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Fred Norman was born on October 5, 1910 in Leesburg, Florida. After attending Howard University,  in Washington, DC he joined the Claude Hopkins band in 1932. Touring with the group as both a trombonist and singer for much of the 1930s, he notably recorded his own composition, Church Street Sobbin’ Blues, as the trombone soloist with the band in 1937 for Decca Records. He also appeared in short films with the Hopkins band during the 1930s.

Moving away from performance in 1938 he went on to work as a full-time music arranger. The late Thirties and 1940s saw him writing arrangements for Bunny Berigan, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa, Teddy Powell, Artie Shaw, Charlie Spivak, and Jack Teagarden.

In the 1950s he was the music director and arranger for multiple records made by the singers Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington. He continued to work as an arranger until his retirement in the 1970s.

Composer, arranger, trombonist, and vocalist Fred Norman died on February 19, 1993 in New York City.

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