Dudley Fosdick

Dudley Fosdick (1902—Jun 6, 1957) was an American jazz mellophone soloist and musician. He played with several well-known musicians of the time, including Ted Weems, Henry King, Red Nichols, Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadians, and Don Voorhees.

He was one of the few musicians who played mellophone in jazz.

Dudley A. Fosdick was born in 1902 in Liberty, Indiana, to Lloyd E. Fosdick (1875–1943) and Malinda Owen Fosdick (1867–1960). He had an older brother, Eugene Owen "Gene" Fosdick (1900–1976), also a jazz musician (soprano, alto saxophones, clarinet).

Fosdick studied at Northwestern University, Cook County, Illinois, and Columbia University New York.

Fosdick was one of the first mellophonists in the world of jazz. The other notable players were Don Elliott (1926—1984), Stan Kenton (1911—1979), and Alfie Noakes (1903—1982). British trumpeter and writer Ian Carr, called Fosdick the "father of the mellophone" in jazz.

Fosdick made his debut in 1922, at the age of 20, playing in "The Hoosiers", a group led by his brother Gene Fosdick, a saxophonist and clarinetist. In 1927, he moved to New York and played with trumpeter Tommy Gott And His Orchestra. Next, he played in the orchestras of Don Voorhees and Roger Wolfe Kahn.

By the late 1920s, he was considered a sought-after sideman and appeared on recordings by Ted Weems (1924-25), among others.

In 1928, he was the mellophonist on Miff Mole and His Little Molers recording of "Crazy Rhythm" sharing the stage with Eddie Condon (banjo), Jimmy Dorsey (clarinet, alto saxophone), Gene Krupa (drums), Eddie Lang (guitar), and Frank Teschemacher (clarinet), among others. The same year, he played on "Imagination" and "Original Dixieland One Step" tracks in Red Nichols and His Five Pennies with Fud Livingston (clarinet, tenor saxophone), Art Miller (double bass), Chauncey Morehouse (drums, vibraphone), Carl Kress (guitar), Arthur Schutt (piano), Miff Mole (trombone), Leo McConville (trumpet), Manny Klein (trumpet), and Joe Venuti (violin).

In 1929, Fosdick played mellophone on Red Nichols's tracks "Roses Of Picardy" and "Allah's Holiday" alongside Adrian Rollini (baritone saxophone), Fud Livingston (clarinet), Benny Goodman (clarinet, alto saxophone), Vic Berton (drums), Carl Kress (guitar), Lennie Hayton (piano, celesta), and Manny Klein (trumpet).

In 1928-1929, he also played with Roger Wolfe Kahn.

After working with Red Nichols, Fosdick spent a decade, from the mid-1930s to 1946, with Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadians (with Guy's brothers Carmen Lombardo, Lebert Lombardo, and Victor Lombardo).

Fosdick worked in the studios into the mid-1950s. In his later years, he taught music and served as the director of the modern music department at the Roerich Academy of Arts in New York.

Fosdick died from a heart attack on June 6, 1957, in Malibu, California. He was 55.

• Ian Carr u. a. The Rough Guide to Jazz London: Rough Guides 2004; ISBN 978-1843532569 (3. Auflage), S. 266.
• Richard Cook & Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings London: Penguin 2006; ISBN 0-141-02327-9 (8. Auflage).