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Ernest Lawrence Fields (August 28, 1904 – May 11, 1997)Laprarie, Michael, "Fields, Ernie (1904-1997)", Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture (accessed May 14, 2010). was an American trombonist, pianist, arrangement and bandleader. He first became known for leading the Royal Entertainers, a territory band which was based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and toured along a circuit stretching from Kansas City, Kansas, to Dallas, Texas, and eventually across the US and parts of Canada. Later, he led a band that recorded in Los Angeles.
Over the course of his career, a number of musicians who were to become well known passed through his band. These included vocalist and drummer Roy Milton.,Milton, Roy, Roy Milton and his Solid Senders, The Legends of Specialty Series, Specialty Records, SPCD 7004 liner notes Yusef Lateef, Booker Ervin, Rene Hall and Teddy Edwards ("Going Back to T-Town: The Ernie Fields Territory Big Band"] University of Oklahoma Press ISBN 978-0-8061-9184-3 hardcover)
From the late 1920s, he led a band called the Royal Entertainers, and eventually began touring more widely, and recording. Supported by Bob Wills, Fields' band became the first African-American band to play at the landmark Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa. In 1939, he was invited to New York City by John Hammond to record for the Vocalion Records label, and began to tour nationally. He did not become a star, but continued to work steadily, recording for smaller labels, and gradually transforming his sound through a smaller band and a repertoire shift from big band, Swing music to R&B. During World War II, he entertained troops both at home and abroad.
Rendezvous Records folded in late 1963, and Fields retired soon after and returned to Tulsa. He died in May 1997, at the age of 92. In 2013 his family donated his memorabilia to the planned Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture.
His son is the saxophonist and bandleader Ernie Fields, Jr., and his daughter Carmen became a journalist in Boston, where she co-hosted the evening news for WGBH-TV.
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