Hal Singer

Hal "Cornbread" Singer demonstrated equal command of fiery R&B and refined jazz across a performing and recording career that stretched more than five decades. Early on he gained experience as a saxophonist traveling with Southwestern territory groups led by Ernie Fields, Lloyd Hunter, and Nat Towles. He arrived in Kansas City in 1939 and joined pianist Jay McShann, whose reed section also featured Charlie Parker, before moving to New York in 1941 to work with Hot Lips Page, Earl Bostic, Don Byas, and Roy Eldridge, the last of whom provided his first recording opportunity in 1944. Once the war ended he became a member of Lucky Millinder’s orchestra.

In 1948, shortly after realizing his goal of taking a chair in Duke Ellington’s celebrated reed section, an R&B instrumental he had recently cut as a leader for Savoy began attracting attention. Titled “Cornbread,” the track forced a difficult choice, yet his decision to strike out independently proved rewarding: the piece held the top spot on the R&B charts for four weeks and supplied the nickname he carried ever after. Another Savoy release, the instrumental “Beef Stew,” likewise reached the R&B listings.

Singer continued delivering high-energy R&B sides for Savoy until 1956, extending the food-themed song titles with “Neck Bones,” “Rice and Red Beans,” and “Hot Bread.” Among the sidemen on these dates were pianists Wynton Kelly and George Rhodes, guitarist Mickey Baker, bassist Walter Page, and drummer Panama Francis. One of his final sessions for the label produced the intense “Rock ’n’ Roll,” on which he may also have sung.

By the close of the 1950s he had turned away from rock & roll to concentrate on jazz saxophone. He recorded for Prestige in a more measured style in 1959 and remained in that vein. Relocating to Paris in 1965, he won European listeners with his robust tone and took part in numerous sessions alongside visiting blues and jazz figures. The earlier R&B drive resurfaced briefly in 1990 when he made the album Royal Blue for Black Top with boogie pianist Al Copley.