Guy, Fred

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Guy, Fred

Guy, Fred, jazz guitarist and banjoist, long associated with Duke Ellington; b. Burkesville, Ga., May 23, 1897; d. Chicago, Nov. 22, 1971. He was raised in N.Y.C. He first worked professionally playing the banjo with the Joseph C. Smith Orch. in the early 1920s, and then led his own band at The Oriental, N.Y. before joining Ellington on banjo (1925); he later switched to guitar (c. 1934). Guy credited guitarist Eddie Lang with encour-aging him to take up the more modern instrument. Other than brief absences, he remained with Ellington until 1949. After that, he left full-time music and returned to his longtime home city of Chicago; he man-aged a local ballroom for over 20 years.

—John Chilton, Lewis Porter