by Jeremy Ross

Created on: August 10, 2009

Kenneth Norvile was born on March 31, 1908 in Beardstown, IL and is more well-known as Red Norvo. To many he was "Mr. Swing," an influential member to jazz who is one of the first musicians to introduce the xylophone and vibraphone.[1] Norvo's ideas and innovative nature were well beyond his years.[2] He was a member of many different bands. One particular band to note is Red Norvo and His Selected Sextet. "Congo Blues" is a tune that this group played which illustrates Norvo's composing and band leading ability along with his unique and captivating style.

Norvo was an expert musician who was a master of his instrument and made the easy look great and the difficult look perfect. As Steve Voce wrote:

Watching him [Norvo] play sometimes took one's mind off the music, for his bodily and facial expressions were unique...He held his hammers, two in each hand, in the form of an X, manipulating them with his thumbs and the joints of his fingers. His face was sometimes in seraphic repose, but more often bore a look of great pain, both conditions being responses to the beauty of the music.[3]

He played his music beautifully and with much ease. He displayed top notch dexterity, but it all appeared naturally and effortlessly. It wasn't always about the music, but sometimes about the performer letting the audience feel his own feelings and emotions. It was about the experience of seeing and experiencing the music.

Norvo sustained great popularity throughout his long career. Norvo achieved his "...virtuoso status in the thirties...," got famous with his swing music, and adapted with the times to become comfortable with modern jazz. This is what made him an influential and significant musician of the swing, jazz, and bop eras.[4]

Norvo recorded for many different labels. In 1933 he recorded two sessions with Brunswick. During the period from 1934 to 1935, Norvo recorded eight swing tunes for Columbia. In 1936 he recorded fifteen sides for Decca and Champion. Following this Norvo and his newly formed Swing Orchestra recorded on ARC, Vocalion, and then Columbia. All of these recording experiences allowed him to play with new and different players, which gave him the necessary fuel to create new and exciting groups.

While a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet Norvo said this about Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker:

Bird [Parker] and Diz [Gillespie] were dirty words for musicians of my generation. But jazz had always gone through changes and in

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