Biography
Johnny Bayersdorffer’s moniker evokes a German bandmaster more than a jazz musician, yet the New Orleans brass player spent the 1920s performing in assorted popular ensembles throughout his hometown before circulating among other major U.S. cities, above all Chicago. From high-school days onward he assembled his own groups, perhaps anticipating that few leaders would risk pronouncing his surname from the bandstand. Among the early-1920s units were Jazzola Ltd. Band and Johnny Bayersdorffer & His Jazzola Novelty Orchestra, whose personnel included guitarist Nappy Lamare and trombonist-bassist Tom Brown. With Brown he composed “I Wonder Where My Easy Rider’s Ridin’ Now?,” one of the limited number of sides his bands recorded and a title easily mistaken for the better-known “I Wonder Where My Easy Rider’s Gone.” During the same period he appeared in reedman Tony Parenti’s orchestra. In autumn 1924 he abandoned his civil-service post to devote himself entirely to music, moving first to Chicago and later filling engagements in Indianapolis and Los Angeles before settling once more in New Orleans.
By the close of the decade his principal activity centered on Chicago, though his name also circulated on the New York circuit. He maintained associations with violinist Billy Lustig and pianist Lee Shore; the latter shared a 1940 automobile accident on the road that left both men seriously hurt. Bayersdorffer resumed professional work early the next decade, holding a residency at the Club Flamingo and enjoying a celebrated return to New Orleans. Remaining in the city, he stepped away from music in the 1960s after roughly ten years of dividing his schedule between performances and a government position.
By the close of the decade his principal activity centered on Chicago, though his name also circulated on the New York circuit. He maintained associations with violinist Billy Lustig and pianist Lee Shore; the latter shared a 1940 automobile accident on the road that left both men seriously hurt. Bayersdorffer resumed professional work early the next decade, holding a residency at the Club Flamingo and enjoying a celebrated return to New Orleans. Remaining in the city, he stepped away from music in the 1960s after roughly ten years of dividing his schedule between performances and a government position.