Al Trace

Musical artist (1900–1993) Musical artist Albert J. Trace (aka Albert Joseph Trace; né Feinberg; 25 December 1900 – 31 August 1993) was an American songwriter and orchestra leader of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. His popularity peaked in the Chicago area during the height of the Big Band era. He was the brother of the songwriter Ben Trace. Career A native of Chicago, Trace played professional baseball before deciding on music as a career. His first jobs during the early 1920s included playing the drums and singing with various bands, until he formed his own band in 1933, the year in which Chicago was celebrating its centennial with a World's Fair officially known as A Century of Progress International Exposition. The band's first engagement in May 1933 was at the Fair's French pavilion and, when the Fair closed for the winter in November, he remained in Chicago, beginning a long engagement at the Blackhawk Restaurant, followed by three years at the Sherman Hotel. Starting in early 1943 and continuing during and after World War II, the Al Trace Orchestra, including the vocalists Toni Arden and Bob Vincent, were familiar regulars on the Chicago-based It Pays to Be Ignorant, one of