Joe Nanton

Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton was born on February 1, 1904, in New York City, the son of British West Indies immigrant parents. Joe began playing professionally in Washington D.C. with bands led by Cliff Jackson and banjoist Elmer Snowden. From 1923 to 1924, Joe worked with Frazier's Harmony Five. At the age of 22, he began working with Duke Ellington's Orchestra and remained with Ellington until his early death in 1946. Joe was one of the great pioneers of the plunger mute. After hearing Johnny Dunn playing the trumpet with a plunger, he realized that he could do a similar effect on the trombone. Together with Ellington's trumpeter Bubber Miley, Nanton is largely responsible for creating the characteristic wah-wah, or wa-wa, effect. Nanton died from a stroke in San Francisco, California, on July 20, 1946, while on tour with the Ellington Orchestra.

Source: Harlem World Magazine, June 2022.