Irvis, Charlie (actually, Charles)
Irvis, Charlie (actually, Charles)
Irvis, Charlie (actually, Charles), jazz trombonist; b. N.Y., c. 1899; d. there, c. 1939. The brother of pianist Gibbie Irvis, Charlie began playing in a boys’ band with Earle Howard, Bubber Miley, etc. He was with Lucille Hegamin’s Blue Flame Syncopators (1920-21), then with Willie “The Lion” Smith at Capitol Palace. He joined the Washingtonians (Duke Ellington, Elmer Snowden) in early 1924 (replacing John Anderson), with Duke Ellington and Elmer Snowden (1925-26). (During the 1920s, he also took part in many Clarence Williams recording sessions.) He was with Charlie Johnson (1927-28), then toured with Jelly Roll Morton (1929-30), and was a member of Bubber Miley’s Band (1931). He spent most of the 1930s working with either Charlie Johnson or Elmer Snowden. Irvis is credited with creating the plunger-mute style of trombone playing that became a hallmark of Ellington’s sound.
—John Chilton, Who’s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter