Giuseppe (Joe) Venuti (Sept.16,1903 - Aug.14,1978) was an American jazz musician and pioneer jazz violinist. Venuti claimed to have been born aboard a ship as his parents emigrated from Italy, though many believe he was simply born in Philadelphia. Later in life he said that he was born in Italy in 1896 and that he came to the US in 1906. Considered the father of jazz violin, he pioneered the use of string instruments in jazz along with the guitarist Eddie Lang, a childhood friend of his. Through the 1920s and early 1930s, Venuti made many recordings, as leader and as featured soloist. He worked with Benny Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers, Bing Crosby, Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden, the Boswell Sisters and most of the other important white jazz and semi-jazz figures of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Venuti and Lang recorded a series of milestone jazz records for the OKeh label during the 1920s. However, following Lang's early death in 1933, his career began to wane, though he! continued performing through the 1930s. He was also a strong early influence on western swing players like Jesse Ashlock, not to mention the fact that Lang and Venuti were the primary influences of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. After a period of relative obscurity in the 1940s and 1950s, he was 'rediscovered' in the late 1960s. In the 1970s, he established a musical relationship with tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims that resulted in three recordings. He also recorded an entire album with country
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