Chick Webb and His Orchestra

@ National Portrait Gallery

Description

Born Baltimore, MarylandBandleader and drummer extraordinaire William Henry “Chick” Webb overcame the challenge of physical disability to emerge as one of the stellar performers of the Big Band era. Webb showed an early talent for drumming despite being constrained from infancy by a deformed spine that hunched his back and restricted his growth. (His adult height barely exceeded four feet.) He acquired his first drum set by the age of twelve and progressed rapidly from street musician to dance band drummer. In 1926, after settling in Harlem, Webb launched his career as a bandleader. Within a year he and his orchestra were performing at the Savoy Ballroom, where they would vanquish formidable rivals such as Benny Goodman in the Savoy’s storied battles of the bands. After recruiting Ella Fitzgerald to serve as his band’s vocalist, Webb shared in his young singer’s success in 1938 when her recording “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” became a nationwide hit.

Type:

Image

Format:

Gelatin Silver Print

Rights:

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquired through the generosity of Michael E. McGerr and David C. Ward

View Original At:

http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=record_ID=npg_NPG.2013.57&repo=DPLA