Rod Cless

George Roderick "Rod" Cless (May 20, 1907, Lenox, Iowa – December 8, 1944, New York City) was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, perhaps best known for his work on sixteen Muggsy Spanier tunes[1] for Bluebird Records. Additionally, Cless worked with other artists such as Frank Teschemacher, Charles Pierce, Gene Krupa, Art Hodes, Bobby Hackett, Max Kaminsky and Mezz Mezzrow.

Rod Cless
Birth name	Rod Cless
Born	(1907-05-20)May 20, 1907 Lenox, Iowa
Died	December 8, 1944(1944-12-08) (aged 37)
Genres	Jazz
Instruments	saxophone clarinet
Associated acts	Art Hodes Muggsy Spanier

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 37.[2][3][4]

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)[5]

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

• Eugene Chadbourne, Rod Cless at Allmusic

1. Rust, Brian, Jazz and Ragtime Records, 1897-1942 Archived 9 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Mainspring Press, 2008.
2. Jazz Lives
3. AllMusic
4. Remembering Rod Cless, at Shiraz Socialist, by James McGraw, who presents a January 1945 article from The Jazz Record. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
5. Scott Yanow, review of The Great 16! at Allmusic