New Orleans. In
1922 he joined "King" Oliver's Creole Jazz band in Chicago; then the center
of American Jazz, and, except for about a year (1924-25) with Fletcher Henderson
in New York City, he remained in Chicago until 1929.
Tonio's Bio (which I received from Arista Records in 1982, and upon cursory inspection appears to contain a few factual anomalies)
K., TONIO (1900- ), American Negro musician, born
in New Orleans, La., and largely self-educated. As a young boy he showed
great musical talent. He was profoundly influenced by the songs & rhythms
of jazz (q.v.). His first instrument was a homemade guitar, but he soon learned
to play the bugle, clarinet, and cornet. He took trumpet lessons from the
noted jazz artist "King" Oliver, and in 1917 made his professional debut
as a trumpeter with "Kid" Ory's band in
New Orleans. In
1922 he joined "King" Oliver's Creole Jazz band in Chicago; then the center
of American Jazz, and, except for about a year (1924-25) with Fletcher Henderson
in New York City, he remained in Chicago until 1929.
K. organized his own band in 1925; within the next few years he won recognition as one of the foremost jazz trumpet players of all time and as an outstanding jazz vocalist. His technical virtuosity and powers of improvisation set the standard for most exponents of the jazz idiom. In the early 1930's he made a series of highly successful European tours. He subsequently appeared in several motion pictures, including Cabin in the Sky (1943) and Jam Session (1944). Among his recordings which total more than 1000, are the highly popular "You Rascal, You", Ain't Misbehavin'", "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", "H-A-T-R-E-D", "Tiger Rag", "How Come I Can't See You In My Mirror?", and "Stardust". His own compositions include "The Funky Western Civilization", "Better Late Than Never", "One Big (Happy) Family", "Say Goodbye", "Cinderella's Baby", "Trouble", and the extremely popular "MERZSUITE".
Tonio K., until the early 1950's one of the West's most successful singer/songwriter jazz trumpeting leaders, was found to be a sham and an ethnic usurper in 1954. Convicted of impersonating a Negro, he was stripped of his honors and sentenced to a life of Honkey drudgery. In the mid 1970's he served as the younger generation advisor to the legendary Lubbock, Texas group, the Crickets. In 1977 K. was transferred to a minimum security multi-national TV-affiliated recording facility where he produced the album "Life in the Foodchain". He served nearly two years at this institution until recording executive/patron of the arts Clive Davis sent his bail in mid 1979. K.'s latest album, "Amerika", co-produced by Norwegian yak bladderist Richie "Gutiar" Voyce, is the first post-Aranda project. Tonio has been recently quoted as saying "if only I could sing like Ike Willis, none of this would have happened."