[Dixielandjazz] Trumpet player Johnny Windhurst

[JackleeT at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/30/2003 5:37:17 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
bcraven24 at comcast.net writes:
Does any one have any information re/ Johnny Windhurst.
I have a couple of Eddie Condon records, with Johnny on either trumpet or 
cornet. I'd like to know more about him.
He was "some kind a player"!

Yes, he was! Loved his work. He died much too young from causes attributable 
to alcohol abuse.Here's some info about him from the American Music Guide

Jack Tracy

In the spring of 1945, legendary soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet formed a 
band to play an extended engagement at the Savoy Café in Boston. He chose the 
veteran Bunk Johnson to be his trumpeter. The irascible Johnson's erratic 
behavior proved more than Bechet had bargained for, however, so on the basis of a 
recommendation by members of the Boston Jazz Society he replaced him a few 
weeks into the gig with the 18 year-old Johnny Windhurst. Windhurst was a 
self-taught musician, influenced by Bix Beiderbecke and subsequent white 
trumpeters/cornetists like Bobby Hackett, Wild Bill Davison, and Bunny Berigan. Windhurst 
had only been playing professionally for only a short time when tapped by 
Bechet, yet he quickly developed a reputation as a fine young musician. He played 
with the pianists Art Hodes and James P. Johnson at the "Jazz at Town Hall" 
concert in September 1946. He worked in Chicago for a time, then moved to 
California, where he played with clarinetist Edmond Hall. Other employers around this 
time included Louis Armstrong and Nappy Lemare. He also led his own band in 
Ohio and Boston. He was a latter day associate of Eddie Condon, playing and 
recording with the guitarist in the early '50s. He recorded with trumpeter Ruby 
Braff (1952-3), singer Barbara Lea (1955-7), trombonist Jack Teagarden (1955), 
and vocalist Lee Wiley. Windhurst made Jazz at Columbus Avenue for the 
Transition label in 1956, the first and only time he recorded under his own name 
(bassist Buell Neidlinger was a sideman on the date). In the late '50s Windhurst 
worked in Ohio and again at Condon's club in New York. Little was heard from 
him thereafter.