Paul Mares

Paul Mares (June 15, 1900 – August 18, 1949), was an early jazz cornet & trumpet player, and leader of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings.

Related Topics:
June 15 - 1900 - August 18 - 1949 - Jazz - Cornet - Trumpet - New Orleans Rhythm Kings

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Mares was born in New Orleans. His father, Joseph E. Mares, played cornet with the military band at the New Orleans lakefront and ran a fur and hide business.

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Like many New Orleans cornetists of his generation, Joe Mares's main influence was "King" Joe Oliver.

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About 1919 cornetist Abbie Brunies was offered a job playing in Chicago, and passed the offer on to Mares. (Brunies thought his New Orleans position of doubling driving a taxi-cab and playing music was more secure than prospects in Chicago.)

Related Topics:
Abbie Brunies - Chicago - Taxi

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Mares established himself as a respected band leader over a group of wild and strong willed musicians, as The New Orleans Rhythm Kings became one of the best regarded bands in Chicago in the early 1920s.

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In late 1924 Mares returned to New Orleans. He decided to play music on the side while taking over the running of his family fur & hide business. He ran the business well and with his prosperity purchased 3 homes for himself and his relatives in New Orleans' new suburb of Metairie, Louisiana. Mares's Metarie home was the site of a legendary jam-session in 1929 where Bix Beiderbecke and the other jazz playing members of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra jammed with the local New Orleans jazz musicians.

Related Topics:
1924 - Metairie, Louisiana - 1929 - Bix Beiderbecke - Paul Whiteman

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Mares also ran a restaurant in New Orleans called "The Chicago Bar-B-Q". In the early 1930s he returned to Chicago where he opened up his "New Orleans Bar-B-Q" there. The "P.M. New Orleans Bar-B-Q" became a gathering place for Chicago jazz musicians and home to numerous jam sessions, which Mares occasionally joined in.

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Mares's 1936 recording session for Okeh Records show his style had not remained static; he sounds more under the influence of Henry "Red" Allen than Joe Oliver.

Related Topics:
1936 - Okeh Records - Henry "Red" Allen

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Paul Mares died at the age of 49 of lung cancer, according to his brother Joe, caused by "smoking too many cigarettes".

Related Topics:
Lung cancer - Cigarette

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