Hep Records, jazz in depth from the 1930's to the present day.


ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES


Claude Thornhill was born on August 10,1909 in Terre Haute,Indiana. Following a good formal music training Thornhill eventually gravitated to New York in the early 30s. Here he encountered many of the emerging jazz stars like Goodman, Nichols, and soon was playing in such bands as Hal Kemp , Paul Whiteman and later Ray Noble. However it was his reputation as an arranger that first brought him fame. In 1937 he arranged the Scottish folk song “Loch Lomond” and recorded it with Maxine Sullivan and it became an instant hit. He was also active in the New York radio studios and was heard on the Saturday Night Swing Club . In 1940 he formed his first touring orchestra which he took west and played ballrooms in and around Los Angleles. Then on returning to the east coast he was promoted by the man who had helped both Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw--Si Schribman. Thornhill was booked all around the New England area and into New York including the important Glen Island Casino Ballroom . But just as the band was really getting noticed for its unusual orchestrations by Thornhill,Bill Borden and the young Gil Evans the war finally took America in and it broke up.. By mid 1942 Thornhill had enlisted in the U.S. Navy and soon found himself part of Artie Shaw’s Navy Band. However as the Navy Band or The Rangers as it was called was shipping out from Pearl Harbour in January 1943 Thornhill was reassigned to Admiral Halsey’s stafff at Pearl. On demobilisation in 1946 he set about reforming and many of his old personnel rejoined including Gil Evans. It was Evans closely supported by Thornhill who created the classic Thornhill sound using French horns and arrangements which seemed to suspend the ensemble chords against a subtle but swinging rhythm section including a tuba. The critics were ecstatic and when Lee Konitz joined in 1947 the band was at its peak of creativity again with Gil Evans and a young Gerry Mulligan building a great library. Unfortunately this coincided with the slow demise of touring big bands and in 1948 he disbanded again. The influence of the Thornhill band was clearly heard in the Miles Davis 1949 Capitol recordings which sounded like a Thornhill Orchestra in Miniature and it has grown in importance down the decades.. His subsequent orchestras of the late 40s and into the early fifties were first class but that innovatory spark had somewhat diminished. There was a flurry of excitment in 1953 with a session for Trend Records but thereafter Thornhill only toured spasmodically. He died the day before he was due to open a short season at the Steel Pier,Atlantic City in July ,1965. CDs on Hep CD 1058 Claude Thornhill 1940-41 CD 1060 Claude Thornhill 1941-2 CD 1074 Claude Thornhill 1942. CD 17 Claude Thornhill Transcription Performances 1948 CD 60 Claude Thornhill Transcription performances 1947 CD 72 Claude Thornhill Studio performances 1946-7 CD 74 Claude Thornhill Studio Perform,ances 1947 CD 80 Claude Thornhill Transcription and Studio Performances 1949-53. Click here for Claude Thornhill cd's > Top
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Three labels covering jazz in depth from 1930 to the present.

Hep Jazz, P.O. Box 50, Pitlochry, UK. PH16 5YL