Clyde Bernhardt had a lengthy and episodic career. A decent trombone soloist who could play classic jazz, swing, Dixieland, and early R&B,
Bernhardt was never a major innovator, but he was a talented entertainer and an effective blues singer.
Bernhardt grew up in Harrisburg, PA. He had a rough childhood but was influenced as a teenager by music after seeing
Ma Rainey and
Bessie Smith perform.
Bernhardt started on the trombone when he was 17 and developed fairly quickly. During 1923-1931 he had gigs with many now-forgotten bands including Bill Eady's Ellwood Syncopators, Tillie Vennie, Odie Cromwell's Wolverine Syncopators, Charlie C. Grear's Original Midnite Ramblers, the Richard Cheatham Orchestra,
the Whitman Sisters, Honey Brown's Orchestra, and Ray Parker. In 1931
Bernhardt spent some time with
King Oliver as the veteran cornetist was beginning his downhill slide.
The trombonist made it through the Depression years by playing with
the Alabamians,
Billy Fowler, Ira Coffey's Walkathonians, and
Vernon Andrade. From that point on, he started getting better jobs and had stints with
Edgar Hayes & His Orchestra (1937-1942),
Jay McShann,
Cecil Scott,
Luis Russell,
Claude Hopkins, and the Bascomb Brothers. After leading his own group (the Blue Blazers),
Bernhardt spent a second period with
Russell (1948-1951) and then played part-time with
Joe Garland's Society Orchestra (1952-1970), sometimes also working a day job. He made his recording debut with
Alex Hill in 1934 and recorded with
Edgar Hayes,
Dud Bascomb,
Leonard Feather (1945),
Pete Johnson, and
Wynonie Harris. Most significant were
Bernhardt's recordings as a leader during 1946-1953; on some of those selections he was cast as a blues singer named
Ed Barron.
Today,
Clyde Bernhardt is best known for his leadership of
the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band during 1972-1979, a band of veterans that recorded five albums featuring such players as
Doc Cheatham, altoist
Charlie Holmes, tenor saxophonist
Happy Caldwell, drummer
Tommy Benford, and singer
Miss Rhapsody, among others. When his health became shaky in late 1979,
Bernhardt gave up the band (which continued without him) and eventually joined
Barry Martyn's Legends of Jazz, where he remained until his death. Shortly before his passing,
Clyde Bernhardt completed (with the assistance of Sheldon Harris) I Remember, one of the best and most informative of all jazz autobiographies.
–
Scott Yanow, Rovi