Chick Webb was an American jazz and swing music drummer and band leader. Art Blakey and Duke Ellington credited Webb with influencing their music. Gene Krupa credited Webb with raising drummer awareness and paving the way for drummer-led bands like his own. Webb’s solos created a complexity and energy that paved the way for Buddy Rich and Louie Bellson. You’ll hear him on 1939 radio as this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist.

The Phantom Dancer is your weekly non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV every week.

LISTEN to this week’s Phantom Dancer mix (online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 12 August and weeks of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

CHICK

William Henry “Chick” Webb fell down stairs in his family’s childhood home, crushing several vertebrae and requiring surgery, from which he never regained full mobility.

The injury progressed to tuberculosis of the spine, leaving him with short stature and a badly deformed spine which caused him to appear hunchbacked.

The idea of playing an instrument was suggested by his doctor to “loosen up” his bones. He supported himself as a newspaper boy to save enough money to buy drums, and first played professionally at age 11.

At 17, he moved to New York City, and by 1926 was leading his own band in Harlem.

He alternated between band tours and residencies at New York City clubs through the late 1920s.

In 1931, his band became the house band at the Savoy Ballroom. He became one of the best-regarded bandleaders and drummers of the new “swing” style.

Webb was unable to read music, and instead memorised the arrangements played by the band and conducted from a platform in the centre. He used custom-made pedals, goose-neck cymbal holders, and a 28-inch bass drum.

At the Savoy, Webb competed in battle of the bands contests with the Benny Goodman Orchestra and the Count Basie Orchestra.

Webb lost to Duke Ellington in 1937.

Although a judge declared Webb’s band the winner in 1938 over Count Basie’s, and Basie himself said he was relieved to come away from the contest without embarrassing himself, musicians debated the result for decades.

Webb married Martha Loretta Ferguson (also known as “Sally”), and in 1935 he began featuring a teenaged Ella Fitzgerald as a vocalist. Webb and Fitzgerald performed hits such as “A-Tisket, A-Tasket”, which was composed by Van Alexander at Fitzgerald’s request.

Ella was not adopted by Webb, nor did she live with him and his wife, Sally,.

In November 1938, Webb’s health began to decline; for a time, however, he continued to play, refusing to give up touring so that his band could remain employed. He often passed out from physical exhaustion after finishing sets.

Finally, he had a major operation at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in 1939. Webb died from tuberculosis of the spine on 16 June 1939.

Webb’s death hit the jazz community very hard. After his death, Ella Fitzgerald led the Chick Webb band until she left to focus on her solo career in 1942.

On 12 February 1940, a crowd of about 7,500 people attended a Chick Webb Benefit in Baltimore, Maryland. In attendance were Sally Webb, Chick’s widow, his mother Marie Webb, his sister Mabel Porter, Governor Herbert R. O’Conor, Fitzgerald and boxing champion Joe Louis.

12 August PLAY LIST