Nat Jaffe

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Nat Jaffe (1918-1945) was an American swing jazz pianist.

Jaffe lived in Berlin from 1921 to 1932, where he received classical training on piano. Upon his return to the U.S., he began playing jazz music, working with Noel Francis, the Emery Deutsch Orchestra, and as a soloist on 52nd Street. In the late 1930s he played with Jan Savitt, Joe Marsala, Louis Armstrong (1938), Charlie Barnet (1938-39), and Jack Teagarden (1939-40). He led his own trio in the early 1940s and recorded in 1945 with Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan.

Jaffe died in 1945 as a result of complications from high blood pressure. He recorded only eleven sides as a leader - three solo piano pieces in 1938 on Onyx Records, four duets in 1944 for Signature Records, and four with his trio in 1944 on Black and White Records.

[edit] References

• Scott Yanow, Nat Jaffe at All Music Guide