Date of Award

Spring 2026

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

School of Music

First Advisor

Michael Wilkinson

Abstract

William “Dicky” Wells was a swing era trombone soloist for the bands of Lloyd and Cecil Scott, Fletcher Henderson, Buck Clayton, Jimmy Rushing, Rex Stewart, Count Basie, and countless others throughout a career that spanned more than five decades. During his career, Wells recorded albums with famed artists Django Reinhardt, B.B. King, James Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, and Buddy Tate, as well as his own albums as band leader. His time with the Count Basie Orchestra coincided with the height of the band’s popularity, 1938-1945 and 1947-1950, totaling nearly eleven years and eighteen records. Through a selection of exemplary recordings spanning two decades, 1927-1948, this research will identify and explain Wells’s iconic stylistic characteristics of juxtaposing symmetry with contrast, his use of timbre manipulation, and his use of rhythmic displacement. Using a specific labeling system, a better understanding of Wells’s solo construction becomes evident and can be used to inform improvisational curriculum through a different practice other than chordal navigation. This research seeks to analyze improvised trombone solo styles during the swing-band era through the lens of one of the most iconic true improvisers on the instrument. The stylistic traits and characteristics identified in this research serve as a pedagogical model for historically authentic improvisatory language for jazz trombone curriculum and provides a bridge between the early jazz style known as tailgate trombone to the Bebop era.

Rights

© 2026, Larry Nathan DuVall, Jr.

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