Edward Clifton Allen (December 15, 1897 – January 28, 1974) 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 ...
trumpeter and cornetist.
Early life
Allen was born in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
on December 15, 1897.
His family moved to
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
when he was seven; he began playing piano at age ten and settled on cornet soon after.
[ Chadbourne, Eugene.]
Ed Allen: Biography
. AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
. Accessed March 14, 2020. He worked as a truck driver in his teens and played in
military band
A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...
s.
Later life and career
By the mid-1910s Allen was playing professionally in local nightclubs and bars.
He moved to
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
to take a gig with
Ralph Stevenson
Sir Ralph Clarmont Skrine Stevenson, GCMG, MLC, CP (16 May 1895 – 23 June 1977) was a British diplomat.
He was the son of Surgeon-General, H.W. Stevenson and was educated at Wellington College and University College, Oxford. He married Helen ...
, then returned to St. Louis to play on the
Streckfus line of
riverboat
A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury un ...
s which ran between
and St. Louis on the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
.
Early in the 1920s he played in the band of
Charlie Creath
Charles Cyril Creath (December 30, 1890, Ironton, Missouri – October 23, 1951, Chicago, Illinois) was an American jazz trumpeter, saxophonist, accordionist, and bandleader.
Creath played in traveling circuses and in theater bands in the dec ...
, but by 1922 he had his own ensemble, the Whispering Gold Band, aboard the ''S.S. Capitol''.
After this, he was based in New Orleans until 1923.
In 1924 he made his way to Chicago and played with
Earl Hines
Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...
until 1925.
He then played from 1925 to 1927 in a revue called Ed Daily's Black and White Show, as a member of
Joe Jordan
Joseph Jordan (born 15 December 1951) is a Scottish football player, coach and manager. He is currently a first-team coach at AFC Bournemouth.
A former striker, he played for Leeds United, Manchester United, and Milan, among others at club le ...
's group, the Sharps & Flats.
Between 1927 and 1937 Allen recorded extensively with
Clarence Williams.
Allen also accompanied vocalist
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the " Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock and ...
on some recordings, and recorded in several bands of
King Oliver
Joseph Nathan "King" Oliver (December 19, 1881 – April 8/10, 1938) was an American jazz cornet player and bandleader. He was particularly recognized for his playing style and his pioneering use of Mute (music), mutes in jazz. Also a notable c ...
's.
Allen played in various dance bands through the 1930s and 1940s, then played with
Benton Heath in New York City from the middle of the 1940s up until 1963.
His last appearance on record was in England with
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher "Chris" Barber OBE (17 April 1930 – 2 March 2021) was an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and trombonist. He helped many musicians with their careers and had a UK top twenty trad jazz hit with " Petite Fl ...
in the 1950s.
After 1963 his failing health resulted in retirement from music.
He died in New York City on January 28, 1974.
Playing style
"In his early work Allen sometimes used the cackle-like muted timbre employed by contemporary jazz cornetists, and he produced a pleasant tone with a wa-wa mute; on the open instrument he often affected a singing, lyrical style in the manner of
Joe Smith, but he showed a substantial New Orleans influence, especially in his lead playing."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Ed
1897 births
1974 deaths
American jazz cornetists
American jazz trumpeters
American male trumpeters
20th-century American musicians
20th-century trumpeters
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
20th-century American military personnel