the evenings and sold them to increase his earnings.

Career

During his youth Ory realized that he wanted to become a musician, and in their spare time, he and some of his friends made their own string instruments. They later formed a small band that performed at local dances and picnics; the money earned from these performances was saved to purchase professional musical instruments. Ory saved enough to buy a used valve trombone, but at the age of twelve he purchased a slide trombone while visiting an older sister in New Orleans. On the day he bought this instrument, the legendary trumpeter Buddy Bolden happened to walk by Ory's sister's house and heard him playing. Bolden knocked on the door, asked to speak with the player, and after a brief discussion offered Ory a job. Ory thought Bolden's offer was a great opportunity, but his sister persuaded him to wait until he was twenty-one before leaving home and embarking on a career as a professional musician. In the meantime, he decided to learn a trade for better financial stability, and took up brick masonry. At age seventeen, Ory bought a parcel of land in La Place on which he later built a house. Since he was industrious and had an excellent reputation in the community, a local merchant let him have the materials he needed on credit to build the house. He laid all the bricks himself, and his friends helped him with the woodwork on weekends in exchange for barbeque dinners: Ory had a reputation as an excellent cook.

During his teens Ory continued to teach himself to play the trombone. The band he formed with his friends performed as often as possible, sometimes at social functions and fund-raisers Ory had coordinated and promoted, using his excellent organizational and entrepreneurial skills. In 1911 he and the band moved to New Orleans to participate full-time in the thriving music life of the city. The band worked frequently in Storyville cabarets, at street parades, lawn parties, and funerals, and on advertising wagons. It was on an advertising wagon that Ory played with his trombone slide hanging over the tailgate, which later became known as the "tailgate" style. Ory developed his style by listening attentively to the work of Frankie Dusen, Buddy Johnson, and George Filke. His strongest influence was the trombone pioneer Zue Robertson, who was two years his junior. Ory carried the best of Robertson's style to another level. His "tailgate" style is described thus by noted educator-musician David Baker: "Ory's playing, like that of his contemporaries, was characterized by slides and slurs, rhythmic configurations borrowed from marches and other sources, and triadic melodies built on the overtone series. The essential difference between Ory and his contemporaries was a kind of daring, manifest in unexpected turns and homorous utterances. "

Ory became one of the most popular bandleaders in New Orleans in the 1910's. His bands included such luminaries as King Oliver, Sidney Bechet, Johnny Dodds, and Louis Armstrong. After nearly a decade of success in New Orleans, Ory moved to Los Angeles in 1919 while many of his peers were migrating to Chicago after the closing of Storyville. After he had established himself in California, he asked his New Orleans musicians to join him. They were called either "Ory's Brownskinned Band" or "The Seven Pods of Pepper and Ory's Creole Trombone. " In 1921, the band was the first to record "New Orleans Negro jazz. " The group disbanded in 1924 and Ory moved to Chicago to join Louis Armstrong's band.

During the next five years, Ory was the top tailgate trombonist in Chicago, where he performed regularly and made numerous recordings as a leader or a sideman with major artists such as Joe ("King") Oliver and Barney Bigard. According to Alma Hubner, "During the years 1925-27 Kid Ory recorded almost all the jazz masterpieces which have won him acclaim as the greatest new Orleans trombonist in the history of recorded jazz. " In 1926, he composed and recorded his most famous composition, "Muskrat Ramble. "

When the Great Depression caused the Chicago jazz scene to suffer, Ory returned to California. In 1930 Ory became co-owner of a poultry farm with his older brother and also worked in the mail room of the Santa Fe Railroad station in Los Angeles. Following the sudden death of his brother in 1938 and a revitalization of the jazz scene in California, Ory made a comeback. For the next three or four years he composed a large number of new pieces and returned to performing full-time with his New Orleans friends. In 1942 Ory joined clarinetist Barney Bigard's band and later performed for Orson Welles's radio program series on American music, produced by the California Standard Oil Company, throughout 1944. In that same year Ory moved to San Francisco, and his Creole Jazz Band made the famous Crescent recordings produced by Marili Morden and Nesuhi Ertegun. The band included trumpeter Mutt Carey, clarinetist Omer Simeon, pianist Buster Wilson, guitarist Bud Scott, bassist Ed Garland, and drummer Alton Redd. For the next twenty years Ory and his band toured extensively in the United States and abroad. Ory appeared in two movies, New Orleans (1946) and The Benny Goodman Story (1955). He also completed the soundtrack for Crossfire (1947).

In 1958 Ory underwent surgery to remove benign prostate tumors. After the operation, his blood-clotting process failed, and his life was saved by blood donations from thirty-eight people. A week later, he was back on his feet. Ory combined musical talent with business acumen to develop a successful career. He owned a waterfront nightclub in San Francisco called On the Levee for several years before selling it around 1961. In 1964, he discontinued his career as a full-time musician, but still played occasional engagements, including some at Disneyland, for about two more years. In 1966, he retired to Hawaii; he died in Honolulu.

Achievements

• Edward Ory is regarded as one of the greatest Dixieland slide trombonists, who invented his own "tailgate" style. Edward Ory's most famous recordings: Kid Ory and His Creole Dixieland Band (1950); At the Beverly Cavern (1951); Creole Jazz Band at Club Hangover (1953); Creole Jazz Band (1954); The Legendary Kid (1956); Favorites! (1956); The Kid from New Orleans: Ory That Is (1957); Dance with Kid Ory or Just Listen (1960); The Storyville Nights (1961), etc. Ory appeared in two movies, New Orleans (1946) and The Benny Goodman Story (1955). He also completed the soundtrack for Crossfire (1947).

Works

More photos

• book

  • Storyville Nights

    (Upbeat Jazz is delighted to continue their Kid Ory series...)

  • Muskrat Ramble. Sheet Music

    (Three pages sheet music. Words by Ray Gilbert.)

  • The Kid from New Orleans

  • book

  • Original Jazz
  • The Kid from New Orleans Ory, that Is

Personality

Ory was nicknamed "Kid" by the ladies, with whom he was quite popular. The nickname became permanent when he was hired to perform at an amusement park and advertised as "Kid Ory and His Band. "

Interests

• Music & Bands

  Edward Ory listened to the works of Frankie Dusen, Buddy Johnson, and George Filke. His strongest influence was the trombone pioneer Zue Robertson.

Connections

In 1940s Edward Ory married his manager, Barbara Ga Nung; they had one child.

Father:

John Osenee

He was a plantation owner.

Mother:

Octavie Ory

Wife:

Barbara (Ga Nung) Ory