LiveOne
Leon "Chu" Berry grew up in a musical family, and studied alto saxophone at West Virginia Stage College for three years. On graduating in 1929, he obtained his first professional contract in Stammy Stewart's Chicago big band, as tenor saxophonist (1929-1931). He went on to play in the big bands of Benny Carter (1932-1933) and Teddy Hill (1933-1935). It was in Fletcher Handerson's big band (1935-1936) that he acquired a solid reputation, so much so that Cab Calloway asked him to join his orchestra as its first saxophonist (1937-1941). Unfortunately, Leon "Chu" Berry was killed in an automobile accident. Many musicologists point out that Leon "Chu" Berry was one of the three great tenor saxophonists of the swing era, after Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. The story goes that his nickname "Chu", or more precisely "Chew", comes from the fact that Berry was always eating, and that to chew means "to chew, to brood". Berry feels particularly at home on the fast beats, developing a solidly constructed game that highlights his velocity.
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