Ernest "Bass" Hill

Ernest "Bass" Hill (March 14, 1900, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – September 16, 1964, New York City) was an American jazz double-bassist.

Hill played from 1924 with Claude Hopkins, and remained with him on a tour of Europe with Josephine Baker the following year. Hill and Hopkins collaborated numerous times over the next few years and again in the 1940s. In 1928 he played with Leroy Smith & His Orchestra and Bill Brown & His Brownies, and worked in the Eugene Kennedy Orchestra the next year. In the 1930s he played with Willie Bryant, Bobby Martin's Cotton Club Serenaders, Benny Carter, Chick Webb, and Rex Stewart.

Hill was in Europe in the late 1930s when he fled to Switzerland at the outbreak of World War II. There he played with Mac Strittmacher before returning to the United States in 1940. In that year, he recorded with Eddie South and Hot Lips Page. Following this he played with Maurice Hubbard, Hopkins again, Zutty Singleton, Louis Armstrong (1943), Cliff Jackson, Herbie Cowens, and Minto Kato. In 1949 he returned to Europe, where he played in Switzerland and Italy with Bill Coleman and then in Germany with Big Boy Goudie until 1952.

Upon his return to the US he worked in New York City with Happy Caldwell, Henry Morrison, and Wesley Fagan. He worked in the musicians' union in the last decade of his life.

Birth and Death Data: Born March 14, 1900 (Pittsburgh), Died September 16, 1964 (New York City)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1933 - 1949

Roles Represented in DAHR: string bass

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Columbia W265156 10-in. 10/10/1933 Blue interlude Chocolate Dandies instrumentalist, string bass  
Columbia W265157 10-in. 10/3/1933 I never knew-1 Chocolate Dandies instrumentalist, string bass  
Columbia W265158 10-in. 10/10/1933 Once upon a time-1 Chocolate Dandies instrumentalist, string bass  
Columbia W265159 10-in. 10/3/1933 Krazy kapers Chocolate Dandies instrumentalist, string bass  
Decca 69365 10-in. 6/13/1941 Do you dig my jive? Sam Price and his Texas Bluesicians instrumentalist, string bass  
Decca 69366 10-in. 6/13/1941 I know how to do it Sam Price and his Texas Bluesicians instrumentalist, string bass  
Decca 69367 10-in. 6/13/1941 Valetta Sam Price and his Texas Bluesicians instrumentalist, string bass  
Decca 69368 10-in. 6/13/1941 Boogie woogie man Sam Price and his Texas Bluesicians instrumentalist, string bass  
Decca 75223 9/2/1949 Leaning on the Lord Ethel Davenport instrumentalist, string bass  
Decca 75224 9/2/1949 I will wait till my change come Ethel Davenport instrumentalist, string bass  
Decca 75225 9/2/1949 Only a look Ethel Davenport instrumentalist, string bass  
Decca 75226 9/2/1949 Dig a little deeper in God's love Ethel Davenport instrumentalist, string bass  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Hill, Ernest "Bass"," accessed November 5, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/321323.

Hill, Ernest "Bass". (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 5, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/321323.

"Hill, Ernest "Bass"." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 5 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/321323

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