Earl Humphrey (September 9, 1902 – June 26, 1971) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

trombonist. He was the brother of noted New Orleans jazz players

Willie Humphrey Willie James Humphrey (December 29, 1900 – June 7, 1994) was a New Orleans jazz clarinetist. Willie Humphrey was born in a musical family, the son of prominent local clarinetist and music teacher Willie Eli Humphrey; his brothers Earl Humphrey a ...

and

Percy Humphrey Percy Gaston Humphrey (January 13, 1905 – July 22, 1995) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader in New Orleans, Louisiana. In addition to his band, Percy Humphrey and His Crescent City Joymakers, for more than thirty years he was leader ...

Career

Earl Humphrey learned to play trombone from his grandfather, and joined a

traveling circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

with his father in 1919. He traveled widely in the 1920s, and in 1927 recorded with

Louis Dumaine Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

. He played through the 1930s but retired to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in the 1940s. In 1963, he returned to New Orleans, where he was urged to resume his musical career. He joined his brother Percy's band and played on a few albums, including ''Jazz City Studio''. He recorded his first sessions as bandleader in the mid-1960s; ''Igor's Imperial Orchestra'' (1966) and ''Earl Humphrey & His Feetwarmers'' (1967) on the

Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

label.

Personal life

Earl died at his home in New Orleans in 1971 at the age of 68.

References

;Footnotes ;General references *Brian Peerless, "Earl Humphrey". '' Grove Jazz'' online. {{DEFAULTSORT:Humphrey, Earl 1902 births 1971 deaths American jazz trombonists Male trombonists Jazz musicians from New Orleans 20th-century American musicians 20th-century trombonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians