Alphonse Trent
Alphonse Trent | |
---|---|
Also known as | Alphonso Trent |
Born | Fort Smith, Arkansas, US | October 24, 1902
Died | October 14, 1959 Fort Smith, Arkansas, U.S. | (aged 54)
Genres | Jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician, band leader |
Instrument(s) | Piano |
Alphonse "Alphonso" Trent (October 24, 1902 – October 14, 1959) was an American jazz pianist and territory band leader.
Early life
Trent was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas on October 24, 1902.[1][2] He played piano from childhood and worked in local bands in Arkansas through his youth.[3]
Later life and career
He led his first band in the mid-1920s, possibly as early as 1923.
He left music in the mid-1930s but returned with another band in 1938.
His small recorded legacy has made him a somewhat obscure figure today, but the sophistication of his arrangements and the precision with which they were executed inspired awe in contemporaries[5] - one such, Budd Johnson (quoted by Gunther Schuller via The Jazz Review) stated:
Let me tell you about Trent... They were gods back in the twenties, just like Basie was, only many years ahead of him... They worked nothing but the biggest and finest hotels in the South... They were years ahead of their time.[6]
References
- ^ "Alphonso Trent (1902-1959)". Red Hot Jazz Archive. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^
- ^ a b c d e f Yanow, Scott. "Alphonse Trent". AllMusic. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
- ^ "Alphonso Trent and his Orchestra". Red Hot Jazz Archive. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ "Alphonso Trent (1902-1959)". Red Hot Jazz Archive. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ Schuller, Early Jazz, 1968; p.299