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Druie Bess Biography
If Druie Bess was born with a silver trombone in his mouth, it would be because his father put it there. Frank Bess played both cornet and trombone, and eventually both father and son were blowing in Tom Howard's band, naturally following some serious father to son lessons as well as brassy input from a teacher outside the family, Ed Duncan. Druie Bess, whose name sounds like a toddler's description of winning a sketching contest, was basically playing professionally by the age of five. Many of these gigs were held at picnics with his bandleader father keeping a close watch, so it is not necessary to cringe at the thought of such a small child being dragged into a honky tonk. At 15, young Bess was indeed on his own, touring with the Dandy Dixie Minstrel Band, followed by several years with Herbert's Minstrels.
In the mid-'20s, the trombonist was associated with a variety of Missouri territory bands, including the Newway Jazz Hounds, Jesse Stone's Blues Serenaders, and Bill Lewis' Dixie Ramblers. In 1927, Bess hit the Kansas City jazz scene and began collaborating with Chauncey Downs. Walter Page's Blue Devils snapped up Bess, by now sounding like a seasoned veteran, and he stayed with this outfit from 1929 until 1931, when it evolved into the just plain Blue Devils. During the ensuing decade Bess tried out various Midwest bases, the latter band name shadowing him. His Minneapolis sojourn with the Grant Moore-Pettiford Orchestra involved two winters that would turn anyone's lips blue, but by the mid-'30s Bess blew into St. Louis where Eddie Randle's Blue Devils offered a gig that lasted three years.
Bess watched the next decade roll in from the rolling deck of a riverboat, the bands of Eddie Johnson, Dewey Jackson, and Cecil Scott taking advantage of the extended employment opportunities these vessels could offer musicians. The pianist Fate Marable was another one of the riverboat bandleaders; he took Bess to Pittsburgh for a string of gigs. The trombonist worked with the Jeters Pillars Orchestra before going on national tours with the great Earl Hines from 1944 through 1946. In 1948, Bess was playing with the Ringling Brothers Circus Band, his sliding riffs now accompaying the pratfalls of clowns rather than anticipating the crash of a sock cymbal. It certainly did not mean an end to his interest in jazz, as he was back in the '50s in groups such as Joe Smith's Dixielanders. In his senior years, Bess' career evolved into a more low-key lifestyle. He still gigged, but in the '60s cut out the travel, taking his trombone only to local employment. In the following decade, he figured out a way to work the travel back in -- once again, a boat was the thing. He joined the band aboard the cruise liner Admiral, and may well be glancing out a porthole at a South Pacific island at this very moment. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide
In the mid-'20s, the trombonist was associated with a variety of Missouri territory bands, including the Newway Jazz Hounds, Jesse Stone's Blues Serenaders, and Bill Lewis' Dixie Ramblers. In 1927, Bess hit the Kansas City jazz scene and began collaborating with Chauncey Downs. Walter Page's Blue Devils snapped up Bess, by now sounding like a seasoned veteran, and he stayed with this outfit from 1929 until 1931, when it evolved into the just plain Blue Devils. During the ensuing decade Bess tried out various Midwest bases, the latter band name shadowing him. His Minneapolis sojourn with the Grant Moore-Pettiford Orchestra involved two winters that would turn anyone's lips blue, but by the mid-'30s Bess blew into St. Louis where Eddie Randle's Blue Devils offered a gig that lasted three years.
Bess watched the next decade roll in from the rolling deck of a riverboat, the bands of Eddie Johnson, Dewey Jackson, and Cecil Scott taking advantage of the extended employment opportunities these vessels could offer musicians. The pianist Fate Marable was another one of the riverboat bandleaders; he took Bess to Pittsburgh for a string of gigs. The trombonist worked with the Jeters Pillars Orchestra before going on national tours with the great Earl Hines from 1944 through 1946. In 1948, Bess was playing with the Ringling Brothers Circus Band, his sliding riffs now accompaying the pratfalls of clowns rather than anticipating the crash of a sock cymbal. It certainly did not mean an end to his interest in jazz, as he was back in the '50s in groups such as Joe Smith's Dixielanders. In his senior years, Bess' career evolved into a more low-key lifestyle. He still gigged, but in the '60s cut out the travel, taking his trombone only to local employment. In the following decade, he figured out a way to work the travel back in -- once again, a boat was the thing. He joined the band aboard the cruise liner Admiral, and may well be glancing out a porthole at a South Pacific island at this very moment. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide
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