Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Trummy Young was born James Young in Savannah, GA on January 12, 1912 but grew up in Washington, DC. He originally started out as a trumpeter but by the time he debuted in 1928, he had switched to trombone and soon became one of the finest trombonists of the swing era. From 1933 to ’37 Young was a member of Earl Hines’ orchestra and later joined Jimmie Lunceford from ‘37 to 1943.

Although he was never really a star or bandleader, Trummy had one hit with his version of “Margie” and with Sy Oliver wrote the tune “Tain’t What You Do (It’s The Way You Do It)” that became a hit for both Lunceford and Ella Fitzgerald in 1939.

Young played with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie on a Clyde Hart led session in 1945 and with the Jazz At The Philharmonic. In 1952 he joined the Louis Armstrong All Stars and stayed a dozen years recording St. Louis Blues in ’54 and performing in the 1956 musical High Society. 1964 saw Young quitting the road to settle in Hawaii where on September 10, 1984 he succumbed to a cerebral hemorrhage.

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