Hoagy Carmichael (Hoagland Howard) 1899

Compositore, pianista e cantante statunitense (Bloomington, Indiana, 11.11.1899 – Palm Spring, California, 26.12.1981). Le prime lezioni di piano gli vengono impartite dalla madre; completerà lo studio di questo strumento a Indianapolis, dove suona con un’orchestra di studenti. Si lega d’amicizia con Bix Beiderbecke per il quale scrive Riverboat Shuffle, registrato nel 1924 dai Wolverines.

Frequenta i migliori jazzisti (King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman) e scrive canzoni rinunciando alla carriera forense verso la quale gli studi di giurisprudenza lo avrebbero indirizzato. Ha inciso on Armstrong (Rockin’ Chair, 1929), King Oliver (Blue Blood Blues, 1929); Bix Beiderbecke e Bubber Miley (Rockin’ Chair, 1930), Paul Whiteman (Washboard Blues, 1927).

Carmichael non è soltanto un jazzman ma è l’unico compositore di canzoni che ha scelto il jazz per dare vita alle sue opere: Star Dust (1929), Georgia On My Mind (1930), Lazy River (1931), Lazy Bones, Judy (1934), Two Sleepy People (1938), Hong Kong Blues (1939), The Nearness Of You (1940), Memphis In June (1945).

Per il cinema i principali film dove appare sono: To Have And To Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944), The Best Years Of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946), Canyon Passage (Jacques Tourner, 1946), Young Man With A Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1949), The Las Vegas Story (Robert Stevenson, 1952), Timberjack (Joe Kane, 1954). Ha pubblicato due opera autobiografiche: The Stardust Road e Sometimes I Wonder.

Cantante-raconteur, fonde insieme il temperamento (principalmente per una tendenza a parlare lentamente, fraseggiato, ritmato… sudista) e il fascino di una voce che sembra incerta; talora abbellisce, fischiettandole, le sue melodie. Carmichael è un pianista dall’abilità straordinaria contrapposta a una solida tecnica (non ignora i compositori impressionisti francesi, allora molto di moda fgra i giovani jazzisti bianchi di Chicago, come Bix Beiderbecke, Bud Freeman…) ma ha una vivacità ritmica indiscutibilmente “jazz”; costituisce uno dei più felici esempi di fusione tra il linguaggio nero e le tradizioni musicali europee.
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[A. C.]

American composer, pianist and singer (Bloomington, Indiana, 11.11.1899 - Palm Spring, California, 12.26.1981). The first piano lessons are given to him by his mother; he will complete this instrument's study in Indianapolis, where he plays with an orchestra of students. He befriends Bix Beiderbecke, for whom he writes Riverboat Shuffle, recorded in 1924 by the Wolverines.

He frequents the best jazz musicians (King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman) and writes songs giving up the legal career towards which the law studies would have directed him. He has recorded on Armstrong (Rockin' Chair, 1929), King Oliver (Blue Blood Blues, 1929), Bix Beiderbecke, and Bubber Miley (Rockin' Chair, 1930), Paul Whiteman (Washboard Blues, 1927).

Carmichael is not only a jazzman, but he is the only songwriter who has chosen jazz to give life to his works: Star Dust (1929), Georgia On My Mind (1930), Lazy River (1931), Lazy Bones, Judy (1934), Two Sleepy People (1938), Hong Kong Blues (1939), The Nearness Of You (1940), Memphis In June (1945).

For the cinema, the prominent films in which he appears are: To Have And To Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944), The Best Years Of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946), Canyon Passage (Jacques Tourner, 1946), Young Man With A Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1949), The Las Vegas Story (Robert Stevenson, 1952), Timberjack (Joe Kane, 1954). He has published two autobiographical works: The Stardust Road and Sometimes I Wonder.

Singer-raconteur blends temperament (mainly due to a tendency to speak slowly, phrased, rhythmic) and the charm of a voice that seems uncertain; sometimes, he embellishes his melodies whistling them. Carmichael is a pianist with an extraordinary ability instead of a reliable technique (he does not ignore the French impressionist composers, then very fashionable among the young white jazz musicians of Chicago, such as Bix Beiderbecke, Bud Freeman). But he has an indisputably "jazzy" rhythmic vivacity and is one of the happiest examples of fusion between the black language and European musical traditions.
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[A. T.]