Snowden, Elmer (Chester; aka “Pops”)

Snowden, Elmer (Chester; aka “Pops”), early jazz banjoist, guitarist, leader, best remembered for his early association with Duke Ellington; b. Baltimore, Md., Oct. 9, 1900; d. Philadelphia, Pa., May 14, 1973. He played banjo-mandolin and guitar from early childhood. His first professional work with pianist Addie Booze (1914). He joined Eubie Blake (in a dance school) in 1915; remained with the band when it was taken over by pianist Joe Hochester (1916). After Rochester’s death in 1919, Snowden moved to Washington and played in a trio led by Duke Ellington. In 1920, he joined pianist Gertie Wells (to whom he was married for some years), played briefly with Claude Hopkins (1921), then formed his own band and began doubling on saxophone. After residencies in Washington and Atlantic City, the band moved to N.Y. in September 1923. There, Snowden led another group, the Washingtonians; then from March 1924 he played in the Broadway Jones Band and was subsequently appointed leader. Later that year, he rejoined the Washingtonians, by that time led by Ellington. After a spell in Ford Dabney’s Orch., Snowden once again became a bandleader in autumn 1925, and at one time had five different bands working under his name in and around N.Y. During the late 1920s and early 1930s, he led successful bands at several N.Y. clubs. One of his bands, which included Roy Eldridge, appeared in the Warner Brothers’ short film Smash Your Baggage (1932). After a dispute with the N.Y. Local 802, Snowden moved to Philadelphia, where his main occupation was teaching saxophone and fretted instruments. He settled his union problems in the early 1940s, and spent the rest of the decade gigging in N.Y. and Philadelphia. From 1950, he worked with his own quartet, which continued touring (in the U.S. and Canada) until 1957. From 1957–60, he was occupied teaching, although he continued to perform on occasion; he then formed a new small group for local club work. In 1963, Snowden moved to Calif.; he played clubs in the San Francisco-Berkeley area and also taught. He toured Europe for George Wein in late 1967. He declined an offer to rejoin Ellington’s orch. in the late 1960s, and in 1969, moved back to Philadelphia and continued to play occasionally.

Discography

Harlem Banjo (1960).

—John Chilton/Lewis Porter