KIRBY, JOHN

KIRBY, JOHN. Jazz bassist (31 December 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland; 14 June 1952 in Hollywood, California). He learned to play trombone as a youth. About 1925 he went to New York, where he later bought a tuba and played with Bill Brown and his Brownies (1928-30). Thereafter he began playing string bass, studying with Wellman Braud and George (Pops) Foster . During the 1930s Kirby played with various groups, including the Fletcher Henderson (1930-34, 1935-36), William...