Rod Cless
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Rod Cless
| image =
| caption =
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| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name = Rod Cless
| alias =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1907|05|20}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1944|12|08|1907|05|20}}
| birth_place = Lenox, Iowa, U.S.
| death_place = New York, U.S.
| instrument = Saxophone, clarinet
| genre = Jazz
| occupation =
| years_active =
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| past_member_of = Art Hodes
Muggsy Spanier
| website =
| current_members =
| past_members =
}}
George Roderick Cless (May 20, 1907, in Lenox, Iowa – December 8, 1944, in New York City){{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=505}} was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, perhaps best known for his work on sixteen Muggsy Spanier tunes{{Cite web|url=http://mainspringpress.com/book_rust.html|title=Brian Rust Jazz Records, 1897-1942 - Classic Jazz Discography|date=February 9, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209144311/http://mainspringpress.com/book_rust.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=February 9, 2009}} for Bluebird Records. Additionally, Cless worked with other artists such as Frank Teschemacher, Gene Krupa, Art Hodes, Bobby Hackett, Max Kaminsky and Mezz Mezzrow.
Death
Walking home from the last night of a job at the Pied Piper (where he played alongside his friend Max Kaminsky) in December 1944, Cless fell over the balcony of his apartment building and died four days later at the age of 37.{{Cite web|url=https://jazzlives.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/who-remembers-rod-cless/|title=Who Remembers Rod Cless?|website=Jazzlives.wordpress.com|date=August 20, 2010|access-date=August 20, 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/rod-cless-mn0001687639|title=Rod Cless | Biography & History|website=AllMusic|access-date=August 20, 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://shirazsocialist.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/remembering-rod-cless/|title=Remembering Rod Cless|date=February 28, 2014|access-date=August 20, 2021}}
Select discography
With Art Hodes
- Sittin' In (Blue Note)
- The Funky Piano Of Art Hodes (Blue Note)
- Art Hodes And His Chicagoans, The Best In 2 Beat (Blue Note)
- The Complete Art Hodes Blue Note Sessions (Blue Note)
With Muggsy Spanier
- Relaxin' at the Touro (Bluebird)
- At the Jazz Band Ball:Chicago/New York Dixieland (Bluebird)
- The Great 16!, (originally recorded on Bluebird and reissued by RCA Victor Jazz Classics)Scott Yanow, [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r156480|pure_url=yes}} review of The Great 16!] at Allmusic
With the Rod Cless Quartet
- "Froggy Moore" b/w "Have You Ever Felt That Way" - Black & White Records 29 A (BW 33)/29 B (BW 36)
References
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Category:American jazz clarinetists
Category:American jazz saxophonists
Category:American male saxophonists
Category:People from Lenox, Iowa
Category:20th-century American saxophonists
Category:20th-century American male musicians
Category:American male jazz musicians
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