Thursday 5 May 2011

Emilio Caceres

Feeling dull and listless? Lost your get-up-and-go? Here's some music to put a spring in your step.


Texas-born clarinetist-saxophonist Ernesto "Ernie" Caceres (1911-1971) is a familiar figure to jazz fans. He recorded and toured extensively with Eddie Condon, Bobby Hackett, and Jack Teagarden, and later played in the Glenn Miller and Billy Butterfield bands. For reasons unknown to me, his older brother Emilio (1897-1970) was content to stay put in San Antonio, leading a swing orchestra through the 1930s and '40s. Though Emilio's recordings are rare, it's immediately clear that his technique, tone, and time put him in the top rank of jazz violinists.


This one is called Jig in G by Emilio Caceres Y Si Orquestra del Club Aquila. If the chord changes sound familiar, I do believe it's our old flame Hello, Lola! in disguise.

3 comments:

  1. Nice to see Emilio lives on in his music. I am his daughter in law.
    Although I never met him, I feel I know him through his music and his family. Beautiful music from a beautiful man.

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  2. Such comments from a beautiful wife who only knows my dad from his music and the stories I relate to her about my childhood and my parents. My dad, Emilio, did not enjoy the road at all. Although he spent time in the Michigan and Ohio area, and in New York that culminated with appearances on the Benny Goodman Camel Hour. He preferred to be home and agreeably, wasted his talents with a swing/latin orchestra. He had numerous offers, from Abe Lyman in the early forties to Pete Fountain in the sixties. But dad refused to leave his home in San Antonio. He was an excellent musician and his legacy is carried on by two grandsons in Houston, Tx. David and Anthony Caceres. Both have embarked on separate careeers. Yes, the musical world misses him and his brother.

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  3. Thank you both for your comments. Interesting to learn why the brothers followed separate musical paths. They were both superb musicians who contributed joy and beauty to the world. Good luck to David and Anthony - readers can check them out at http://www.davidcaceres.com/music.html and http://anthonycaceres.net/live/

    Thanks again!

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