Carey, Mutt (actually, Thomas; aka Papa)

Carey, Mutt (actually, Thomas; aka Papa) early jazz trumpeter; b. Hahnville, La., 1891; d. Elsinore, Calif., Sept. 3, 1948. Brother of Jack (trombonist, leader) and Peter (alto horn); several other brothers were also musicians. He started on drums and guitar, then played alto horn before changing to cornet c. 1912. He played cornet in the Crescent Orch. (led by his brother Jack) from 1913; also did regular parade work with other bands before joining Kid Ory in 1914 (replacing Lewis Matthews). In 1917 he toured with the “Mack and Mack” show (along with Johnny Dodds and Steve Lewis), played briefly in Chicago with Lawrence Duhe’s Band, then returned to New Orleans (1918). He worked with Chris Kelly (on second trumpet) at the Bulls’ Club, then joined Wade Whaley’s Band in Bucktown. Went to Calif, in November 1919 to join Kid Ory. In 1925, when Ory left for Chicago, he handed the leadership of his band to Carey, who subsequently led his own big band, the Jeffersonians, during the late 1920s and 1930s. The band did regular work at Hollywood film studios, including providing atmosphere music on silent- film sets. During the early 1940s Carey worked as a Pullman-porter but continued gigging. He rejoined Kid Ory in 1944, continued day work for a while, then resumed full-time music and played regularly for Kid Ory until summer 1947. He led his own recording band in N.Y. in late 1947, then returned to Calif, and gigged with his own band. Carey played with Louis Armstrong’s group in the mid-1940s. He was organizing a new band at the time of his death. He appears briefly in the film New Orleans.

Discography

Mutt Carey Plays the Blues (1954).

—John Chilton, Who’s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter