LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY

'Eurreal Wilford "Little Brother" Montgomery', (c. 1906 - 1985), was a jazz and blues pianist and singer.
Montgomery was born on April 18, 1906, in the town of Kentwood, Louisiana, a sawmill town near the Mississippi Border, across Lake Pontchartrain from the city of New Orleans where he spent much of his childhood. As a child he looked like his father, Harper Montgomery, and was called Little Brother Harper. The name evolved into Little Brother Montgomery, a nickname which stuck. He started playing piano at the age of 4 or 5, and by age 11 he was playing at various barrelhouses in Louisiana.
Jelly Roll Morton was an important early influence on him.
Early on he played at African American lumber and turpentine camps in Louisiana and Mississippi, then with the bands of Clarence Desdunes and Buddy Petit. He first went to Chicago from 1928 to 1931, where he made his first recordings. From 1931 through 1938 he led a band in Jackson, Mississippi.
In 1941 Montgomery moved back to Chicago, which would be his base for the rest of his life, with various tours to other United States cities and Europe. In the late 1950s he was "discovered" by wider white audiences. His fame grew in the 1960s, and he continued to make many recordings, including on his own record label, FM Records. FM coming from Floberg, his wife Jan's maiden name and Montgomery, his surname.
Largely self-taught, Montgomery is often thought of as a blues pianist, and he was in fact an important blues pianist with an original style. He was also quite versatile, however, and worked in jazz bands including larger ensembles that used written arrangements. Although he did not read music, he learned band routines by ear -- once through an arrangement and he had it memorized.
Among his original compositions are Shreveport Farewell, Farrish Street Jive, and Vicksburg Blues.
Montgomery died on September 6 1985 in Chicago, Illinois and is interred there in the Oak Woods Cemetery.

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External links

For further information

"The Story of Little Brother Montgomery" by Karl Gurt Zer Heide, published by Studio Vista, London, in 1970, provides a good overview of his life and early career.
The October 1985 issue of "The Mississippi Rag" has an article on Little Brother Montgomery by Paige Van Vorst. This article was revised and updated and included in the Liner Notes of the 1990 LP "Little Brother Montgomery - At Home" (posthumously issued as Earwig 4918). These articles provide a good overview of his life and musical career.
The 2 LP Set "Little Brother Montgomery - Crecent City Blues" (AXM2-5522), published by RCA in 1975, featuring many of his Bluebird records from the mid 1930s also has comprehensive liner notes giving a good overview of his musical career. They were written by Jim O'Neal, the editor of Living Blues magazine, in Chicago, August, 1975.
Paul Oliver's classic "Conversation With The Blues", published in 1965 and re-issued by Cambridge University Press in 1997 includes interviews with Little Brother Montgomery.

External links

★ Illustrated Little Brother Montgomery discography