Les Hite
Les Hite (February 13, 1903 – February 6, 1962) was an American jazz bandleader.
Les Hite
- Born
- 1903 · Du Quoin.
- Died
- 1962 · Santa Monica.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- bandleader · conductor · saxophonist · musician
- Fields
- jazz
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q1820533 · wikipedia · Les Hite
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
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Life and career
Life and career
Born in DuQuoin, Illinois, United States, Hite attended the University of Illinois and played saxophone with family members in a band in the 1920s. Following this, he played with Detroit Shannon and then the Helen Dewey Show, but when this group disbanded abruptly, Hite relocated to Los Angeles. There he played with The Spikes Brothers Orchestra, Mutt Carey, Curtis Mosby, and Paul Howard. He became leader of Howard's band in 1930, and played at the Cotton Club in Los Angeles for several years, accompanying Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller among others. They also recorded frequently for film soundtracks and occasionally appeared on camera. Hite's big band, known as Sebastian's Cotton Club Orchestra, primarily played in Los Angeles, though they occasionally went on tour. Musicians who played in the band include Lionel Hampton, Marshal Royal, George Orendorff, Lawrence Brown, Britt Woodman, Joe Wilder, T-Bone Walker, Marvin Johnson, and Dizzy Gillespie. Les Hites Syncopators were featured for the opening day ceremony of a "colored country club" called the Appomattox, owned by Leon Hefflin Sr. on Labor Day, September 1, 1930. Hite rarely recorded, and for this reason much of the details of his life and work are poorly documented. The only sessions he did were 14 numbers recorded between 1940 and 1942. Hite died at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California, a week before his 59th birthday, reportedly following a heart attack.
Documentary record
Les Hite (13 February 1903 – 6 February 1962) was a musician. The birth of Les Hite is recorded on 13 February 1903 in Du Quoin, Illinois., and the death on 6 February 1962 in Santa Monica, California.
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Named by the record
Places
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Du Quoin.
Birth place
Santa Monica.
Death place
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Les Hite, revision 1287882189 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Colin Larkin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Guinness Publishing. 1156. 1992. 0-85112-939-0.
- 2.Cox, Bette Yarbrough. Central Avenue--its rise and fall, 1890-c. 1955 : including the musical renaissance of Black Los Angeles. BEEM Publications. 1996. 0965078302.
- 3.“New Appomattox Country Club to Open Labor Day”, The California Eagle, 29 August 1930
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Died at
1- Santa MonicaPlace
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 24 August 2026.
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