Frankie Trumbauer

A pioneering saxophonist of the 1920s and 1930s who concentrated chiefly on the C melody instrument while also excelling on alto, Frankie Trumbauer exerted considerable influence over later jazz figures, most prominently Lester Young. At the height of his powers his preeminence on the horn matched the level of authority Charlie Parker would later command.

Born May 30, 1901, in Carbondale, Illinois, and known to fellow musicians simply as “Tram,” he was working with Chicago’s Benson Orchestra when Bix Beiderbecke heard him and immediately brought him into Jean Goldkette’s orchestra. Trumbauer soon rose to musical director for Goldkette, winning praise for the refined execution of his lightly colored solos. Among the era’s landmark sides he recorded with Beiderbecke was “Singin’ the Blues,” and the two musicians were reunited in 1927 inside Paul Whiteman’s orchestra.

Trumbauer remained with Whiteman through 1932, rejoined the band in 1933 for another four-year period, and left again in 1936 to assume leadership of the Three T’s, which featured the Teagarden brothers. In 1938 he formed a co-leadership with Manny Klein. When World War II began, the Civil Aeronautics Authority assigned him to its ranks, although he continued performing privately with Russ Case and participated in numerous New York studio sessions throughout the latter half of the 1950s. The rise of the modern jazz era caused Trumbauer to recede from public view, and he died June 11, 1956, in Kansas City, Missouri.