Hardwick(e), Otto (Toby)
Hardwick(e), Otto (Toby)
Hardwick(e), Otto (Toby), jazz alto (and bass and baritone) saxophonist long associated with Duke Ellington; b. Washington, D.C., May 31, 1904; d. there, Aug. 5, 1970. He started on string bass at the age of 14, worked with Carroll’s Columbia Orch. (ca. 1920), then switched to “C” melody sax. He began gigging with Duke Ellington in and around Washington, and also worked for Elmer Snowden at Murray’s Casino, Washington (ca. 1922). He went to N.Y. with Duke Ellington in 1923 and shared many of that leader’s early experiences, including a week with Wilbur Sweatman (March 1923) and residencies with Elmer Snowden. He occasionally doubled on violin and string bass in the mid-1920s, but specialized on alto sax. He worked regularly with Ellington until the spring of 1928. He went to Paris, worked in a band led by bassist John Ricks, led his own band and played briefly with Noble Sissle and Nekka Shaw’s Orch. before returning to N.Y. He had a brief stint with Chick Webb (1929), then led his own band at the Hot Feet Club in N.Y. (1930), subsequently led at Small’s, then worked with Snowden before rejoining Ellington in spring 1932. Except for brief absences he remained with Ellington until May 1946. He retired from music, worked in hotel management, and also ran his own farm in Md.
—John Chilton Who’s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter