| Herbie Fields |
| Born |
May 24, 1919(1919-05-24) |
| Origin |
Asbury Park, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died |
September 17, 1958 (aged 39) |
| Genre(s) |
Big Band, Jazz, R&B |
| Occupation(s) |
Musician, Band leader |
| Instrument(s) |
Alto saxophone, Clarinet |
| Label(s) |
Fraternity, Parrot, RCA Victor, |
Herbie Fields (May 24, 1919 in Asbury Park, New Jersey (or possibly -Elizabeth) – September 17, 1958 in Miami, Florida) was a jazz musician. He attended New York's famed Juilliard School of Music (1936-1938) and served in the U.S. Army from 1941–1943.
Career
He was originally a jazz musician but was later accused of commercialism. Nevertheless the recorded product of Fields' various ensembles reveals an earthy and swinging style that was later copied by numerous Rhythm and Blues artists of the 1950s and 1960s—including Ray Charles. Moreover, Field's big band and small band charts included some of the most technically challenging straight-ahead Bebop jazz charts of any band then in existence. Fields replaced Earl Bostic, as alto saxophonist in Lionel Hampton's band. He also played clarinet. In 1945, he won Esquire magazine's New Star Award on the Alto Sax.
From 1946-1949 he led a 17-piece big band. The band recorded for RCA. Neal Hefti was one of his sidemen along with Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Ed Burt, Bernie Glow, Manny Alban, Al Klink (formally with Glenn Miller), Marty Napoleon and Serge Chaloff. "Dardanella" was his biggest hit. In The Encyclopedia of Jazz, Leonard Feather wrote that the band was a commercial entity, no longer a jazz band, but Leonard Feather was very frequently out of touch, and was one of the chief proponents of "Crow Jim" or reverse racism in the jazz world.[citation needed] For example, even though Fields himself came up in the Lionel Hampton Band and even though his own band was one of the first racially integrated outfits—featuring Miles Davis in the 1949 big band version and Jimmy Nottingham in the 1950 septette—when Fields began to include Hampton and Louis Jordan-inspired rhythm and blues charts, Feather condemned it as "no longer jazz." Yet when Ray Charles emerged on the scene within a few years, Leonard Feather hailed Charles as an emerging new "jazz" star. The difference was simply a matter of black versus white.[citation needed] In this way, Feather exploited musicians to advance his own reputation and therefore was generally disliked by professional musicians and jazz critics alike.[citation needed] Fields was just one of dozens of great jazz artists whose professional careers were ruined by Leonard Feather, and this is believed to have contributed to Fields' suicide in 1958. The band was a commercial failure—as were many big bands of the day.
In 1949-1950, he formed his Septet featuring Frank Rosolino on trombone, Jimmy Nottingham on trumpet, Jim Aton on bass, Bill Evans on piano and Tiny Kahn on drums. The band was based in Chicago and backed numerous stage shows, and frequently had Lurline Hunter on vocals. In the summer of 1950 Fields' group accompanied Billie Holiday on a successful three-month tour of East Coast venues, including the Apollo Theater in Harlem and the Howard Theater in Washington. He later recorded for the Fraternity and Parrot labels, and his last recording was in February 1958. He lived in Miami, and had owned a restaurant there. Fields took his own life (overdose of sleeping pills) in Miami on September 17, 1958.
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