Jerry Blake
American jazz musician
title: "Jerry Blake" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1908-births", "1961-deaths", "american-jazz-clarinetists", "american-jazz-saxophonists", "american-male-saxophonists", "musicians-from-gary,-indiana", "20th-century-american-saxophonists", "20th-century-american-male-musicians", "american-male-jazz-musicians", "the-cab-calloway-orchestra-members"] description: "American jazz musician" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Blake" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American jazz musician ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Jerry Blake |
| birth_name | Jacinto Chabania |
| birth_date | January 23, 1908 |
| birth_place | Gary, Indiana, U.S. |
| origin | Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| death_date | December 31, 1961 (aged 53) |
| genre | Jazz |
| instruments | Alto saxophone, clarinet |
| :: |
| name = Jerry Blake | birth_name = Jacinto Chabania | birth_date = January 23, 1908 | birth_place = Gary, Indiana, U.S. | origin = Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | death_date = December 31, 1961 (aged 53) | genre = Jazz | instruments = Alto saxophone, clarinet
Jerry Blake (January 23, 1908 – December 31, 1961) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and clarinetist.
Early life
Blake was born "Jacinto Chabania" in Gary, Indiana and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. He played violin before switching to reeds.
Career
In 1924, Blake toured with the Sells Floto Circus, but was left stranded in Chicago. He later joined Al Wynn's band, played with Bobby Lee and Charlie Turner, and toured Europe in 1928 and 1929 as a member of Sam Wooding's ensemble. In the 1930s, he played in the U.S. with Chick Webb, Zack Whyte, and Don Redman (1933–34) before returning to Europe to play with Willie Lewis in 1934 and 1935. Once more in the United States, he spent time playing with Claude Hopkins, Fletcher Henderson (1936–38), and Cab Calloway (1938–42); he served as Calloway's musical director for part of that period.
In the early-1940s, Blake played with Count Basie, Earl Hines, Lionel Hampton, and Redman. Around 1943, Blake had a mental breakdown and was unable to play again for the rest of his life, most of which he spent in mental institutions. He never recorded as a leader.
References
Bibliography
- Scott Yanow, [ Jerry Blake] at Allmusic
- Jazz Link Enterprises
References
- (2009). "Annual Review of Jazz Studies 14". Scarecrow Press.
- [[Gillespie, Dizzy]] (2009) [https://books.google.com/books?id=ACApPO-A3OYC&dq=Keg+Johnson&pg=PA108 ''To Be, Or Not... to Bop'', page 108. University of Minnesota Press] At Google Books. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::