Bud FreemanBud Freeman moved to New York in 1927 and began playing with Ben Pollack's band. By 1930 he had developed an original, unmannered style, free of novelty effects and with a distinctive jazz timbre and is often
compared to his contemporary Coleman Hawkins.
In the 1930's Freeman performed and recorded
frequently with
well-known popular and jazz orchestras,
including those of Paul Whiteman, Tommy
Dorsey, and Benny Goodman.
From the end of the decade he played, toured,
and recorded with small jazz groups, at
first with his own
band, the Summa cum Laude Orchestra, which
recorded for the Bluebird and Decca labels
in a style that
combined elements of swing and dixieland.
Freeman led his own groups during the 1950s
an 1960s, while
also sustaining a long term association with
the bands of Eddie Condon; he took part in
numerous recording
sessions under the aegis of many different
leaders. From 1969 to 1971, and occassionally
thereafter, he was
a member of the World's Greatest Jazz Band. He
lived in London in the late 1970s before
returning to Chicago,
and has continued to tour and record as a
soloist. Although Freeman's
approach to playing has remained essentially
unchanged throughout his career, he has
constantly refined
his style.
