Charlie Christian

After finding out about Charlie Christian from the Ken Berns Jazz Series we've been watching in Class, I decided I really wanted to find out more about him. It was very interesting to find out how Benny Goodman was such a difficult Band leader. Before finding that out I would have anticipated that Benny was a very kind leader due to his great success. The way Charlie Christian blew Benny away by being such an amazing Guitarist and being able to impress Benny really makes Charlie my new favorite Guitarist. 

Charlie was born in Bonham, Texas but his Family relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma when he was just a small child. Both of his Parents were musicians and his father Clarence taught him and his two brothers everything that he knew about music. When their Father was struck ill, the boys would go into upper class neighborhoods and preform to make money to support the family. The act of playing in theses neighborhoods for cash and goods is a term called a "Busker." The boys would later call the musical performances "Busts." Charlie's Father would die when he was just 12 years old but would leave him the certain key to his success later in life, his Guitar along with other instruments. When Charlie was old enough to go out on his own, he would begin dancing to entertain. He would later attend Douglass School in Oklahoma City and further his musical carrer under the teaching of Zelia Breaux. At first Charlie wanted to play the tenor saxophone but Zelia had other plans and encouraged him to try playing the trumpet. After fear of his lips being enlarged due to the trumpet, he decided to quit school and find a career playing Baseball which amazingly, he was also very good at. In the 1920s and '30s his brother Edward Christian led a band in Oklahoma City as a pianist and had a shaky relationship with trumpeter James Simpson. Around 1931, he took guitarist "Bigfoot" Ralph Hamilton and began secretly schooling the younger Charles on jazz. They taught him to solo on three songs, "Rose Room", "Tea for Two", and "Sweet Georgia Brown". One night Charlie was encouraged by Edwards band to play the three solos he had learned. The crowd went wild and Charlie's Mother had heard about how sensational the performance was before he had even arrived home! Charlie had a daughter Billy Jean Christian whom he fathered but never married her Mother. Billy Jean died just a few years back in July of 2004. Charlie began playing through the midwest and was discovered by John Hammond who would later give him the chance of a lifetime playing in Benny Goodmans band. He truly brought something to Bennys band that was just amazing and magical. Charlie contracted tuberculosis in the late 1930's and would later die from it March 2, 1942. He was only 25 years old.