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Douglas, Thomas "Tommy"

November 9, 1906 -- March 9, 1965
arranger, reed player

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Tommy Douglas
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Born in Eskridge, Kansas, Douglas received formal musical training at the Boston Conservatory from 1924-28. A saxophonist, clarinetist and arranger, he worked with George E. Lee, Jelly Roll Morton, Clarence Love and Bennie Moten during the 1930s.

According to jazz scholar Frank Driggs, Douglas "experimented with extended chords and double-time as early as 1935, and reputedly influenced the technique and harmonic thinking of Charlie Parker."

During the 1940s, Douglas led his own big band and recorded with Julia Lee and Jay McShann's Kansas City Stompers.

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Sources:
"Douglas."
The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. London: Macmillan Press, 1988.
Driggs, Frank.
Black Beauty, White Heat: A Pictorial History of Classic Jazz, 1920-1950. New York: W. Morrow, 1982.
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