Henry Red Allen

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Henry Red Allen (around 1946; Photo: William P. Gottlieb )

Henry James "Red" Allen (born January 7, 1908 in New Orleans , Louisiana , † April 17, 1967 in New York City , New York ) was an American jazz trumpeter. In the 1920s he was considered "one of the best and most brilliant trumpeters". He got a record deal with Victor in 1929 because the label wanted to build him up "in response to Louis Armstrong".

Live and act

The son of the band leader Henry Allen senior (1877-1952), who led a well-known brass band in Algiers (across from New Orleans on the other side of the river), learned trumpet from Peter Bocage and Manuel Manetta . Red Allen first played in his father's brass band, then in the Excelsior Brass Band and in the dance bands of Sam Morgan , George Lewis (1923), John Casimir and Captain John Handy (1925). Then he worked on the paddle steamers with Sidney Desvigne . The Dixie Syncopators of King Oliver , he went in 1927 to Chicago and then to New York, where he at Clarence Williams worked with whom he is to listen to the first recordings. He returned to the Mississippi one more time to play at Fate Marable . In 1929 he got a recording deal and moved to New York, where he performed with Luis Russell's band . From 1933 Allen was a member of the bands of Fletcher Henderson and Lucky Millinder as well as the Mills Blue Rhythm Band , before returning to Luis Russell's band in 1937, which then became the backing band of Louis Armstrong .

In addition to the recordings with the various bands, Allen also recorded under his own name. In addition, he accompanied well-known musicians and singers such as Fats Waller , Jelly Roll Morton , Coleman Hawkins , Ida Cox , Lionel Hampton , Victoria Spivey and Billie Holiday .

Since the 1940s Allen led his own band, with which he toured throughout the US until the late 1950s. In 1957 the legendary TV show " The Sound of Jazz " was recorded, in which he a. a. performed alongside Billie Holiday and Count Basie. In 1959 he joined the band of Kid Ory , with whom he also performed in Europe that year. His album Feelin 'Good (1966) provoked Don Ellis to remark that Allen was "the most avant-garde trumpeter in New York". He was active as a musician until his death in 1967 and toured Europe in 1964, 1966 and 1967.

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 1906 is also mentioned as the year of birth .
  2. ^ A b Ian Carr , Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley : Rough Guide Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz music. 1700 artists and bands from the beginning until today. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 1999, ISBN 3-476-01584-X , p. 8f.
personal data
SURNAME Allen, Henry Red
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Allen, Henry James; Allen, Red (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz trumpeter
DATE OF BIRTH January 7, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH New Orleans , Louisiana
DATE OF DEATH April 17, 1967
Place of death New York City , New York