Charles Edward "Charlie" Dixon (December 31, 1898, Jersey City, New Jersey - December 6, 1940, New York City) was an American jazz banjoist.
Dixon played in local ensembles in Boston and New York before becoming a member of Sam Wooding's orchestra in 1922. In 1923 he joined up with Fletcher Henderson, playing and writing arrangements for him until 1928 and continuing to write charts for Henderson after his departure. He played with Henderson in both small and big band formats, and recorded in Henderson's pseudonymous groups like the Dixie Stompers. Among the musicians he played with while under Wooding and Henderson were Kaiser Marshall, Louis Armstrong, Ralph Escudero, Coleman Hawkins, Don Redman, and Elmer Chambers. He also played in small ensembles accompanying singers such as Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Trixie Smith, and Alberta Hunter in the 1920s.
In the 1930s, he led a band which accompanied dancer Cora LaRedd, and arranged and composed for Chick Webb. Unlike most of the banjoists of his era, he never switched to guitar, and his banjo work is often difficult to hear on record.
Famous quotes containing the word charlie:
“We [actors] are indeed a strange lot! There are times we doubt that we have any emotions we can honestly call our own. I have approached every dynamic scene change in my life the same way. When I married Charlie MacArthur, I sat down and wondered how I could play the best wife that ever was.... My love for him was the truest thing in my life; but it was still important that I love him with proper effect, that I act loving him with great style, that I achieve the ultimate in wifedom.”
—Helen Hayes (1900–1993)