Ace Harris
Asa "Ace" Harris (April 1, 1910, New York City – June 11, 1964, Chicago) was an American jazz pianist. Harris played in several territory bands in the 1930s, working with Billy Steward's Serenaders in 1932 and with Bill Mears's Sunset Royal Serenaders from 1935. In 1937 Harris took over leadership of the Sunset Royal Serenaders, and recorded with them that same year; he remained with the group until 1939. In 1940 Harris became Pianist for Bill Kenny & The Ink Spots replacing Bob Benson. Harris can be heard playing Piano with The Ink Spots on many Top 10 Pop hits including "Whispering Grass", "Maybe", "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)", "Java Jive", "I'll Never Smile Again", "I'd Climb The Highest Mountain", "We'll Meet Again", "Do I Worry", "Until The Real Thing Comes Along", "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire", "Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat", "It's A Sin To Tell A Lie" and more. After Harris died in 1964, another Piano player named "Johnny Harris" toured with a group pretending to be The Ink Spots. This other "Johnny Harris" pretended to be the Johnny "Ace" Harris that recorded toured and appeared in movies with the original Ink Spots and made that claim until his death in 2000. In 1944, Harris recorded with Hot Lips Page, then joined the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra, with whom he recorded several times. He played with Hawkins until 1947, and returned to play with him again in 1950–51. Harris also recorded with small ensembles in the 1940s and with a jump blues band in 1951–52. He played at the Cloister Inn in Chicago in 1954. A compact disc of Harris's recordings spanning 1937–52 was released by Jazz Classics in 2004. |
Birth and Death Data: Born April 1, 1910 (New York City), Died June 11, 1964 (Chicago)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1945 - 1956
Roles Represented in DAHR: piano, vocalist, composer
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 38 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | D5VB-0168 | 10-in. | 3/28/1945 | Caldonia | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra ; Ace Harris | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | vocalist | |
Victor | D5AB-0301 | 10-in. | 1/10/1945 | Remember | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra ; Erskine Hawkins | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | vocalist | |
Victor | D5VB-0945 | 10-in. | 11/21/1945 | Good dip | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | D5VB-0946 | 10-in. | 11/21/1945 | I guess I'll have to get along without you | Dolores Brown ; Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | D5VB-0947 | 10-in. | 11/21/1945 | Holiday for swing | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | D5VB-0948 | 10-in. | 11/21/1945 | Let's have fun tonight | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra ; Ace Harris | Male vocal solo, with vocal chorus and jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano, vocalist | |
Victor | D6VB-1776 | 10-in. | 5/9/1946 | Well, natch! | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra ; Erskine Hawkins | Male vocal solo, with vocal chorus and jazz/dance band | vocalist | |
Victor | D6VB-1955 | 10-in. | 10/7/1946 | Feelin' low | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra ; Erskine Hawkins | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | D6VB-1956 | 10-in. | 10/7/1946 | Hawk's boogie | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer, instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | D6VB-1957 | 10-in. | 10/7/1946 | Sammy's nightmare | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Decca | 76827 | 9/11/1950 | so long, goodbye blues | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 76828 | 9/11/1950 | Skippin' and hoppin' | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 76829 | 9/11/1950 | Down beat | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 76830 | 9/11/1950 | Tennessee waltz | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 80262 | 12/6/1950 | After hours-1 | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 80263 | 12/6/1950 | No regrets | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 80264 | 12/6/1950 | Tuxedo junction-2 | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 80265 | 12/6/1950 | Bear mash blues-3 | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 80409 | 1/18/1951 | Love never comes around | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano, vocalist | |||
Decca | 80410 | 1/18/1951 | Nona-1 | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 80411 | 1/18/1951 | Please don't put me down | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 80412 | 1/18/1951 | Station break | Erskine Hawkins Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 81517 | 9/7/1951 | At your beck and call | Ace Harris | instrumentalist, piano, vocalist | |||
Decca | 81518 | 9/7/1951 | Honey-1 | Ace Harris | instrumentalist, piano, vocalist | |||
Decca | 81519 | 9/7/1951 | Find me | Ace Harris | instrumentalist, piano, vocalist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Harris, Ace," accessed September 3, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/106384.
Harris, Ace. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved September 3, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/106384.
"Harris, Ace." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 3 September 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Harris, Ace - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n91087141
Wikidata: Ace Harris - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q339972
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/305231124
MusicBrainz: Ace Harris - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/87b00652-55b5-469a-b285-7e6b63a9323e
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