Albert Nicholas
b. 27 May 1900, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 3 September 1973. After taking lessons from Lorenzo Tio, the young Nicholas, a nephew of ‘Wooden’ Joe Nicholas, played the clarinet in bands led by several of his home town's leading musicians, who included Buddy Petit, Joe ‘King’ Oliver and Manuel Perez. Service in the US Navy during World War I interrupted his career, but after the war he returned to working in various New Orleans-based bands, some of which he led. Late in 1924 he joined Oliver in Chicago, leaving again in the autumn of 1926 to work in Shanghai, China. On the way back home he played in Cairo, Egypt, and Paris, France. Back in the USA at the end of 1928 he joined Luis Russell for a five-year stint. He then played with Chick Webb, Sam Wooding, John Kirby, Louis Armstrong, Zutty Singleton and others, mostly in and around New York. In the early '40s he dropped out of music, but returned in mid-decade to work with Bunk Johnson, Kid Ory and others who were benefiting from the resurgence of interest in traditional jazz. In the early '50s he toured Europe, settling in France for the rest of his life, making occasional trips to the USA. One of the best of the New Orleans clarinettists, Nicholas played with a rich, full sound, favouring the chalumeau end of the instrument's range and liberally imbuing his solos with a strong feeling for the blues.