Casper Reardon (April 15, 1907 – March 9, 1941)
The harp had been used in dance music for occasional flourishes before Reardon, but he is considered a first for using harp as a jazz instrument for solos and performances. By 1936, he was described as the "World's Hottest Harpist". During the following year he played "Cousin Caspar" in the film, You're a Sweetheart. In 1938, he played harp for the Broadway musical, I Married an Angel.
As a jazz musician he can be heard on albums by Jack Teagarden and Paul Whiteman. He recorded a handful of records for Liberty Music Shop Records and Schirmer Records.
He died in March 1941, in New York, at the age of 33 from kidney failure.
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