Red Norvo

During the swing period Red Norvo stood out as a singular figure by performing jazz on the xylophone. Once he adopted the vibraphone for good in 1943, his touch grew more restrained while remaining every bit as fluid as that of Lionel Hampton. Though he never approached Hampton’s level of fame, Norvo and his spouse, vocalist Mildred Bailey, earned the nickname “Mr. and Mrs. Swing.”

Norvo’s career spanned many decades and took several surprising turns. He first played marimba at age fourteen before moving to xylophone, then spent the late 1920s appearing in vaudeville as a tap dancer. Early in the following decade he entered Paul Whiteman’s orchestra, where he met and later wed Mildred Bailey. Between the early and middle 1930s he cut a series of remarkable sides that displayed both technical brilliance and inventive phrasing; on two of them—the atmospheric “Dance of the Octopus” and “In a Mist”—Benny Goodman contributed bass-clarinet lines that proved especially striking. From 1936 through 1944 Norvo directed his own ensemble, whose Eddie Sauter charts, especially in the group’s formative years, produced so distinctive a blend that the leader’s xylophone remained clearly audible. In 1944, already committed to vibes, he disbanded the orchestra and entered Benny Goodman’s Sextet. Subsequent recordings and live appearances revealed a style flexible enough to embrace bop; he welcomed Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie to a 1945 session, performed with Woody Herman’s boisterous first Herd in 1946, and recorded alongside Stan Hasselgard in 1948.

At the start of the 1950s Norvo assembled a distinctive trio featuring guitarist Tal Farlow (later replaced by Jimmy Raney) and bassist Charles Mingus (later Red Mitchell). The players’ light yet often rapid unison lines and instinctive rapport left a lasting impression. Later in the decade he led larger ensembles, rejoined Benny Goodman on several occasions, and produced numerous distinguished recordings. After undergoing a serious ear operation in 1961, Norvo kept a lower profile throughout the 1960s, though he still appeared with the Newport All-Stars. From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s he returned to regular activity and made several outstanding records. Eventually his hearing deteriorated further, and a severe stroke ended his fifty-five-year career. Red Norvo died on April 6, 1999, at the age of ninety-one.