RED SAUNDERS

Nació en Memphis, Tennessee, después de la muerte de su madre se trasladó a Chicago junto con su hermana. Empezó con las  clases de batería mientras permanecçia en un internado en Milwaukee,convirtiéndose en  músico profesional en 1928, tocando en la banda de Stomp King. Luego pasó varios años recorriendo el país como baterista con los Walkathonians de Ira Coffey, una banda que tocaba en eventos competitivos de walkathon, antes de unirse a una revista, Harlem Scandals. Al regresar a Chicago en 1934, se unió a una banda dirigida por Tiny Parham en el Savoy Ballroom, y luego se convirtió en un conocido baterista en clubes y hoteles de Chicago. En 1937, Saunders se unió a la banda de la casa en el Club DeLisa, inicialmente dirigida por el pianista Albert Ammons, y luego brevemente por el saxofonista Delbert Bright, antes de asumir el cargo de líder de la banda.

Saunders mantuvo el control de la banda house del Club DeLisa hasta que el club cerró en 1958, aparte de un paréntesis entre 1945 y 1947 cuando dirigió una banda más pequeña en otros lugares en Chicago. Entre sus acompañantes estaban Leon Washington, Porter Kilbert, Earl Washington, Sonny Cohn, Ike Perkins, Riley Hampton, el cantante Joe Williams y Mac Easton. Entre los arreglistas que empleó estaban Johnny Pate y Sun Ra.

Hizo sus primeras grabaciones como director de banda para Savoy Records a fines de 1945, y luego acompañó a artistas de ritmo y blues como T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner, Sugar Chile Robinson, Rosetta Tharpe, Willie Mabon, Little Brother Montgomery y LaVern Baker (entonces acreditado como "Miss Sharecropper") en las sesiones. Continuó grabando bajo su propio nombre con relativamente poco éxito comercial durante varios años, hasta principios de 1952, cuando su grabación de la canción tradicional para niños "Hambone" en el sello OKeh, con Dolores Hawkins y Hambone Kids (que incluía a Dee Clark), alcanzó algunas listas de R&B. En 1956, grabó con Guy Warren en el álbum de Warren Africa Speaks — America Answers! A Rounders no le gustaba practicmante nada  salir de gira. A pesar de ello llegó a tocar con Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong y Woody Herman. Continuó dirigiendo una banda en el Regal Theatre de Chicago en la década de 1960, y tocó con Little Brother Montgomery y Art Hodes en el Festival de Jazz de Nueva Orleans en la década de 1970.

Saunders murió en Chicago en 1981, a los 69 años.

   
                  


                  


                   

Theodore Dudley "Red" Saunders (March 2, 1912 – March 5, 1981) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He also played vibraphone and timpani.

Saunders was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and after his mother's death moved to Chicago with his sister. He took drum lessons while attending a boarding school in Milwaukee, received a music scholarship to the University of Texas, and became a professional musician in 1928, playing in Stomp King's band. He then spent several years touring the country as drummer with Ira Coffey's Walkathonians, a band that played at competitive walkathon events, before joining a revue, Curtis Mosby's Harlem Scandals.On returning to Chicago in 1934, he joined a band led by Tiny Parham at the Savoy Ballroom, and thereafter became a well-known drummer in Chicago clubs and hotels. In 1937, Saunders joined the house band at the Club DeLisa, initially led by pianist Albert Ammons, and then briefly by saxophonist Delbert Bright, before taking over as bandleader himself.

Saunders remained in control of the Club DeLisa house band, playing four to six shows nightly, until the club closed in 1958, apart from a hiatus between 1945 and 1947 when he led a smaller band at other venues in Chicago and Indianapolis. Among his sidemen were Leon Washington, Porter Kilbert, Earl Washington, Sonny Cohn, Ike Perkins, Riley Hampton, singer Joe Williams and Mac Easton. Among the arrangers he employed were Johnny Pate[8] and Sun Ra.

He made his first recordings as bandleader for Savoy Records in late 1945, and later accompanied such rhythm and blues performers as T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner, Sugar Chile Robinson, Rosetta Tharpe, Willie Mabon, Little Brother Montgomery and LaVern Baker (then credited as "Miss Sharecropper") on sessions. He continued to record under his own name with relatively little commercial success for several years, until early 1952 when his recording of the traditional children's song "Hambone" on the OKeh label, with Dolores Hawkins and the Hambone Kids (who included Dee Clark), reached some R&B charts. In 1956, he recorded with Guy Warren on Warren's album Africa Speaks—America Answers! Despite his regular gig and disinclination to go on the road, Saunders also played with Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Woody Herman. He continued to lead a band at the Regal Theater in Chicago into the 1960s, and played with Little Brother Montgomery and Art Hodes at the New Orleans Jazz Festival in the 1970s

Saunders with his wife and family.

Saunders met his wife, Ella, when she was working as a chorus girl and they were playing the same show in California.Saunders and his wife and their two children were the subject of a series of WPA photos taken in Chicago by photographer Jack Delano in April 1942 where their last name was mistakenly transcribed as "Sounders." Saunders died in Chicago in 1981, aged 69.