WILTON CRAWLEY

American jazz clarinetist, born July 18, 1900 in Smithfield, Virginia, died after 1948. from discogs Here is an early jazz artist who has largely been forgotten, yet if listeners had his clarinet blasting in their ears for a few days, that would hardly be the case. Perhaps not the most versatile musician on earth, Wilton Crawley still worked up a clarinet sound and style that utilized weird speech-like sound effects and extended use of slap tonguing, sometimes filling out whole lines of a solo with obnoxious little pops. The fact that one of his sidemen, pianist Jelly Roll Morton, went on to become an everlasting legend of early jazz has meant that many of the recordings originally done under Crowley's name have all been reissued in various Morton retrospectives. Crawley formed his first band with fellow reed-playing brother Jimmy Crawley after his family moved from Virginia to Philadelphia. During the '20s and read more...