Tiny Parham

{{short description|Canadian-American jazz bandleader and pianist (1900–1943)}} {{More footnotes needed|BLP=no|date=February 2012}}

'''Hartzell Strathdene''' "'''Tiny'''" '''Parham''' (February 25, 1900 – April 4, 1943)<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|pages=1902/3}}</ref> was a Canadian-born American jazz bandleader and pianist of African-American descent.

==Life and career== Parham was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, but grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, United States.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He worked as a pianist at The Eblon Theatre being mentored by the ragtime pianist and composer James Scott, and later touring with territory bands in the Southwestern United States, before moving to Chicago in 1926.<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

He is best remembered for the recordings he made in Chicago between 1927 and 1930 for the Victor Talking Machine Company, as an accompanist for Johnny Dodds and several female blues singers as well as with his own band.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Most of the musicians Parham played with are not well known in their own right, though cornetist Punch Miller, banjoist Papa Charlie Jackson, saxophone player Junie Cobb and bassist Milt Hinton are exceptions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hartzell "Tiny" Parham (1900-1943)|url=https://syncopatedtimes.com/hartzell-tiny-parham-1900-1943/ |website=Syncopatedtimes.com |date=20 September 2020 |access-date=20 September 2020 }}</ref>

Parham's Victor recordings are all highly collectible and appreciated as prime examples of late 1920s jazz. His style of jazz was comparable to the sophisticated style of Jelly Roll Morton. Parham favored the violin and a number of his records have surprisingly sophisticated violin solos, along with the typical upfront tuba, horns and reeds. Parham wrote most, if not all, of his own material.

In 1930, like Jelly Roll Morton, Henry "Red" Allen, and King Oliver, Victor chose not to renew Parham's contact. After 1930, Parham found work in theater houses, especially as an organist; his last recordings were made in 1940. His entire recorded output fits on two compact discs.

The cartoonist R. Crumb included a drawing of Parham in his classic 1982 collection of trading cards and later book ''Early Jazz Greats''. Parham was the only non-American born so included. The book also includes a bonus CD which had a Parham track.

Parham died on April 4, 1943, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> In 2019 the Killer Blues Headstone Project placed the headstone for Parham at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Headstones Placed|url=https://killerblues.net/headstones/|access-date=2025-11-29|website=Killerblues.net|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Discography == {{incomplete-list|date=May 2025}} * 1926-29 - Classics (Chronological #661, 1992) * 1929-40 - & His Musicians_Classics (Chronological #691, 1993) * 1928-30 - Tiny Parham (2xCD) (Timeless Historical, 1996)

==References== ;Footnotes {{reflist}}

;General references *''The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz 1900-1950'' by Roger D. Kinkle, Arlington House Publishers 1974 (page 1547) *Scott Yanow, [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p9333/biography|pure_url=yes}} Tiny Parham] at AllMusic *Robert Crumb, ''Early Heroes of Jazz'', 1982

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parham, Tiny}} Category:1900 births Category:1943 deaths Category:Musicians from Winnipeg Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States Category:American jazz bandleaders Category:American jazz pianists Category:American male jazz pianists Category:20th-century Canadian male musicians Category:20th-century American pianists Category:African-American jazz musicians Category:African-American pianists Category:20th-century African-American musicians Category:20th-century Black Canadian musicians Category:20th-century American male pianists Category:Burials at Burr Oak Cemetery