Shuffle In Style

Although he may not be remembered as a major figure of the American big band era, Jan Savitt helped popularise a style of music known as 'shuffle rhythm' which was later utilised by performers such as Lionel Hampton, Louis Jordan, Louis Prima and Fats Domino, and can still be heard in the music of recent years. The son of a percussionist in Czar Nicholas II's Imperial Regiment Band, Savitt was born on 4th September, 1913, in St. Petersburg, Russia. His family migrated to America when he was eighteen months old, settling in Pittsburgh. Although he wanted to pursue a career in classical music - he had studied violin from the age of eight - Savitt accepted an offer to become musical director of a local radio station where he organised the Top Hatters and soon began to feature his 'shuffle rhythm', a creation of arranger Johnny Watson.