Sonny Clay's Plantation Orchestra

about

Sonny Clay (William Rogers Campbell Clay, Chapel Hill, Texas, May 15, 1899 - April 13, 1973) was an American jazz pianist, drummer, and bandleader. Clay was born in Texas in 1899 and moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1908. As a teenager he played in bands around Phoenix, before hitting the road in 1918. Clay traveled around the Southwest, playing drums or piano with various small groups in California, Arizona and Tijuana, Mexico. In Tijuana he played drums in Jelly Roll Morton's band. Sometime around 1921 he moved to Los Angeles and played with Reb Spikes' and Kid Ory's Original Creole Jazz Band. In the mid-1920s he put together his own band and landed a gig at the Plantation Club. This group recorded as Sonny Clay's Plantation Orchestra and continued on at the club until 1927. In January of 1928 Clay took his band to Australia to tour with an African-American vaudeville production called "Sonny Clay and the Colored Idea". The troupe included dancers, vocals groups and a young singer named Ivie Anderson who would later became famous as a singer in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. The troupe got into trouble when African-American band members were accused of having inter-racial relationships with Australian women. All of the remaining Australian shows were cancelled after this incident and several members of "Sonny Clay and the Colored Idea" were deported. Clay's band broke up right after the ill-fated Australian tour and returned to Los Angeles. Sonny rebounded and put together a te

top songs

albums

similar artists