Biography
Although two jazz trumpeters bear this name, the earlier figure is the focus here. Both might appreciate seeing their names surface near the beginning of any jazz reference work. Edward Clifton Allen entered the world in Nashville, the capital of country music, in 1897, an era when the first pedal steel phrase had yet to occur to its eventual creator. His family joined the northward exodus in pursuit of Midwestern employment by the time he turned seven, eventually establishing themselves in St. Louis. There he took up piano at age ten before shifting to cornet soon afterward. During his early teens he performed in military ensembles while employed as a truck driver. By 1916 Allen had turned professional on cornet, delivering phrases in some of the rougher St. Louis honky-tonks. He traveled westward to Seattle and began collaborating with pianist Ralph Stevenson.
A position with the Strekus Line Steamers drew him back to St. Louis, though the actual work occurred on riverboats traveling the Mississippi with New Orleans as both artistic and geographic terminus. He first worked those boats in the strong ensemble of Charlie Creath, then assumed leadership aboard the S.S. Capitol with his newly formed Whispering Gold Band around 1922. Allen would perform for a stretch in New Orleans, return by boat to St. Louis, work locally, then board another vessel, repeating the pattern. In 1924 he reached Chicago and joined the Earl Hines band, departing the next year for a role in Ed Daily’s Black and White Show. Within that production he played as part of Joe Jordan’s group, Sharps & Flats. While engaged with the revue the trumpeter also began recording extensively alongside classic bluesman and songwriter Clarence Williams. The association continued after the show closed in 1927, by which time Allen was also appearing with violinist Allie Ross in a unit that evolved into the LeRoy Tibbs Orchestra by decade’s end. With and without Williams he returned repeatedly to the studios to accompany artists including blues queen Bessie Smith and participated in several King Oliver ensembles.
In subsequent decades Allen functioned primarily as a dance-band musician, only occasionally leading his own groups. Pianist Benton Heath secured him an extended engagement at a New York dance hall that ran from the mid-1940s until 1963. Health concerns then curtailed full-time performance. His final and, ironically, most sustained recorded presence occurred on mid-1950s sessions organized in England by trombonist Chris Barber during the height of the trad-jazz revival.
A position with the Strekus Line Steamers drew him back to St. Louis, though the actual work occurred on riverboats traveling the Mississippi with New Orleans as both artistic and geographic terminus. He first worked those boats in the strong ensemble of Charlie Creath, then assumed leadership aboard the S.S. Capitol with his newly formed Whispering Gold Band around 1922. Allen would perform for a stretch in New Orleans, return by boat to St. Louis, work locally, then board another vessel, repeating the pattern. In 1924 he reached Chicago and joined the Earl Hines band, departing the next year for a role in Ed Daily’s Black and White Show. Within that production he played as part of Joe Jordan’s group, Sharps & Flats. While engaged with the revue the trumpeter also began recording extensively alongside classic bluesman and songwriter Clarence Williams. The association continued after the show closed in 1927, by which time Allen was also appearing with violinist Allie Ross in a unit that evolved into the LeRoy Tibbs Orchestra by decade’s end. With and without Williams he returned repeatedly to the studios to accompany artists including blues queen Bessie Smith and participated in several King Oliver ensembles.
In subsequent decades Allen functioned primarily as a dance-band musician, only occasionally leading his own groups. Pianist Benton Heath secured him an extended engagement at a New York dance hall that ran from the mid-1940s until 1963. Health concerns then curtailed full-time performance. His final and, ironically, most sustained recorded presence occurred on mid-1950s sessions organized in England by trombonist Chris Barber during the height of the trad-jazz revival.