Throughout his career, Herb Hall never escaped comparisons to his elder sibling Edmond Hall, even though the younger musician possessed a gentler, more lyrical sound on clarinet and demonstrated considerable ability on his own terms. Born to clarinetist Edward Hall and raised as one of five brothers who all pursued music, Herb began on banjo, performing with the Niles Jazz Band from 1923 to 1925 before taking up the clarinet and alto saxophone. In 1926 he joined Kid Augustin Victor’s group in Baton Rouge, then relocated to New Orleans the following year. After a stint alongside Sidney Desvigne, he forged an extended partnership with Don Albert that spanned 1929–37 and 1938–40, a connection that took him to San Antonio, where he remained until 1945.
Subsequently Hall worked as a freelancer in Philadelphia, where he appeared with Herman Autrey, and in New York; in 1955 he performed with Doc Cheatham and toured Europe with Sammy Price. Throughout the ensuing decade he was a regular at Jimmy Ryan’s and Eddie Condon’s club. He traveled with Wild Bill Davison’s Jazz Giants in 1968–69, collaborated frequently with Don Ewell, and during the 1970s appeared often in Bob Greene’s World of Jelly Roll Morton presentation. A dependable soloist, Hall recorded leader sessions for Sackville in 1969, Storyville in 1970, and a 1980 GHB date shared with Louis Cottrell.
