Teddy McRae

As important an arranger as he was a tenor-saxophonist, Teddy McRae made important, behind-the-scenes contributions to several bands, most notably Chick Webb's. After playing with local groups, including a family band, McRae worked with June Clark in 1926 and then in 1927 moved to New York where he initially led his own group. Among his musical associations during the next decade were Charlie Johnson, Elmer Snowden (1932), Stuff Smith (1934), Lil Armstrong (1935) and most importantly Chick Webb (1936-39), for whom he contributed both solos and arrangements. McRae remained with Webb's orchestra after the drummer's death, acting as the musical director for a period while the group was fronted by Ella Fitzgerald (1939-41). He had stints with the orchestras of Cab Calloway (1941-42), Jimmie Lunceford (1942), Lionel Hampton (1943) and Louis Armstrong (being his musical director during 1944-45). McRae recorded during the 1930s with small groups headed by Benny Morton, Teddy Wilson and Henry "Red" Allen; wrote "Back Bay Shuffle" for Artie Shaw; and led his own band in 1945. He formed the short-lived Raecox label with Eddie Wilcox (although he never recorded for it) and primarily worked as a freelance arranger thereafter. McRae only recorded a few isolated titles as a leader, including two songs for King in 1945, six for Groove in 1955 (mostly as a vocalist) and two R&Bish vocal numbers for Moonshine in 1958, although he did record with Champion Jack Dupree from 1955-56.~ Scott Yanow