- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJames Hal Kemp
- Height6′ 4″ (1.93 m)
- Hal Kemp was born on March 27, 1905 in Marion, Alabama, USA. He was an actor, known for Small Time Crooks (2000), Radio City Revels (1938) and His College Chums (1929). He was married to Martha Stephenson Kemp and Bessie Slaughter. He died on December 21, 1940 in Madera, California, USA.
- SpousesMartha Stephenson Kemp(September 1939 - December 21, 1940) (his death, 1 child)Bessie Slaughter(1932 - 1938) (divorced, 2 children)
- Jazz alto saxaphonist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and clarinet.
- Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1992.
- Johnny Mercer referred to Hal Kemp's group as 'the typewriter band', because of the distinctive clipped phrasing of its trumpets.
- As a teen, Kemp played in movie theatres, before forming his first band, 'The Merry Makers', at high school. Took up alto sax during studies at the University of North Carolina and then played with various campus bands. Led a popular 'sweet-style' dance band from the mid-1920's, noted for muted trumpets, vocals by Skinnay Ennis and arrangements by John Scott Trotter and Hal Mooney.
- Once voted America's best 'sweet band'.
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