Edgar Battle

Of jazz musicians whose names sound like a description of a food fight, Puddinghead Battle just has to be the most versatile and accomplished. Actually, Edgar "Puddinghead" Battle would deserve such praise even if he didn't possess a silly nickname coupled with a violent surname. As for the claim of versatility, Battle fought with trumpet, trombone and saxophones as well as claiming complete domain over the keyboard, both as a performing instrument and a vehicle for composition and arrangement. It seems as if he could play every instrument in the band except guitar and bass, but that was no problem--he could invite his parents to fill these seats if necessary. His father played both bass and piano and his mother picked guitar. Both parents had strong influences on him as a young music student in Atlanta. The Battle began with trumpet, and by 14 the lad was already onstage with bandleaders such as J. Neal Montgomery and pianist Harvey Quiggs. In 1921 Battle formed his own group called the Dixie Serenaders and used his college, Morris Brown University, as a base of operations. He also began playing in a group led by Eddie Heywood, Sr. which held forth at Atlanta theatres. Battle began touring various parts of the country in carnival bands and a group called the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Show. He also kept his own group going, now called the Dixie Ramblers. The change from serenading to rambling was apparently not enough to cause major public backing, as he continued freelancing in aggregations as diverse as Gene Coy, Andy Kirk, Blanche Calloway, Ira Coffey and Willie Bryant. In the early '30s he was based out of New York City and established brief but memorable collaborations with bandleader, saxophonist and composer Benny Carter and nimble pianist Sam Wooding. By the...