Chauncey Morehouse

Chauncey Morehouse
Morehouse was a member of Paul Specht's orchestra.
Background information
Born	(1902-03-11)March 11, 1902 Niagara Falls, New York, U.S.
Died	October 31, 1980(1980-10-31) (aged 78) Medford, New Jersey
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Drums

Chauncey Morehouse (March 11, 1902 – October 31, 1980) was an American jazz drummer.

Biography

Chauncey Morehouse was born in Niagara Falls, New York in 1902 and was raised in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where he played drums from a very early age. He also played piano and banjo too. As a high schooler, he led a group called the Versatile Five. He landed a job with Paul Specht's orchestra from 1922-24 (including a tour of Europe in 1923). He also played a sized-down version of Paul Specht's band named The Georgians. He played with Jean Goldkette from 1924–27, Adrian Rollini in 1927, and Don Voorhees in 1928–29. He also recorded with Frankie Trumbauer, Bix Beiderbecke, Red Nichols, The Dorsey Brothers, and Joe Venuti.

From 1929 Morehouse was active chiefly as a studio musician, working in radio and television in and around New York City. In 1938, he assembled a percussion ensemble which played instruments that were designed by Morehouse and Stan King and that were tuned chromatically.

He invented a set of drums called the N'Goma drums, which were made by the Leedy Drum company, which endorsed Morehouse during his career. He worked in studios into the 1970s; in that decade he retired from studio work and began playing jazz again, mostly at festivals. He was seen at Carnegie Hall for the Tribute to Bix concert for the Newport Jazz Festival and at one of the early Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festivals in Davenport, Iowa. Morehouse died in 1980 in Medford, New Jersey at the age of 78.

References

• Scott Yanow, Chauncey Morehouse at Allmusic