dud Bascomb

Dud Bascomb occupies an unusual place in jazz history. Because he was one of the two trumpet soloists with the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra, and the other was the leader, Bascomb's solos (some of which were quite famous) were often thought at the time as being by Hawkins. The youngest of ten children, the younger brother of tenor saxophonist Paul Bascomb, and the future father of bassist Dud Bascomb, Jr., Dud started off on piano but soon switched to trumpet. He went to Alabama State Teacher's School where, in 1932, he met Erskine Hawkins who was leading the Bama State Collegians. When the band went to New York in 1934, both Bascombs went along; Dud would remain with Hawkins until 1944. While Hawkins took the high note and more exhibitionist solos, Bascomb was responsible for most of the stronger jazz improvisations including on "Tuxedo Junction" and "Gin Mill Special." Dud Bascomb left Hawkins in order to help out with his brother's struggling septet in 1944; the group eventually expanded to become a big band. In 1947 he spent a few months with Duke Ellington's Orchestra but unfortunately was rarely featured. In the '50s Bascomb freelanced, including leading his own quintet at Tyle's Chicken Shack in New Jersey for over three years; one of his sidemen was Lou Donaldson. Although somewhat obscure, Dud worked steadily throughout the '60s including touring Japan three times with Sam Taylor, Europe with Buddy Tate' and heading his own band on various occasions. Dud Bascomb led a few isolated sessions through the years: four songs apiece for the Deluxe, Alert, Sonora, and True-Blue labels in the mid-'40s. In addition, he headed a single album for Savoy that was recorded during 1959-1960 but most of it wasn't released (despite its quality) until 1986. ~ Scott Yanow