Stompin' at the Savoy is a 1933 jazz standard composed by Edgar Sampson.
Stompin' at the Savoy is a 1933 jazz standard composed by Edgar Sampson. It is named after the famed Harlem nightspot the Savoy Ballroom in New York City. Although the song is often credited to Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, Edgar Sampson, and Andy Razaf, it was written and arranged by Sampson, Rex Stewart's alto saxophonist. Sampson wrote the song when he was with Stewart's orchestra at the Empire Ballroom in 1933. It was used as the band's theme song. Two years later, the piece charted with versions by Ozzie Nelson and Benny Goodman. Since becoming a jazz standard, the song has been recorded hundreds of times.
Edgar Melvin Sampson (October 1907 – January 1973), nicknamed "The Lamb", was an American jazz composer, arranger, saxophonist, and violinist. Born in New York City, he began playing violin aged six and picked up the saxophone in high school. He worked as an arranger and composer for many jazz bands in the 1930s and 1940s. He composed two well-known jazz standards: Stompin' at the Savoy and Don't Be That Way. Sampson played with many bands, including those of Charlie "Fess" Johnson, Duke Ellington, Rex Stewart and Fletcher Henderson. In 1934, Sampson joined the Chick Webb band. It was during his period with Webb that Sampson created this his most enduring work as a composer. He left the Webb band in 1936. He had a reputation as a composer and arranger that led to freelance work with Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Red Norvo, Teddy Hill, Teddy Wilson and Chick Webb. Sampson became a student of the Schillinger System in the early 1940's. He continued to play sax through the late 1940’s and into the 1950's, working with Latin performers such as Marcelino Guerra, Tito Rodríguez and Tito Puente.
